HADM - Healthcare Administration

This course is designed to help students learn about essential aspects of the organization, financing and delivery of healthcare in the United States. Students will acquire an enhanced understanding of the complex US health care system. The course has a macro-level orientation; however, the material necessitates considering how the many facets of the US healthcare system affect communities, families and individuals. The US healthcare system is like an ecosystem with various sub-components that interact with each other and with broader social, economic and political forces to create a complex, dynamic and intricate system. We can change the healthcare system, but we need to consider how proposed changes will affect other components of the system and broader society as well as what resistance various stakeholders will likely put forth.

Policy and Politics of Health, explores the development, implementation, and evaluation of health policies in the United States. Health policies include those that address the organization, financing, provision, and evaluation of both personal and public health services. The tension between government’s role in providing for the general welfare and protecting the public’s health while recognizing the privacy rights of the individual will receive considerable attention as will the provision of healthcare within the context of a federal system of government. The long-term trend toward a more expansive role for governmental institutions and the media and the differential impact of economic, cultural and social factors, interest groups, social disparities and public opinion will be addressed in some detail. Students will develop an understanding of the policy process and the most common approach to policy research. The course includes exercises that will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the most important types of public policy in the US healthcare system and the capacity to conduct a reasoned analysis of a policy issue.

A study of management theory, organizational management and behavior as related to leadership, organizational design, culture, processes, workforce strategy and change management with an emphasis on the application of theory and research to organizational management and behavior. This course provides an opportunity to explore conceptual frameworks addressing organizational behavior, development, leadership, strategy and management of change.

This course examines legal, regulatory and ethical issues health professionals are likely to confront. In this course, we will examine the legal principles needed to analyze regulatory and liability issues. We will study selected principles and policies under-girding health the American system of health law, including common law principles of liability and federal/state legislation regulating health professionals and operations. We will also discuss the impact of state and federal law on the operation of various health-related organizations.

This is an introductory health economics course designed to provide students with a basic understanding of concepts in economic theory and analysis applied to healthcare delivery in the US. Health economics offers a conceptual framework and analytic tools for assessing the inter-relationships among healthcare resources, providers, consumers and markets. In other words, we will study how scarce health-related resources are allocated along with various incentives and structural frameworks that can impact those allocations.

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.

This course covers financial management in healthcare 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.

To achieve performance improvements in the areas of cost, clinical quality, functional outcomes and service quality, healthcare managers must focus on the design, execution and management of operations. This course covers analytical techniques to support quantitative managerial decision-making in healthcare. Building on a 'system-based' approach to the healthcare environment, analytical tools are examined to aid problem solving and decision-making in healthcare organizations.

The administrative introduction course provides students with no previous work experience in healthcare with a supervised experience in an approved organization. The introduction will expose the student to different aspects of working in a healthcare care environment, such as working with different professionals and gaining a deeper understanding of the complex nature of healthcare.

The emphasis of this course is on the practice of leadership. The course will equip the student with the basic managerial background, fundamentals and the theories which will be applicable at any level in management and in a leadership position. Students will be exposed to the interaction of leadership, change, communication and power as seen in the healthcare environment. This course will examine the traits of leadership, developing leadership skill, creating a vision and managing conflicts and obstacles in an organization.

This course focuses on the preparation of healthcare administrators for supply chain management. The concentrations for the course include healthcare value analysis, contract management, purchasing, warehouse management, equipment management, product standardization, just-in-time approaches and biomedical engineering.

This course examines marketing principles, concepts and skills applied to healthcare organizations and healthcare networks. Students will examine marketing methodologies and principles for evaluating consumer decision making actions for healthcare services. The course will place emphasis on social media and electronic forms of marketing healthcare services. The course will culminate with the development of a strategic healthcare marketing plan.

This course will provide students with advanced knowledge and skills in the theory of conflict analysis and resolution, including but not necessarily limited to: Skill development and collaborative problem solving at the individual, group, and organizational level; and conceptual and practical skills in negotiation that are essential for managers. Third-party conflict intervention, which can assume a number of forms such as fact-finding, conciliation, mediation and arbitration.

This course is designed to help students learn about essential aspects of strategic planning and strategic management in the context of healthcare service organizations. Students will acquire an enhanced understanding of the complex US healthcare system, apply planning concepts to formulate mission and vision statements, and formulate goals and objectives as part of a strategic plan. The course content will also address aspects of organizational leadership, along with the importance of implementation and monitoring progress to achieve continuous quality improvement and to 'close the loop' with strategic planning initiatives.

The residency provides students with an in-depth supervised experience in an approved organization. The residency will require students to complete a project related to an actual healthcare administration issue that is a focus within the organization. The purpose of the graduate Administrative Residency is to provide an opportunity for the student to apply, in a practice setting and under the direction of a Preceptor, the competencies, knowledge and skills they have acquired through their healthcare administration course work. It requires the student integrates and synthesize knowledge and skills through the application of health administration theories and principles to the development and implementation of a special project in a selected domain of professional health administration practice.