This course provides an overview of statues and regulations as they apply to the health care system. Topics include: an overview of the American legal system; licensure of institutions; licensure and discipline of practitioners; physician-patient relationship; reproductive issues; the right to die; organ donations; medical records; legal liability; malpractice; and labor law. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
Highly trained clinical and administrative professionals drive the nature of work in health care. The purpose of this course is to provide students the opportunity to study leadership theory as it is applied in health care organizations. Leadership theories and applications geared toward professionals working in health service organizations will be emphasized. Students will learn to apply leadership theories via case studies and issue analysis of their active work environments. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring)
This is an overview course that will provide an in-depth investigation of the financial workings in the health care industry. The course will be presented through the investigation of the operations of various health care settings – hospitals, physician practices, long term care facilities and home health care providers. The course covers all the essential functions in health care internal financial operations that would be experienced throughout the industry, except for the insurance companies. There are several examples involving physician practices, inpatient hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, etc. During the course the participants will carefully evaluate what the finance department is expected to accomplish. They will better understand the role of the clinical operations manager in the financial health of a health care organization. The course is designed to provide an approach that includes some terminology used in accounting, but more so those terms associated with finance. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring)
This course provides a review of the methodology of planning effectively for health care services. The use of data systems and the methods of forecasting, identifying, and analyzing problems are explored. The course will all address the process of strategic planning, setting priorities, developing projects and allocating resources. Students prepare actual application for new programs to regulatory agencies. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course discusses the delivery system of health care in the US. Specifically, the course will review the current status of American health care including research into population demographics and health and the concept of wellness and prevention. Following this a review of international health care models will occur to consider best practice as alternative care models for consideration for the US. In addition, the students will develop, for their area of interest and expertise, a strategy for incremental or radical innovation in how we provide health care to our constituents. (A minimum of 3rd year standing is required to enroll.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course will evaluate the modern challenges of global health from a multidisciplinary perspective. The key concepts of global health will be discussed, including various health determinants, human rights, health care systems, culture’s impact on health, environmental concerns, nutrition, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, women’s health issues, child and adolescent health, injuries, natural disasters and complex humanitarian emergencies, poverty’s impact on health and more. Students will be expected to be active learners, leading classroom activities on certain days as part of group research project presentations, and actively participate in discussions. (A minimum of 3rd year standing is required to enroll.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
The purpose of this course is to describe the fundamental attributes of emergency management to provide students with a foundation of understanding of the field, while also providing students with a basic understanding of how public health, medical, and health care services function as a part of disaster and emergency management. This course provides an introduction to emergency management and the role the health care organizations (public health, medicine, etc.) play in the four phases of emergency management (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) and its core functions. Students will learn how to apply the core functions of emergency management in health-related disasters and other emergencies to identify solutions and methods to improve emergency management practice. (Prerequisites: HLTH-508 or equivalent course and at least 3rd year standing.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization are two of many health organizations that have emphasized the importance of cultural competence in health care. As our society becomes more global, sensitivity to and respect for various cultural norms is an integral component of health care delivery. This course defines cultural competency both in theory and in practice. Select topics to be addressed include: Introduction to cultural competency; diversity, equity and inclusion; how cultural competency impacts health practice; health disparity; language and communication; culture and health literacy; cultural competency; strategies for cultural competency assessment; practicing cultural competency, etc. (Prerequisites: HLTH-508 or equivalent course and at least 3rd year standing.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course is designed to build off of students’ understanding of health services delivery, population health management and global health issues, with an international perspective on leading health care delivery systems in the US and abroad. The course will expand student’s understanding of the management/ leadership continuum; the levels of leadership in public health practice; the work of local, state and national regulatory agencies to oversee and respond to community health needs; skills required for effective leadership within diverse cultural settings; and, developing the student as a leader. The focus of this course is to build an awareness of the knowledge, attitudes and skills required to improve the system within the US while influencing our global community. (Prerequisites: HLTH-508 or equivalent course.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course discusses the delivery system of health care in the US. Specifically, the course will review the current status of American health care including research into population demographics and health and the concept of wellness and prevention. Following this a review of international health care models will occur to consider best practice as alternative care models for consideration for the US. In addition, the students will develop, for their area of interest and expertise, a strategy for incremental or radical innovation in how we provide health care to our constituents. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
