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NIU/Murer Initiative to Address Changing Needs in Healthcare Industry A sea change is on the horizon for American healthcare providers, and industry analysts are worried that none of the principal players are ready to manage that change. Erosion of traditional health insurance benefits – New technology – changes in the physician-hospital relationship – Growing numbers of uninsured patients – Movement toward integrated electronic patient records. Increasing calls for quality control and regulation. “The list is endless, and not one of these issues can be managed without broad understanding of legal, financial, medical regulatory, technical and ethical perspectives,” says Cherilyn Murer. “Today’s healthcare leaders need cross-disciplinary training that complements their focused expertise.” To that end, Murer and her husband, Michael, made a significant investment to jump-start a "new healthcare initiative" at The NIU Healthcare Leadership Initiative (HLI), of which the Health Care Policy and Management Program is a part, focuses every type of university expertise on society’s most pressing healthcare issues. Recognizing the complex nature of today’s healthcare environment, NIU leaders created this initiative to speed development of multidisciplinary program, approaches and teams of experts. The initiative involves faculty and staff from virtually every NIU college and department, and provides hand-on learning opportunities for thousands of NIU students. Development of NIU’s “They’ve already mapped existing NIU courses into potential new certificate and degree programs,” Murer explained, “and the results are exciting, new, multidisciplinary curricula that I think will have great appeal to healthcare leaders in our region and beyond.” “The challenges we face in modern healthcare are complex, and they require broad, horizontal viewpoints,” Murer said. “How does the money work? What laws might have to change? Do patients have all the information they need to make good choices? How do insurance policies affect the way doctors practice medicine? Health professionals have to deal with all of these issues every single day, and they need a breadth of knowledge to handle them compassionately and effectively.”
NORTHERN MEMORIAL SERVICE FEBRUARY 24, 2008 Cherilyn Murer is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Good evening. My name is Cherilyn Murer. I am honored to address you not only on behalf of the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University, but also as a very proud alumni. We are here today to honor the victims of a senseless act of violence. We are here today to pay tribute to the parents, siblings, and best friends of those who died and those who were injured. We are here today to embrace one another. We are here today to show the nation the strength that is our great university − the strength that is NIU. We are older today than we were yesterday and with that we have lost a bit of our youth, but we have gathered wisdom and we have gained fortitude. Strength of character is developed in the face of adversity. We have been challenged, and we have responded. Each person touched by this trauma will always carry a bit of it in their hearts. But we have a choice − a choice to succumb or a choice to fight back. I believe we have all chosen to fight for our university, for our families, for our safety, for our children, and for ourselves. We are here to carry the banner of academic excellence and scientific research. NIU represents young men and women, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who have worked for an education, who have sacrificed for an education, and who take pride in the academic achievements of their sons and daughters knowing that the hopes and dreams of each new generation are initiated through a sound education. There is a quiet that has befallen our campus with each tear that has been shed. But tomorrow, when our students return, we look forward to their voices and their conviction. Youth is resilient and NIU is committed to the future and to the safety of our students and our community. We have been blessed with an outpouring of support and heartfelt wishes from those near and far. We are moving forward. We will not forget, but we will meet each challenge with a bit more compassion and more appreciation for the value of human kindness. My heart – our hearts – belong to Cherilyn Murer presents First Lecture in the 2007-2008 Executive Speaker Series at Northern Cherilyn Murer was selected by Ms. Murer provided an overview of an integrated philosophy and gave background on the background of Murer Consultants, Inc., a firm which she founded in 1985. She stressed that the healthcare industry is a complex integration of clinical, legal, economic, social, and government issues. While business and engineering students typically have separate curriculum, an interdisciplinary approach incorporating both fields is highly beneficial after graduation as well as in the real world marketplace. Ms. Murer pointed out that today’s problems are extremely complex and often cannot be solved from one single perspective. Students today live in a world where problems are piling up faster than solutions. These are real world problems, none of which come in tidy separate packages of disciplines. Thus, solutions usually need to be comprehensive, addressing the problem as a system, not as pieces. There are multiple skill sets needed in order to achieve success. These skills require the ability to think critically, view an issue from multiple perspectives, and relate information to the larger picture. The goal of education needs to be locating, retrieving, understanding and using information, not merely transmitting it. Interdisciplinary study helps students develop the traditional liberal arts skills of precision and clarity in basic communications skills, giving them the ability to synthesize and integrate while allowing them to be more creative and original thinking. Interdisciplinary study also creates a climate of collaboration and cooperation which, in turn, creates an intellectually stimulating environment that pushes students toward more creative and effective solutions to problems. Combining inquisitive and interdisciplinary study helps students be more successful entrepreneurs upon graduation. Thus, it is crucial to be inquisitive and strive to learn outside of an individual field. Students should utilize both the left and right brain, engage in interdisciplinary study whenever possible; and be inquisitive about different disciplines related to their field of work. This will help assure the most well-rounded education and ultimate preparedness for the real world. Michael Murer Appointed to Health Information Security & Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) - Illinois II Legal Work Group
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