I earned an undergraduate degree in nursing and I continue to maintain my RN license, though I have only spent a brief time during my career in direct patient care. Immediately after earning my nursing degree, I began working on my Master of Science in Healthcare Administration (MSHA) and MBA at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). After completing the coursework for my MSHA and MBA, I began an administrative residency program at a health system in Mobile, Alabama and later worked for that same health system as an oncology service line manager. In 2001, I began working for UAB, where I served in several administrative positions, mostly within UAB's School of Medicine. In my last full-time administrative position, I served as the campus administrator for the UAB Montgomery-Selma Regional Medical Campus, and in this position, I oversaw the financial and daily operations of several primary care medical clinics, several residency programs, and programs for approximately forty 3rd and 4th year medical students.
At the present time, I am a full-time academic and I am able to spend all of my time in research and teaching in the field of health care administration. I began teaching in 2003, about a year after beginning my PhD (in Health Care Administration). All of the courses I have taught have been either blended (both on-line and the traditional in-class format) or completely on-line. I have taught a variety of courses in the field of healthcare administration, including statistics and research methods, healthcare finance and accounting, leadership, managed care and health care systems. I absolutely enjoy teaching and working with students and I appreciate the opportunity to share some of my administrative experiences in the classroom, when applicable. My current research interests include healthcare outcomes, racial disparities, and organizational configurations.
Published Works:
- Smith, T. B., English, T., Naidoo, J., and McDougall, G. (Under Review). The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program’s Impact on Readmissions from Skilled Nursing Facilities. Health Affairs.
- Smith, T.B., Hernandez, S.R., Shewchuk, R. (2012). Organizational Configurations in Medical Group Practices: A Test of Porter's Generic Strategies. Published in the Conference Proceedings of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Boston, MA.
- Yarbrough, A. and Smith, T.B. 2007. “Technology Acceptance Among Physicians: A New Take on TAM.” Medical Care Research and Review, 64 (6): 650 – 672.