Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is investing in the future of data-driven decision-making with the launch of its first-ever Analytics Academy, a professional development program designed to equip managers with tools to better interpret and apply data in their roles.
The six-week initiative is part of a growing trend in health care to integrate analytics into management practices, as hospitals seek to improve efficiency, productivity and patient outcomes. Each week, managers attend a session led by a subject-matter expert focused on a specific area of health care analytics.
Among those invited to lead a session was the USF College of Public Health’s Dr. Troy Quast. Quast, a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Systems Management, guided participants through the second session of the series.
His lesson covered three key areas: basic statistics, predictive analytics and productivity measures, skills he believes are increasingly essential for health care administrators navigating a complex, data-rich environment.
“Managers across the TGH system are likely to need to both understand and employ concepts in each of those areas in various aspects of their responsibilities,” Quast said. “These are foundational tools that help drive smarter decisions, whether related to staffing, patient flow or resource allocation.”
Quast’s involvement in the academy grew out of a connection with Etter Hoang, TGH’s chief data and analytics officer. Hoang previously guest lectured in Quast’s master of health administration course on quantitative analysis. When the Analytics Academy was being developed, Hoang reached out to invite Quast to contribute.
To ensure the content resonated with hospital leaders, Quast focused on real-world problems and hands-on examples that reflected challenges managers might encounter on the job.
“I tried to emphasize practical applications,” he said. “Rather than getting too deep into theory, we worked through scenarios that managers are likely to face in their day-to-day roles, like interpreting summary statistics or using productivity metrics to inform staffing decisions.”
Health care, he added, is increasingly reliant on data, and equipping managers with analytic tools is critical to staying ahead in a competitive and rapidly changing environment.
“Throughout health care, there is a strong push to use analytic insights to improve the delivery of care and patient outcomes,” Quast said. “Hopefully the Analytics Academy will allow managers to harness the data and data tools that are available to them to help TGH remain at the forefront of their field.”
Though this was TGH’s first time offering the Analytics Academy, the response has already been strong. The hospital reports that a second cohort of the program is fully booked, with dates to be announced.
For Quast, the experience was a meaningful extension of his academic work and a reminder of the practical impact data literacy can have across the health care system.