Biographical note

Dr. Vincent K. Omachonu is a Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Miami, and holds a secondary appointment as Professor in the Department of Health Sector & Policy at the University of Miami. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the New York University Polytechnic, New York. He has two masters degrees one in Operations Research from Columbia University, New York, and the other in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami, Florida. His B.S. degree is also in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami. Dr. Omachonu was one of the early contributors to the field of health care quality management. His seminal book titled Total Quality and Productivity Management in Health Care Organizations received the Institute of Industrial Engineers Joint Publishers Book-of-the-Year Award in 1993. Dr. Omachonu is a Master Black Belt in Lean Sigma. Dr. Omachonu’s other books include, Principles of Total Quality (co- authored with J. Ross), Healthcare Performance Improvement, 1999. His most recent book is titled Access to Health Care and Patient Safety (co-authored with M. Taveras Ponce [2013]) His book titled Principles of Total Quality was translated into the Spanish language (Principios de Calidad Total) in 2014. Dr. Omachonu has published several papers in technical and professional journals and has given hundreds of seminars and presentations to professional and management groups all over the United States and South/Central America. He has supervised the implementation of the quality management process in several service organizations. He has successfully conducted industrial engineering efficiency and customer flow studies. Dr. Omachonu has served as the evaluator for federal and State funded projects (SAMHSA, OMH, Department of Health, Ryan White, etc.) He has been featured twice on CNN Business. He has served on the Boards of a number of organizations including Interim Healthcare Services, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables Hospital, and Palmetto General Hospital, Miami. His clients include Humana, Leon Medical Centers, Miami, CAC Medical Centers, Miami, Peoples Health in New Orleans, Methodist Health System, Tennessee, Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, Baptist Health Systems, Florida, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Miami Children’s Hospital, Miami, Memorial Hospital System, HCA and Tenet Hospitals. Other clients include Florida Power & Light as well as some Fortune 500 companies. He has conducted educational and training sessions for physicians all over the United States in the areas of Physician-Patient Communication, Improving the Patient Experience, and Improving the HCAPH scores. Dr. Omachonu has facilitated several strategic planning initiatives and senior management retreats for major organizations. He has worked with several Black Belts in Lean Six Sigma. He has served as the Evaluator for all Primary Care projects funded by the Health Foundation of South Florida. He is a renowned speaker/trainer in the areas of Management, organizational development, process re-engineering, and methods improvement. He has published research papers in Health Services Research Journal, European Journal of Operational Research, and Journal of Healthcare Management Science. Dr. Omachonu has been the recipient of University of Miami school-wide teaching awards and multiple awards for teaching excellence in the School of Business (MBA Health Care Sector) program. He is one of 100 world-wide recipients of the IBM 2012 Faculty Award for his work in the field of Health Care. He was recently named the recipient of the Alexander Orr Teacher of the Year Award for the College of Engineering (2013).