This course will evaluate the modern challenges of global health from a multidisciplinary perspective. The key concepts of global health will be discussed, including various health determinants, human rights, health care systems, culture’s impact on health, environmental concerns, nutrition, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, women’s health issues, child and adolescent health, injuries, natural disasters and complex humanitarian emergencies, poverty’s impact on health and more. Students will be expected to be active learners, lead class activities on certain days as part of group research project presentations, and actively participate in discussions. (A minimum of 3rd year standing is required to enroll.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
The purpose of this course is to describe the fundamental attributes of emergency management to provide students with a foundation of understanding of the field, while also providing students with a basic understanding of how public health, medical, and health care services function as a part of disaster and emergency management. This course provides an introduction to emergency management and the role the health care organizations (public health, medicine, etc.) play in in the four phases of emergency management (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) and its core functions. Students will learn how to apply the core functions of emergency management in health-related disasters and other emergencies to identify solutions and methods to improve emergency management practice. (Prerequisites: HLTH-608 and HLTH-610 or equivalent courses.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization are two of many health organizations that have emphasized the importance of cultural competence in health care. As our society becomes more global, sensitivity to and respect for various cultural norms is an integral component of health care delivery. This course defines cultural competency both in theory and in practice. Select topics to be addressed include: Introduction to cultural competency; diversity, equity and inclusion; how cultural competency impacts health practice; health disparity; language and communication; culture and health literacy; cultural competency; strategies for cultural competency assessment; practicing cultural competency, etc. (Prerequisites: HLTH-608 and HLTH-610 or equivalent courses.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This is an introductory graduate-level survey course on research design/ methods and analysis. The course provides a broad overview of the process and practices of social research in service-related contexts. Content includes principles and techniques of research design, sampling, data collection, and analysis including the nature of evidence, types of research, defining research questions, sampling techniques, data collection, data analysis, issues concerning human subjects and research ethics, and challenges associated with conducting research in real-world contexts. The analysis component of the course provides an understanding of statistical methodology used to collect and interpret data found in research as well as how to read and interpret data collection instruments. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring)
Taught in conjunction with Research Methods students will become articulate in a variety of business and research communication methodologies. These methods will include writing a research proposal, a white paper, critique professional journal articles and prepare a grant proposal. A search of the literature for a defined research proposal will include an annotated bibliography to support the references used in the research proposal. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring)
This is the first of three courses in the HSA, MS program that require students to be on campus. These “immersion” courses will be scheduled over a long weekend and will entail full days on campus as well as pre- and post-course work completed online. The concept is to immerse students in a series of experiences to support their development as high function managers and leaders within the health care industry. This course provides a detailed examination of the core principles of management as well as characteristics and disciplines that are required by persons holding management and leadership roles in health care delivery organizations. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Summer)
The health care industry is undergoing significant change as a result of reform. The Affordable Care Act directly affects the financing and delivery of heath care. This course reviews the key elements of health care finance required of managers and leaders. Changes mandated by the Federal government will be explored in the areas of finance, care delivery and health insurance. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course provides an examination of the roles and responsibilities of policy makers on the health care system and the resulting economic impact of their policies. Students will compare and contrast the regulatory functions of varying levels of government, the political process and economic impacts as they relate to health care systems as well as examine control issues, economic functions and regulatory trends in the United States. In addition, an assessment will be made of national health systems and national health policies of other countries as they compare to the United States. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
The health care industry is diverse and complex. This course is designed to provide a context for understanding the various elements of the US health care delivery system. The system is studied by reviewing the systems’ history and roots, current and future state. Students will study the unique personal service orientation of health care and the sub-systems that support care delivery. The course will cover: services and modes of care delivery; roles, responsibilities and relationships of providers, payers, patients, support personnel and policymakers; reimbursement and insurance systems; health care outcomes; health care reform and government policies. Students will view the health care delivery system from a critical perspective and develop solutions to the access, quality, and cost issues. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring)
This course discusses reinventing health care in our country. Specifically the course will review the current status of American health care including research into population demographics and health and the concept of wellness and prevention. Following this a review of international health care models will occur to consider best practice as alternative care models for consideration for the US. Third the students will develop, for their area of interest and expertise a strategy for incremental or radical innovation in how we provide health care to our constituents. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring)
