Outstanding Paper Based on a Dissertation

This award, sponsored by AUPHA, is given to the paper judged to be the best paper based upon a dissertation. The paper must be sole authored. The award is sponsored by the HCM Division and comes with a $500 cash award and an award plaque from the Division.  Authors of eligible papers are encouraged to identify their papers for consideration of this award during the Academy’s paper submission process. A committee headed by the Program Chair and comprised of selected members of the Executive Committee and the previous year's winner of the award, selects the winner.


The Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) is a global network of colleges, universities, faculty, individuals and organizations dedicated to the improvement of health and healthcare delivery through excellence in healthcare management and policy education. Its mission is to foster excellence and drive innovation in health management and policy education, and promote the value of university-based management education for leadership roles in the health sector.
AUPHA is the only non-profit entity of its kind that works to improve the delivery of health services – and thus the health of citizens – throughout the world by educating professional managers. Its membership includes the premier baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degree programs in health administration education in the United States, Canada, and around the world. Its faculty and individual members represent more than 300 colleges and universities. 

Award Winners

2022 Karla Sayegh, "Making Peace in Healthcare: How Novices Can Help Resolve Disputes Between Experts" 
2021: Alden Lai. "The Incomplete, Outdated, Incorrect, and Unknown: Mitigating Threats to Knowledge Errors"
   
2020: Amber La Forgia. "The Impact of Acquisitions on Clinical Decisions: Evidence from PPMCs"
    
2019: Lucy Xiaolu Wang. “The Complementarity of Health Information & HIT For Reducing Opioid-Related Mortality and Morbidity”
  
2018: Chidiebere Ogbonnaya. "Perceived Managerial Support, Work Engagement, and Patients Experience Service Quality in Healthcare"
  
2017: Matthew Perrigino. "When Everybody’s Blocked: Understanding Shared Perceptions of Workarounds and Workaround Behaviors"
  
2016: Shivani Gupta. "Organizational and Market-Level Predictors of Hospital-Based Skilled Nursing Facility Closures"
  
2015: Does Participation in Health Information Exchange Improve Hospital Efficiency, Daniel Morris Walker
  
2014: Johanna E. Steenrod. "A Systems Theory Approach: Meso-level Strategic Action Fields Changing Healthcare Workforce Models"
  
2013: Brian Hilligoss. "Collaborating or Selling Patients? A Conceptual Framework of Between-Unit Handoff Negotiation"
  
2012: Enrique Farachi. "Can Professional Boundaries be Knowledge Enablers"
  
2011: Lucy MacPhail. "Organizational Review of Adverse Events at an Academic Medical Center"
  
2010: Sara Abigail Birken. "Middle Managers’ Role in Innovation Implementation"
  
2009: Claudia Steinke. "Empowering Patients Through Service Design"
  
2008: Pavani Rangachari. "Knowledge Sharing Networks Related to Hospital Quality Measurement & Reporting"
  
2007: Ingrid M. Nembhard. "Learning in Quality Improvement Collaboratives: Which Collaborative Model Features Matter Most?"
  
2006: Amy Smalarz. "Physician Group Culture and Quality Performance: A cross-cutural comparative management perspective"
  
2005: Seok Woo Kwon. "The Moderating Effect Of Procedural Fairness In Standardizing Professional Work"
  
2004: Jami DelliFraine. "An Examination Of Specialization And Outcomes Of Care In Children's Hospitals"
  
2003: Darrell Burke. "Opening the Black Box: Measuring Hospital Information Technology Competency"
  
2002: Liane Soberman Ginsburg. "Factors that Influence Line Managers’ Perceptions of Hospital Performance Data"
  
2001: Eric W. Ford. "State Health Agencies: A Configuration Approach"
  
2000: Co-winners Jullet A. Davis. "The Relationship of Nursing Facility Strategy and Structure with Performance" Trish Reay. "Physicians and Government: Key Actors in an Organizational Field"
  
1999: Jeffrey A. Thompson. "Physician Transition Journeys: Developing Dual Commitment on the Road from Private Practice to Employment"
  
1998: Eric Goodman. "An Exploration of the Differential Relationship Between the Dimensions of Burnout and Their Correlates Among Emergency Medical Physicians"
  
1997: Timothy Rotarius. "Structural Integration Groups in the Health Care Industry"