From capstone to clinical operations: MHA alumna builds a career in health care operations

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 29 May 2026 15:02:04 +0000

From capstone to clinical operations: MHA alumna builds a career in health care operations Mary Cunningham Fri, 05/29/2026 - 11:02

Key Takeaways

Translating Theory into Practice: Core MHA coursework, such as quality measurement, healthcare data analytics, and health law, directly translates into real-world administrative success within major health systems.
The Power of an Impactful Capstone: 911��'s capstone projects allow students to solve real-world operational challenges, such as telehealth resiliency for community clinics, creating a powerful portfolio piece that bridges the gap between graduate school and career entry.
Building a Foundation for Leadership: 911��'s MHA program provides graduates with the technical foundation, compliance knowledge, and data-driven decision-making skills required to confidently step into critical healthcare operations and patient access roles upon graduation.

Topics

CPH students

Master of Health Administration

College of Public Health

Students

Alumni

Poojya Bommannan, MHA ’25, is applying the operational and analytical skills she developed in the Master of Health Administration program at 911�� in her current role as a Patient Services Coordinator at Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation in Texas.

Poojya Bommannan, MHA ’25. Photo provided.

In her role, Bommannan manages front-end operations and revenue cycle workflows in a high-volume rehabilitation setting. Her responsibilities include coordinating patient access processes, managing insurance authorizations and documentation workflows, and supporting communication between clinicians and patients to help ensure seamless care transitions.

“I act as the operational hub,” Bommannan said. “I make sure the administrative side of healthcare never hinders the patient’s recovery journey.”

Bommannan pursued a degree in healthcare administration to better understand how healthcare systems operate behind the scenes.

“I realized early on that while clinicians save lives, administrators save the systems that allow clinicians to do their work,” she said.

Why 911��’s MHA was the right program

She chose 911��’s MHA program because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., and its strong reputation for combining healthcare management, health informatics, finance, and policy into a well-rounded curriculum. Throughout the program, Bommannan said the coursework challenged her to think critically about health care systems, leadership, and data-driven decision-making.

Several courses and faculty mentors helped shape her professional perspective. She credits HAP 750 Legal Issues, taught by Adjunct Professor Brian Santo, with strengthening her understanding of ethical decision-making and risk mitigation. She also noted that HAP 698 Quality Measurement, taught by Adjunct Professor Keri Christensen, changed the way she approaches healthcare data and process improvement.

One of the most impactful experiences during her time in the program was completing her capstone project on telehealth and patient-access innovation. Her project developed a telehealth policy and workflow for College of Public Health’s MAP Clinics to help ensure continuity of care during weather-related clinic closures. Her work on the project earned her the department’s Innovation in Patient Access Award in May 2025, in recognition of her capstone executive brief and presentation.

“The inspiration came from a need for operational resiliency,” Bommannan said.

Her capstone introduced a virtual workflow model using Zoom breakout rooms, interpreter integration for bilingual accessibility, nursing student intake support, and standardized patient coordination procedures. Bommannan also collaborated with clinical leadership to identify operational barriers and develop recommendations for integrating telehealth processes into existing clinic workflows.

Prepared for the health care workforce

Through capstone work, applied coursework, and real-world problem solving, the program prepared Bommannan to navigate the operational realities of modern healthcare systems. She said the experience taught her how to identify operational bottlenecks and anticipate challenges before they affect patient care.

“The biggest takeaway was understanding patient coordination and waiting room management logic,” Bommannan said. “I still apply those principles every day.”

Since graduating in May 2025, Bommannan said she is most proud of successfully transitioning from graduate school into a major health system environment while maintaining the professional standards emphasized throughout the program.

“I’ve taken pride in being a guardian of compliance within my clinic,” Bommannan said. “The MHA program gave me the confidence and technical foundation to advocate for operational excellence.”

As she continues to build her career, Bommannan hopes to move into healthcare consulting or leadership roles in health system operations focused on improving patient access and operational efficiency, while remaining connected to the 911�� community through alumni engagement and student mentorship.

Advice for MHA students

For current or prospective MHA students, she encourages them to approach internships, capstones, and early career opportunities with professionalism and integrity.

“Pick a capstone topic that solves a real problem,” Bommannan said. “It becomes one of the strongest portfolio pieces you’ll have.”

Master of Health Administration program wins award for excellence in innovative education from CAHME

Taylor Thomas — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:45:12 +0000

Master of Health Administration program wins award for excellence in innovative education from CAHME Taylor Thomas Mon, 01/27/2025 - 09:45

Explore the Award-Winning MHA Program

In This Story

Brenda Helen Sheingold, PhD, RN, FNAP

911��’s Master of Health Administration program has been honored for pioneering innovative education and instruction.

The Master of Health Administration (MHA), Health Systems Management program won the prestigious Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) award for innovative health care education.

Each year, the CAHME/George and Regi Herzlinger Innovation Education Award for the Development of Educational Skills Focusing on Invention, Evaluation, and Adoption of Innovation in Healthcare honors a CAHME-accredited program that has set the standard for inventive academic rigor and preparation of the next generation of health care administration professionals.

Graduate students enrolled in HAP 704 Contemporary Issues in Healthcare visit Capitol Hill. Read more.

“Our Master’s in Health Systems Management (MHA) program empowers students with the real-world skills and insights needed to excel in the competitive health care industry,” said Brenda Helen Sheingold, associate professor and division director of health administration and policy. "By graduation, our students possess hands-on experience that directly aligns with employers' needs and positions them as leaders in the field. This award recognizes how evolving innovative education with faculty colleagues, community partners and alumni contribute to successful and productive graduates. We are committed to a trajectory of success for the next generation by continually originating new education models and techniques."

This accolade includes a $10,000 grant to further innovation efforts in health systems education. The award will be presented March 23, 2025, at the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress in Chicago.

CAHME is the only organization formally recognized as the accrediting body for master's level health care management programs in the United States and Canada. The MHA prepares students to become leaders in evolving health systems and health-related organizations by guiding them to develop strategic, business, analytic, and decision-making skills needed to navigate the rapidly changing health care industry successfully. The program is ranked at #32 by U.S. News and World Report.

Read more about 911�� and College of Public Health program rankings.