This course will provide students with an ethical framework consisting of knowledge of the principle theories and moral philosophers and their methods to approach decision making. Ethics will be further explored giving consideration of cultural norms and how this influences societal ethical decision making; a review of the ethics of the professions of health care; information about gaining access to the organizations ethical principles and an understanding of personal ethics. Using these as a foundation personal and professional ethics will be explored, developed and a decision making rationale developed through a sequence of exercises requiring ethical decision making related to finance, human resources, clinical issues and personal morality. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring, Summer)
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to evidence-based management practice in health care. The primary focus is to ensure that managers ask the right questions, use the best evidence available and make better decisions in carrying out their mission. Students will participate in the process of retrieval, appraisal, and synthesis of evidence in collaboration with other members of the health care team to improve processes and patient outcomes in diverse populations. Students complete an individual, final assignment demonstrating the ability to collect, document, and translate research (evidence) on the practice of health care management . Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course focuses on the changing competitive health care environment that has made human capital an organization’s key asset, with HR largely responsible for cultivating it. Specifically, students will learn the impact that human capital has on the HR division and function of health care organizations. The focus will be on how the “New HR” has become more strategic and fundamental to a health care organization’s success and the need to meet the demands of highly skilled, educated and credentialed health care professionals. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course will support student’s understanding of concepts, impacts and applications of marketing in the health care industry. The goal of the course is to equip future leaders with the capacity and discipline to make informed decisions to advance the strategic goals of an organization. Using a course long project with a health care product or service chosen by the student, concepts are introduced and applied against actual scenarios. The course introduces fundamental marketing concepts including differential analysis, the four P’s, segmenting with the role of ethics woven throughout the course. Students will put concepts to work, learning how to conduct and apply internal and external analysis, the impact of customer satisfaction and how to build tactics and measure outcomes consistent with a chosen strategic direction. Throughout the course, students will be challenged to fine tune their presentation skills in exercises meant to simulate today’s business world. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course provides a basic understanding of health services financial management. We begin with elementary accounting concepts and then focus on financial statement preparation and analysis. Special topics areas include discounted cash flow, risk, capital investments evaluation, debt/equity financing, and financial decision making models such as break-even analysis, cash flow forecasting and the like. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
This course builds on the foundational learning from Health Care Financial Management I: Principles & Practice. Course emphasis will be on for-profit entities within the health care sector. The course goes into greater depth on discounted cash flow analysis, risk, financial performance evaluation, capital investments, capital budgeting, debt, and equity financing. A key objective of this class is to develop the student’s ability to engage in long-term financial modeling. Students will complete a comprehensive financial forecast as their final graded assessment for this field of study. (Prerequisites: HLTH-730 or equivalent course.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
This course provides an in-depth review of the characteristics of successful health insurance plans with emphasis on cost containment and premium control techniques. Emphasis will be placed on learning various cost containment and quality improvement tools of an effective delivery system and how to apply those tolls to different delivery structures. The relationship between shared risk and behavior change is explored as well as basic concepts of health insurance underwriting and the essentials of a successful provider payer partnership. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
This course will incorporate an examination of contemporary organizational systems thinking focusing on concepts relevant to health service organizations and their communities; emphasizing organizational quality, leadership, environment, strategy, structure, and processes. The course provides students with the evaluation of key factors affecting an organization’s system as well as their community, through quality and analytical thinking; allowing the student to apply theories that suggest an effective organizational response to such influences and change. Lecture 3, Credits 3
This course identifies the risk inherent within health care institutions, organizations, agencies and for individual providers. The management of risk is explored as part of a strategic response of an organization or individual within health care. Specifically the risk inherent within health care organizations; in communications and sharing of data; in the embracing of new technologies and drug treatment therapies; and the expectations of corporate compliance will be discussed. The role of quality assurance will be reviewed as a strategy to control risk. This is a required course in the Health Systems Administration program and assignments/ applications are focused on healthcare issues. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
The challenges and complexities of the current health care environment require a skilled operations leader that will engage high performing teams, develop highly reliable processes, effectively manage expenses, and succeed in achieving desired outcomes in an increasingly competitive market. The increased focus on population health, payment reform pressure, the emergence of risk and value based payment models will challenge traditional healthcare organizations and require leadership focused on change management and performance improvement. The purpose of this course is to provide students the opportunity to analyze the health care organization using both qualitative and quantitative principles of operations management. It provides an integrated system and a set of contemporary operations improvement tools that can be used to make significant gains in any organization. This course is designed to provide the student with an overview of the field, and the ability to use some of the most commonly deployed operations tools and processes. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course teaches the principles Lean-Sigma and the application of its process improvement methodologies (and tools) in a health care environment. The curriculum examines the current challenges encountered in the healthcare industry and how the application of Lean-Sigma techniques can improve overall performance. A specific focus of the course is to learn the methodology used to obtain desired results of streamlining operations and enhancing administrative effectiveness in the clinical, administrative and service segments of health care. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Summer)
