Prior to entering academia in 2001, Kristie spent 15 years working in hospital administration, most recently as Director of Operations for the Medical Affairs Division of the Seton Healthcare Network in Austin. In this position, Kristie was responsible for all medical quality assurance, new physician credentialing, nursing case management/utilization review, social services/discharge planning, infection control, and clinical research activities throughout Seton’s six acute care hospitals, mental health hospital, and nine ambulatory healthcare facilities. As Director of Operations, Kristie developed measurement systems for tracking appropriate utilization of acute care resources and identifying barriers to appropriate discharge, developed and implemented training programs for new staff, automated the credentialing and peer review functions, expanded services from 800 to 1600+ physician members with no increase in staff, and managed a consolidation and standardization of division services with a facility acquisition/merger. Kristie continues to consult with Seton Healthcare Network on a regular basis, particularly in the area of clinical quality improvement.

In the McCombs School, Kristie teaches management, organizational behavior, human resources, leadership, and health care system classes. Her academic publications focus on ethical education, organizational ethics, diversity management, process improvement in health care delivery systems, and health care reform. Kristie is the assistant director for the Business Foundations Summer Institute and the director of curriculum and community engagement for the McCombs Healthcare Initiative. She is also a co-author of the book, Communication Matters: Write, Speak, Succeed published by Kendall Hunt in 2007 with a second edition in 2010.

DBA, Human Resource Management, Nova Southeastern University

MPH, Health Planning and Administration, Univ. of Michigan Ann Arbor

BA, University of Texas at Austin