Sarah Zheng

Sarah Zheng joined the Gustavson School of Business as an Assistant Professor in 2018. Her research vision is to combine her knowledge of the operations management literature and her data analytics training to design systems and processes to improve organizational performance. She is particularly interested in examining how health care organizations can achieve higher performance by improving their internal operations at the process level, and engaging patients in these efforts through cost-sharing at the system level. To study that, she employs econometric, machine learning and statistical techniques to analyze large datasets from insurance claims, clinical databases, hospital operations and performance data and surveys of the health care workforce. Her ultimate goal is to create evidence-based, implementable solutions for managers and policy makers that will have a meaningful impact on practice. Her research has been published in top journal outlets such as Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management and Medical Care, and featured in media outlets such as U.S. News & World Report and Wolters Kluwer.

Prior to University of Victoria, Sarah served as an Assistant Professor at Ithaca College School of Business, and a lecturer at Boston University Questrom School of Business in the United States. She also worked previously at Boston Medical Center on Massachusetts health reform studies. She earned a Bachelor of Economics from Peking University, China, an MA in Economics and a PhD in Operations Management from Boston University.

Journal Publications

Lawrence, B., Zhang, J., Hus, L., Zheng, S. (2021). Return on Investments in Hotel Franchising: Understanding Moderating Effects of Franchisee Dependence. Production and Operations Management. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13383 

Tucker, A., Zheng, S., Gardner, J., & Bohn, R. (2020). When do Workarounds Help or Hurt Patient Outcomes? The Moderating Role of Operational Failures. Journal of Operations Management, 66, 67–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/joom.1015 

Zheng, S., Lubin, B., Au, R., Murabito, J., Benjamin, E. j., & Shwartz, M. (2019). Advantages of Continuous-Valued Risk Scores for Predicting Long-Term Costs: The Framingham Coronary Heart Disease 10-Year Risk Score. Advances in Geriatric Medicine and Research, (1:e190004). https://doi.org/10.20900/agmr20190004 

Zheng, S., Hanchate, A. d., & Shwartz, M. (2019). One-Year Costs of Medical Admissions With and Without a 30-Day Readmission and Enhanced Risk Adjustment. BMC Health Services Research, 19(155). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-3983-7

Zheng, S., Tucker, A. L., Ren, Z. J., Heineke, J., McLaughlin, A., & Podell, A. L. (2018). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals. Production and Operations Management, 27(12), 2201–2212. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.12758

Zheng, S., Ren, Z. J., Heineke, J., & Geissler, K. H. (2016). Reductions in Diagnostic Imaging With High Deductible Health Plans. Medical Care, 54(2), 110–117.

Chapters

Zheng, S. (2007). Mastering Literature Studies. In Strategies for Preparing for the College Entrance Exam. China Archive Press.

Presentations

Zheng, S. (2018). When do Workarounds Help or Hurt Patient Outcomes? Moderating Role of Operational Failures. Department of Management Science Seminar, University of Science and Technology of China. China.

Zheng, S. (2018). When do Workarounds Help or Hurt Patient Outcomes? Moderating Role of Operational Failures. POMS Annual Meeting. Houston, TX: POMS.

Zheng, S. (2018). When do Workarounds Help or Hurt Patient Outcomes? Moderating Role of Operational Failures. DSI Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, USA: DSI.

Zheng, S. (2018). When do Workarounds Help or Hurt Patient Outcomes? Moderating Role of Operational Failures. Peter B. Gustavson School of Business Seminar. Victoria, BC, Canada: University of Victoria.

Zheng, S. (2017). Preventable Adverse Events, Operational Failures and Workaround Decomposition in Healthcare. POMS Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA, USA: POMS.

Zheng, S. (2017). Workarounds in hospitals: Harmful or helpful responses to operational failures? DSI Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: DSI.

Zheng, S. (2016). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals. Ithaca College School of Business Seminar. Ithaca, NY, USA: Ithaca College.

Zheng, S. (2016). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Nurse Inefficiency and Medical Errors. POMS Annual Meeting. Orlando, FL, USA: POMS.

Zheng, S. (2016). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals. DSI Annual Meeting. Austin, TX, USA: DSI.

Zheng, S. (2016). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals. Questrom School of Business Seminar, Boston University. Boston, MA, USA.

Zheng, S. (2016). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals. INFORMS Annual Meeting. Nashville, TN, USA: INFORMS.

Zheng, S. (2016). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals. Owen Graduate School of Management Seminar, Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN, USA.

Zheng, S. (2016). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Preventable Adverse Events in Hospitals. Cornell Hospitality, Heath and Design Symposium. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell.

Zheng, S. (2015). The Impact of Internal Service Quality on Nurse Inefficiency and Medical Errors. INFORMS Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA, USA: INFORMS.

Zheng, S. (2015). Patient-Centric Healthcare Management in the Age of Analytics. POM Special Issue Conference. Bloomington, IN, USA: POM.

Zheng, S. (2014). Reductions in Diagnostic Imaging with High Deductible Health Plans. INFORMS Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA, USA: INFORMS.

Zheng, S. (2013). The Effect of Health Plan Type on CT Scan Utilization. INFORMS Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN, USA: INFORMS.

Zheng, S. (2012). Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Use of Inpatient Cardiovascular Surgeries. Society of General Internal Medicine. Orlando, FL, USA: Society of General Internal Medicine.

Zheng, S. (2012). Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Use of Inpatient Cardiovascular Surgeries. American Heart Association Quality of Care and Outcomes Research. Atlanta, GA, USA: American Heart Association Quality of Care and Outcomes Research.

Zheng, S. (2012). Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Use of Inpatient Cardiovascular Surgeries. Academy Health Advancing Research, Policy and Practice. Orlando, FL, USA.

Proceedings Publications

Hanchate, A. D., & Zheng, S. (2012). Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Use of Inpatient Cardiovascular Surgeries. In Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes (Vol. Suppl 1, pp. A136–A136).

Awards

Courses Taught

• Operations Management (BCom)
• Service Operations (BCom)