(Sarasota, FL, May 12, 2005) – The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee named Dr. Neset Hikmet director of the Center for Research in Healthcare Systems and Policies (CRHSP). The center’s goal is collaboration between academics, private industry and public health-care institutions for improving the process and delivery of health care to aging and underserved populations.

The rising cost of health care and an effort to stem the consumption of funds by a rapidly aging population are factors that aided in the decision to establish CRHSP at USF Sarasota-Manatee. The campus is located in the two contiguous counties with the highest median age in the United States. The regional campus also is in Florida’s 13th congressional district which has one of the highest median ages of any of the 435 districts in the U.S. Congress.

Made possible through funds secured by Congresswoman Katherine Harris, CRHSP will provide a scholarly forum connecting and educating researchers, providers, policy makers and the public. Its mission is to improve health outcomes, assist health policy formation and promote community health improvement, with special focus on the aging and underserved.

“This institute supports our commitment to serving the needs of the community as a hometown campus with national prestige,” said Campus CEO Laurey T. Stryker, “and we are fortunate to have someone with Dr. Hikmet’s background and expertise to take the lead.”

According to Hikmet, research findings at CRHSP have the potential to impact current policies and bring about change in health-care delivery.

“Our health-care industry is made up of subsystems. If these subsystems are not in sync, the whole system could fail, and is not as functional as it is expected to be,” said Hikmet. “Expanding nursing and other health-care programs is important, but research and study of our health-care systems and policies needs to be further investigated as well. Policies that involve various layers of organizations and how these organizations interact need revision to improve the delivery of health care.”

In addition to his position as CRHSP director, Hikmet is an assistant professor of information systems in the Information Systems and Decision Sciences of the College of Business Administration at USF Sarasota-Manatee. He has done extensive research on IT use in health-care organizations, and has served as a consultant to numerous companies, health-care organizations and government agencies. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Turkey, and holds a master’s in business administration and a doctorate in management information systems from the University of Rhode Island. He is a member of Decision Sciences Institute; Institute for Operations Research and Management Science; Information Resources Management Association; Northeast Decision Sciences Institute; and American Academy of Medical Administrators.