Maurício Alves, a former student of the Specialisation Course in Hospital Administration (CEAH) at the NOVA National School of Public Health (NOVA NSPH), has been awarded the Eduardo Sá Ferreira Prize 2025, awarded by APAH – Portuguese Association of Hospital Administrators, for his final course project. This distinction recognises the quality and relevance of his work in the field of health management.
The prize was awarded to the article developed within the scope of the CEAH, focusing on the analysis of the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools as support for decision-making by hospital managers and administrators.
For Maurício Alves, this distinction represents “a sign of the importance of paying attention to how the future unfolds”, emphasising that, in a sector as demanding as healthcare, “scientific rigour and innovation must reinforce the purpose and impact of the hospital manager and administrator, creating real value for organisations and for people”.
The award-winning work is the result of a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study based on interviews with hospital managers and administrators, analysing how they perceive the use of AI in the decision-making process. The findings show that decision-making is often fragmented and manual, with a strong reliance on traditional tools and limited access to data.
The study also demonstrates that the effective impact of AI depends on critical variables such as the existence of robust technological infrastructure, adequate training and strong ethical governance, reinforcing that these tools should support, rather than replace, human judgement and empathy in management.
“Equipping managers to understand, assess and critically apply digital tools is crucial to transforming data into useful information and building confidence in decision-making”, highlights Maurício Alves. He adds that this is an essential step in preparing leaders capable of driving digital transformation in a safe, ethical and people-centred manner. “In the CEAH, I had the opportunity to turn a practical concern into research, listening to real-world experience and systematically organising, with method, what currently limits – and what can accelerate – decision-making in a hospital context”, he noted.
Developed within the context of the CEAH, the project enabled the transformation of a practical concern into applied research, bringing theory and organisational reality closer together. Along this journey, the student highlights the guidance and support of Teresa Magalhães and Joana Seringa, from NOVA NSPH, as well as Tatiana Silvestre.
NOVA NSPH welcomes this distinction, which reinforces the role of the CEAH in producing relevant knowledge for health management and administration, and in training leaders prepared to meet the current and future challenges of the health system.