Highly trained clinical and administrative professionals drive the nature of work in health care. The purpose of this course is to provide students the opportunity to study leadership theory as it is applied in health care organizations. Leadership theories and applications geared toward professionals working in health service organizations will be emphasized. Students will learn to apply leadership theories via case studies and issue analysis of their active work environments. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
This is the second of three courses in the MHSA program that require students to be on campus. These “immersion” courses will be scheduled over a long weekend and will entail full days on campuses well as pre- and post-course work completed online. The concept is to immerse students in a series of experiences to support their development as high function managers and leaders within the health care industry. This course builds on the first Leading Health Care Systems course and provides a in-depth examination of advanced management and leadership knowledge, skills and values required of contemporary leaders within health care systems. (Prerequisites: HLTH-706 or equivalent course.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Summer)
A comprehensive course in clinical research ethics. The course will present the history of ethical issues in research involving human subjects and the resulting development of regulatory requirements globally. Critical processes such as informed consent and institutional review boards will be reviewed extensively. Current issues such as conflict of interest and research involving genetic material will also be discussed and understanding the role of good science as good ethics will be included. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course is intended to explore current challenges in the health care system, and how the ability to understand and apply health data and associated health care information technology (IT) tools can improve the quality and cost of health care services. Students will learn about regulations, standards, and rules which impact health IT. The course will include a review of current and future health care technology tools and associated data collection, storage and exchange practices; and utilize applied case studies allowing students to demonstrate their ability to use health care information technology systems and data analytics to improve patient and provider outcomes. The role of technology will also be explored as it relates to strategy, adoption levels, care settings, and patient engagement. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall)
This course provides the student with the opportunity to apply their graduate coursework to the world of work. Students will be placed or seek out internship opportunities in a work scenario similar to their ultimate career choice in the field. A mentor for the student must be identified in the place of the internship. The role of the mentor will be to work with students to develop a plan for the internship, facilitate the internship experience, and verify the student's accomplishment of specified outcomes as a result of the internship. Once the mentor approves of the plan of work and student accomplishments at the conclusion of the internship they will send this final report to the student's program advisor. (Enrollment in this course requires permission from the department offering the course.) Internship 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer)
Selected topics is an innovative course not reflected in the accepted curriculum. Once the outline is submitted titles will appear in the course listing for the semester. The course may be taken more than once as topics change. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer)
Students will demonstrate synthesis and integration of the theories and foundation principles of their discipline. This will be achieved through application of core knowledge in a series of progressive problem. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Summer)
Having an effective organizational strategy is an essential component of all successful entities. Yet, practicing managers often engage in strategy formulation with very different conceptions of strategy and the strategic process. This course reviews the historical development of modern strategic theory and practice, with a focus on the works of Porter, Minztberg, and Barney. More importantly, the course will address and utilize various analytical frameworks which infuse the strategic process with intellectual rigor while retaining the essence of strategy that is innovative and creative. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Spring)
This course serves as a culminating experience in which students are expected to apply knowledge gained from their graduate experience to the real field of health care administration. The fundamental goal is to facilitate the research and development of a critical and creative recommendation to a problem or opportunity. Students will work under the guidance of a practicing health care administrator and the course faculty to develop a well researched, effectively written paper. This final course serves as a turning point for the student—from education to professional practice. (This course requires permission of the Instructor to enroll.) Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer)
This is the final of three courses in the MS HSA program that require students to participate in a first-hand analysis of a health system within the United States or outside our borders. The objective of the analysis is to critically examine and assess the structure, function and achievements of care delivery in a domestic or international health system. Students enrolled in this course must select either the domestic, international, independent study option as described by the program. Lecture 3, Credits 3 (Summer)
Independent Study will provide students with the ability to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. Students, with the assistance of a faculty advisor, will propose a course of study. Independent Study students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the CHST Graduate Independent Study Form to enroll. Ind Study 1, Credits 1 - 4 (Fall, Spring, Summer)