Tell us a little about you! (family, pets, interests)
I am married to State Senator and Kelley School Senior Lecturer Shelli Yoder. We have three children (12th, 10th, and 8th graders) and two dogs. My interests include ways in which sports, music, pop culture, religion, arts, and politics are all connected, and I enjoy traveling.
Short description of the course you teach in the MSHM curriculum. How does the course you teach bring value to future health leaders?
I teach modules exploring “Ethics in the Business of Medicine” during the summer intensive session. These sessions consider the particular challenges of doing business in a space where people’s lives and well-being hang in the balance. We talk about how future healthcare leaders will need nuanced and reflective understandings of the ethical, legal, and policy challenges facing the healthcare business, including, but not limited to: the tensions among costs, profits, and justice in the delivery of medicine and healthcare services; conflicts between administrators/managers and employee/labor rights, patients’ rights, and impacts on other community stakeholders; the complex dynamics that emerge in research and marketing practices of the pharmaceutical and life science industries; and the US-specific impact of commercialization and proliferation of entrepreneurialism on the medical profession and patient experience.
The research area of interest
Ethical and legal issues in the business of medicine and healthcare/life sciences industry.
Are you currently working on any large projects or research initiatives?
Since moving into an administrative role in the Dean’s Office, I have limited time to work on major research initiatives, but here’s a recent article illustrating the types of issues I research and write about when I have time: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/judge-rules-obamacare-cant-require-coverage-for-hiv-prevention-drug-prep
Additionally, I recently signed a contract with IU Press to write an updated and expanded 2nd Edition of Leonard J. Weber’s classic text from 2001, Business Ethics in Healthcare: Beyond Compliance. I am excited to work with Dr. Weber on the revisions and anticipate a 2024 publication date.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
Helping to make complex issues clear and trying to add value to the lives of students, faculty colleagues, and the wider world.
What brought you to the Kelley School of Business?
I was working as a clinical ethicist at the Vanderbilt University adult and children hospitals and a faculty member at the Vanderbilt Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society back in 2009 when I saw an opportunity to join the faculty at the Kelley School. It was a no-brainer decision, and the best one I ever made.
What is the most helpful advice you’ve received?
Just keep showing up, stay curious, and work hard. Good things will happen.
Connect with Dr. Perry on LinkedIn!