DHSC - Doctor of Health Sciences
Communication skills have never been more important than in the 21st century where professionals must balance verbal and written interactions. Strategic communication must align the message, the medium, and the audience to help organizations achieve their goals. This course will explore those concepts and help students improve their communication skills, including topics such as professional writing, developing effective PowerPoint presentations, importance of active listening, and evolving use of social media.
A study of organizational management theory and organizational models in a variety of settings as related to culture, mission, performance and change management with an emphasis on the application of management theory and research. This course provides an opportunity to explore conceptual frameworks addressing organizational development, leadership, decision making, and the stages of change management.
This course focuses on the identification and analysis of factors and interrelationships which influence the operation of health services organizations with specific attention to local health departments, hospitals, multi-institutional systems, integrated health systems and strategic alliances. These organizations will be viewed and discussed comparatively with other types of health service agencies.
Examine issues and principles in the management of conflict and negotiation within organizations. Topics include resolution strategies and organizational design and change. Students will examine case studies and develop a conflict scenario that applies concepts learned throughout the course.
This course discusses the determinants of health, health behavior change, measuring health status, and influences on health status, including health disparities and socioeconomic status. This includes discussion on how healthcare organizations utilize this information to improve health status among populations. Additionally, students will be able to identify and understand population-based approaches aimed at health improvement.
This course will expose learners to effective leadership approaches and skill sets. Topics will include fundamentals of leadership, leadership and professionalism self-assessment, leadership philosophy, professionalism, essential leadership and professionalism skills, modeling best leadership practices and behaviors, ethics in leadership, institutional and program accreditation, handling conflict, and emerging issues. Learners will apply this learning to their professional life through a series of practical exercises.
The course introduces basic concepts in healthcare analytics. Students will develop data analysis skills with an emphasis on statistical reasoning. The course is designed to teach students how to use data to make informed decisions. This process includes reviewing the data, exploring all the underlying assumptions, summarizing and analyzing the data, and finally translating the results. Discussions and assignments will focus on honing data interpretation and the ability to strategically apply analysis results to improve health outcomes.
This course introduces research methods and their applications in the healthcare environment. The course will provide an opportunity for students to establish and advance their understanding of research through exploring the fundamental definition of study design, technical methodology, data collection, data analysis, research ethics, statistical interpretation, and effective dissemination of research results. Students will be implementing theoretical concepts to critically review relevant literature and evaluate different types of research procedures and outcomes. Students will also apply the methodologies they learn to identify and explain and prepare a preliminary research protocol. The primary focus of this course is to develop the learner’s ability to understand, evaluate, and apply research methods in healthcare settings and to prepare them to become effective leaders in that environment.
This course covers financial management in health care organizations including, but not limited to, financial decision-making using accounting information, operation of business units, principles of economics and capital budgeting processes along with budgetary and financial controls. Financial performance will be analyzed along with revenue determination and profitability. General accounting foundations and terminology will be covered. Students will analyze 'real-life' cases to apply cost allocation, marginal cost pricing, breakeven, budget variance, capital investment, and financial analysis skills. Students will also identify and explore a health care finance-related topic, and prepare a research paper.
This course provides the key concepts related to information technology within healthcare organizations. The course explores how information technologies are used as a tool to enhance performance within healthcare organizations for positive health outcomes. Topic areas include various information technologies used in the healthcare sector; methods for assessing and ensuring information technology value; laws, regulations, and standards to guide the practice; achieving effectiveness through information technology; and the latest developments, including business and clinical intelligence and telemedicine.
To ensure student learning and program quality, address accreditation standards, and satisfy institutional initiatives, formative and summative program evaluation methods will be examined in depth. Formative evaluation topics include needs assessment, evaluability assessment, structured conceptualization, implementation evaluation, and process evaluation. Summative evaluation topics include outcome evaluations, impact evaluation, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis, secondary analysis, and meta-analysis. Strategies for establishing an evaluation culture within an educational institution will be discussed. Learners will apply this knowledge to their actual working environment through a series of practical exercises.
An introduction to the policy process, frameworks for understanding health policy issues, background research necessary for policy implementation and implementation strategies.
Examination of strategy-making issues for healthcare organizations, including analysis of economic incentives, financial strategies, development of mission and goals and formulation and implementation of long-range strategies to accomplish those goals.
Increasingly complex environments require a commitment to developing innovative solutions to address changing systems and evolving needs. This course will examine concepts and case studies of innovation in a variety of organizations, along with the tools and strategies necessary to promote effective change through discovery and networking. Students will apply information learned throughout the program to develop an innovative proposal for their place of employment or for an organization they aspire to work for. A Capstone course.