“It is an incredible honor. I feel extremelyfortunate to be part of a great program that is seeking to introduce andencourage the next generation to become engineers. It is also a reflection onthe wonderful mentors in my life who helped me become an engineer and continueto inspire me in my career today.”

Most recently, Goin has been working withChildren’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Children’s) as a strategy and planningconsultant, leading system efforts to drive innovation and improvements inpediatric care across the organization. In March, Goin will be joining ShepherdCenter as a Senior Improvement Consultant on their Quality, Outcomes, andPatient Safety team. She will be leading clinical and operations teams to drivesystem wide process improvements to increase efficiency and effectiveness,enhance care delivery, and drive improved patient outcomes.

Goin has been making a positive impact in thehealthcare industry since she was a student in the Stewart School of Industrialand Systems Engineering (ISyE).  She originally partnered with Children’sduring her graduate studies at ISyE through a joint venture with the GeorgiaTech Health Systems Institute, Children’s, and ISyE’s Center for HumanitarianLogistics in the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute. On the project, Goinworked with a team of other master’s students to optimize patient flow atChildren’s at Egleston. 

Goin has been a member of IIE since 2002, andbelieves that her participation with the organization has contributed to herpersonal and professional development, and has also helped her to establishrelationships with other IE's across the country. In addition, Goin, along withher partners at Children’s, published two papers in the Society for CriticalCare Medicine that won the 2010 Scientific and Administration awards, andshe was selected to present at the 2009 and 2010 Society for Health Systemsconferences.

Read the interview below to learn more aboutGoin and her work in the healthcare industry.

ISyE: Describe a typical day at work.

KG: As an IE, I love working with people tohelp solve problems and develop new systems and processes. As an internalconsultant at Children's, I was very lucky to work on a variety of projects andlearn about many aspects of the hospital and our business.

In this type of work, every day is a little bitdifferent, which keeps things interesting. A key aspect of my role withChildren’s was leading and facilitating multi-disciplinary teams to solveproblems and develop recommendations for new business plans. There was a greatmix of analytics, problem solving, and research, coupled with leading meetingsand developing presentations. Meeting with our physicians and nurses and seeingpatients in the hallways provided a great deal of inspiration for the work.

ISyE: What have been some of your achievements whileworking in the healthcare industry?  

KG: I have been very lucky to work with otherengineers, clinicians, and professionals throughout my career to enhancehealthcare delivery. Many of my projects have focused on applying IE skills inunique and collaborative ways to improve quality, outcomes, and access forpatients by designing more efficient and effective healthcare systems. Some ofthe achievements from these collaborative efforts include: optimizing patientflow to reduce length of stay and maximize capacity, improving physician andnursing workflow in the pediatric ICU, reducing medication errors and waste,developing plans to increase access to innovative diagnostic care, and modelingstatewide childhood obesity prevalence to guide interventions. Many of theseprojects and results have been shared through national forums.

ISyE: What are some of the projects you havebeen involved with at Children’s?

KG: I have been supporting Children's effortsto optimize outpatient services to improve access to care for patients andfamilies. We are analyzing operations and facility space to maximize capacity,throughput, quality of care, and the patient and family experience. This willhelp Children's better meet the needs of patients today and plan for thefuture.

We have been developing new models of care formedically complex patients with one or more chronic illnesses. Our goal is toimprove the quality of care and reduce cost through improved care coordination,protocols, and care management approaches.

We are also partnering with Georgia Tech to identifycollaborative research projects to leverage technology to improve child health. 

ISyE: What influenced your decision to pursue amaster’s degree in health systems at ISyE?

KG: After a close family experience I realizedthere was/is a great need to improve healthcare delivery and the impact onpatients and families. Through that experience I developed a passion to be apart of the incredible mission of healthcare organizations. When I learnedabout the Georgia Tech Health Systems program at ISyE, it was the perfect wayto integrate my systems thinking with the complex nature of the healthcareindustry. Health Systems was a key factor in my transition into the healthcareindustry and preparing me to be able to make a significant impact in the field.

ISyE: How do you apply your IE skills in thehealthcare industry?

KG: There are so many incredible opportunitiesto bring data driven approaches and systems thinking like Six Sigma and Lean tothe healthcare industry. Partnering with clinicians to understand key areas ofopportunity and how we can work together to solve complex problems has been akey to success. Together we have applied IE skills to improving throughput inthe emergency department, creating just-in-time medication productionprocesses, determining root causes for patient safety errors, increasing timeat the bedside for nurses, and more. There are many pioneers in the field andorganizations like Georgia Tech's Health System Institute, IIE, Society forHealth Systems, and Institute for Healthcare Improvement that are continuing topave the way for IE's in healthcare.

ISyE: What is the most important thing youlearned while at ISyE?

KG: The structured problem solving, robustanalytical thinking, and innovation at Georgia Tech is incredible. I thinkthese skills, coupled with the ability to effectively communicate complexinformation, is the most important thing I learned while at ISyE. The abilityto effectively communicate an opportunity, recommendations, and impact iscritical to the success of any project.

ISyE: How do you stay connected to GeorgiaTech? 

KG: One of the key ways I have stayed connectedis through collaborative projects between Children's and Georgia Tech. I havepartnered with faculty and students from Georgia Tech's ISyE program on variousprojects, and the expertise and innovation of these partnerships hasaccelerated the outcomes. I have also been honored to give guest lectures andparticipate on alumni forums. Of course, watching and attending Georgia Techsports is a great way to stay connected.

ISyE: What are your goals for the future?

KG: I want to continue to explore the best waysto promote and implement IE skills and methods to improve the healthcareindustry. This is still in its infancy with incredible opportunity to makesignificant impact. I plan to continue to grow my skills and track theimplication of healthcare reform on improving healthcare systems.

ISyE: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

KG: Time with family is my first priority. Iwas born and raised in Atlanta, so I am very lucky to have family close. We love sports - both watching and playing. We are avid Braves, Falcons,Tech, and Auburn fans. I play tennis and have completed a half marathon for theTrain to End Strokes program and two sprint triathlons that benefit Children's.I also love to cook and am always looking for new recipes and techniques on theFood Network.

ISyE: Is there any one person who has been aninspiration to you?

KG: Both of my grandfathers have been greatinspirations to me. I have one grandfather who has a doctorate in microbiologyand was the Chief of Microbiology for the CDC.  My other grandfather was amechanical engineer from Georgia Tech who worked with IBM and NASA.  Bothmade incredible contributions in the fields of engineering and healthcare andtaught me great ethics and values.

ISyE: Can you tell us one interesting thingabout yourself that you don't mind us sharing with the rest of the world?

KG: Before working in the healthcare industry,I was an Industrial Engineer at the Walt Disney World Company. One of myprojects at Disney was to redesign the monorails to increase capacity. Ahighlight of the project was driving and parking one of the newly designedmonorails into the maintenance bay (of course, after the parks were closed andwithout any guests on board)!