Health Systems Engineering
Health Systems Engineering introduces industrial engineering methods for analyzing and improving health care delivery, exploring decision-making, control, and social/regulatory/economic factors.
Summary
Past student reviews · Oguzhan Alagoz, Justin Boutilier
The class was generally considered easy, featuring straightforward projects, homework, and exams that were manageable for students with prior ISYE background.
What you’ll be able to do
Describe and explain the purpose of the various components that make-up many health systems including public health agencies (e.g., CDC), hospital systems, emergency medical services (e.g., 9-1-1), healthcare providers, and health insurance
Identify problems within health systems that may be amenable to industrial engineering tools
Apply industrial systems engineering concepts and tools (e.g., regression, queueing theory, simulation, cost-benefit analysis, and machine learning) to specific problems in healthcare
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapI SY E 320 and 349, graduate/professional standing, or member of Engineering Guest Students, or declared in Clinical and Community Outcomes Capstone Certificate
- take all
- graduate/professional standing
- member of Engineering Guest Students
- declared in Clinical and Community Outcomes Capstone Certificate
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- All of
- graduate/professional standing
- member of Engineering Guest Students
- declared in Clinical and Community Outcomes Capstone Certificate
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
JUSTIN BOUTILIER is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
OGUZHAN ALAGOZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
PATRICIA FLATLEY BRENNAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Justin Boutilier
Students found the course engaging and highly relevant, with instructors connecting topics to real-world applications and encouraging open discussion.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.83 GPA, 91.5% A/AB (n=59 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.43 GPA, 64.3% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.48 GPA, 72.4% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Oguzhan Alagoz, Justin Boutilier
The class was generally considered easy, featuring straightforward projects, homework, and exams that were manageable for students with prior ISYE background.
Past student reviews · Justin Boutilier
Instructors were responsive on Slack and available for questions, while some students found the material dry or the class setup lacking in excitement.
Topics
- Decision making and control problems in health care.
- Social, regulatory, and economic factors unique to health care.
- Components of health systems including public health agencies, hospital systems, EMS, providers, and insurance.
- Industrial engineering tools such as regression, queueing theory, simulation, cost-benefit analysis, and machine learning.
Skills
- Describing and explaining the purpose of health system components like public health agencies, hospital systems, EMS, providers, and insurance.
- Identifying problems in health systems that are suitable for solving with industrial engineering tools.
- Applying IS engineering concepts such as regression, queueing theory, simulation, cost-benefit analysis, and machine learning to healthcare problems.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Spring 2026
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "629705070693ef472299845c8e23e31e8ec890cca4600aad6bcb876d0ceafb96",
"requirements_status": "needs_review",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}