The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, located in Houston in the Texas Medical Center, is one of the world’s most respected centers dedicated exclusively to cancer care, research, education, and prevention. MD Anderson aims to provide safe, timely, effective, equitable, efficient, and patient centered care as part of its mission to eliminate cancer. The Healthcare Systems Engineering team at MD Anderson supports this goal by facilitating the design, implementation, and improvement of health care systems using proven systems engineering methods and principles. An overview of their role, organization structure, training programs, and examples of projects using systems engineering tools such as lean, six sigma, simulation, and optimization will be discussed.
Jeremy Meade has seventeen years of process improvement experience in the steel, automotive, and healthcare industries. He joined MD Anderson and the Office of Performance Improvement in January 2011. At MD Anderson, his primary roles have been
providing coaching and direction to quality engineers, leading and supporting process improvement initiatives, and serving as an instructor for the Six Sigma, Lean, and Clinical Safety & Effectiveness programs. Prior to joining MD Anderson, Jeremy served as Outreach Coordinator for the Alabama Productivity Center at the University of Alabama providing process improvement consultation to manufacturers and healthcare providers. Before joining UA, Jeremy worked as an operations engineer at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International and American Cast Iron Pipe Company. He obtained his Six Sigma Black Belt certification at Mercedes-Benz and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Jeremy studied at the University of Alabama,
where he received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering.
Tatiana Hmar-Lagroun has eighteen years of experience in process improvement and project management in the manufacturing and healthcare industries. She joined the Office of Performance Improvement at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in January 2004. Her primary roles are to support and provide guidance to engineers facilitating and leading efforts to improve the delivery of care to patients and to coordinate the Institution’s LEAN training program. She is an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer and a Six Sigma Green Belt. Tatiana received her B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University and her MBA degree from Southern Methodist University.