The Advanced Certificate in Healthcare Management is an 18-credit program. Students must complete the following four required courses:
1) HAS 530 Health Care Operations
2) HAS 534 Fundamentals of Health Care Management
3) HAS 538 Health Economics and Public Policy
4) HAS 545 Ethics and Health Care
The remaining six credits can be chosen from HAS courses, or from specified MBA courses, upon approval.
Courses
HAS 513 Health Care and Older People 3 Credits
The course is designed to provide advanced knowledge in the understanding of health care needs and issues of our aging society. Various health care concepts, including the administration of policies that have an impact on the older adult, will be explored.
HAS 516 Health and the Aging Process 3 Credits
An overview of information and issues pertinent to the physical and psychosocial health of aging Americans including demographics, attitudes, physiological and pathological changes, health promotion/disease prevention, health care delivery settings, and ethical/legal issues.
HAS 521 Disability and Health Promotion 3 Credits
The course will provide an overview of the challenges of and barriers to living with a disability in the United States. We will discuss the various legislation that were designed to promote and ensure access to people with disabilities and evaluate their effectiveness in enabling access to health care. The course will focus on “accessing” all aspects of health care, from initial contact with a health care provider to receiving direct services and follow-up care. We will discuss communication options, transportation, literacy materials, architectural barriers, cultural competencies, health insurance, education, employment, disability awareness, assistive technology and challenge traditional concepts of stigma, sickness, disability and normal vs. normalcy.
HAS 523 Occupational Safety and Environmental Health 3 Credits
Designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of occupational and environmental public health issues, including the effects of biological, chemical, and physical factors affecting the community’s health. Specific topics addressed are: lead poisoning, chemical toxins, asbestos, OSHA, EPA, child labor, infectious diseases, and ergonomics.
HAS 526 Community Mental Health 3 Credits
This course provides a critical examination of the mental-health system as it has evolved in the United States. It will focus on the service-delivery system – how it has developed, what it is today, and where it is going. It will also consider the perspective of the mental-health consumer and family member – what it is like to live and cope with mental illness. Finally, the course will deal with the business of the mental-health service delivery system – how community mental-health organizations operate, how they are funded, who they employ, and how they are responding to the new “managed care” environment.
HAS 530 Health Care Operations 3 Credits
Health Care Operations will address, in detail, the operations within health care institutions from the macro to the micro levels of management. The philosophy and significant occurrences affecting health care operations in the past, present, and future will be analyzed. The divisions within health care operations (clinical, support and informational services, nursing, finance, and ambulatory care) will address the following aspects of management: financial forecasting and monitoring, staffing, employee productivity and morale, customer service, cost containment, decision making, total quality management, and managed care. Although emphasis will be placed on hospital operations, both nursing home and community health care center operations will be presented.
HAS 531 Healthcare Delivery Systems 3 Credits
This course is designed to provide an overview of the health care delivery enterprise in the United States and to provide students with an understanding of the various forces which shape this enterprise. The course also includes cases studies in health care and how they have shaped the United States health care system. The dynamics of care, evolving public and private regulations and guidelines, and rapid technological advances will be discussed.
HAS 533 Communications and Group Dynamics 3 Credits
This course provides a general introduction to the structure and dynamics of working groups and teams. The course is designed to familiarize students with the principles of interpersonal communication and group process and to develop, enhance, and strengthen skills in these areas. Students will participate in a variety of activities, including readings, case studies, role play, and written and oral presentations that illustrate relevant principles and provide practice in their application.
HAS 534 Fundamentals of Health Care Management 3 Credits
The course is designed to introduce the student to the practices and theories of health care management. An overview of management techniques and the process of human resource management will be addressed.
HAS 535 Essentials of Health Care Finance 3 Credits
The course is designed to introduce the student to those types of financial decisions that health care executives are most likely to be involved with. The course will provide material that will help the student understand the conceptual basis and mechanics of financial analysis and decision-making as it pertains to health care.
HAS 536 Health Law 3 Credits
The course will consist of lecture, assigned reading materials, analysis of reported health law cases, movies, and class discussions (including “breakout sessions” in which students will be presented with hypothetical cases for legal-issue identification and problem-solving analysis applying health law theories). At the completion of the course, it is hoped that the student will successfully identify health law issues and be able to identify a category of legal principles which would apply and provide a reasoned analysis of facts.
HAS 537 Resource Management: Planning and Budgeting 3 Credits
Health care organizations produce goods or services, and every production process requires inputs-natural resources, human resources, equipment, buildings, and the efforts and skills of labor. This course will examine the processes by which managers transform inputs into outputs within organizations. There will be a focus on health care and departmental budgeting and staffing, establishing quality and productivity standards, measuring whether the quality and productivity standards established have been attained, time management, and materials and inventory management. Students will be introduced to the concept of the Total Quality Management (TQM) and how it is implemented.
HAS 538 Health Economics and Public Policy 3 Credits
The contents of the course will be an in depth analysis of the effects of economic principles on health care and the effect of health policy and economic forces on the health care deliver system. Students will be taught to use these concepts to analyze health policy and improve the delivery of health care services. The effect of changes in market forces, manpower needs, formation of integrated delivery systems, health promotion initiatives and the impact of technology will be studied. [core course]
HAS 539 Strategic Planning for Health Programs, Facilities and Networks 3 Credits
The course is meant to convey to prospective and current health program managers the fundamentals of strategic thinking and planning, as well as the integration of these processed to fulfill their roles and responsibilities within a dynamic, changing medical marketplace where health care entities are undergoing a major paradigm shift. Medical marketplaces are changing from independent organizations that provide illness-focused episodic care to networks and systems of entities that address the health care needs of populations over entire lifetimes.
HAS 541 Strategic Management in Health Care 3 Credits
HAS 541 is designed for health services organization managers. This course provides exposure to various theories of organization and management in order to prepare the student to predict and explain organizational managerial actions and responses relative to public policy. The readings will focus the student on four major themes: organization/environment relationships, organization complexity, strategic management, and the significance of economic theory in understanding organization systems behavior.
HAS 542 The Impact of The Political Setting of Public Health 3 Credits Policy and Management 3 Credits
The course will examine the influences and effects of politics on the implementation of health policy at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Students will learn to analyze the roles and consequences of various governmental and social entities that are involved in policy implementation, their structures, processes, and the outcomes of selected public policies vis-à-vis legislative or administrative intent.
HAS 543 Health Policy 3 Credits
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the principles behind health policy making. Examples of local and national policies will be used as frameworks for analyzing specific policy formats. Students will learn to develop selective health policies using case studies throughout the course.
HAS 544 Principles of Managed Care 3 Credits
This course is designed to provide the student with an in-depth understanding of what managed care means in the context of the United States health care system. The history, components, and various organizational forms of managed care systems will be reviewed. Potential benefits and inherent limitations, along with the legal, social, and ethical implications of managed care as a health care delivery system, will be discussed.
HAS 545 Ethics and Health Care 3 Credits
This course, designed for health care professionals (providers, educators, and managers), provides an overview of the ethics of health care in a rapidly changing society. Students learn how to approach ethical dilemmas using theoretical frameworks and decision-making processes. Ethical issues surrounding health care changes and public health policy, including distribution of resources and rationing of services, are explored. Through the use of case studies, students are introduced to other health topics, such as euthanasia, reproduction, transplants, and genetics from an ethical perspective. The course also includes a review of classic cases in health care ethics and how they have shaped health policy. An overview of patient education and ethics and a discussion on the professional codes of ethics and standards are part of this course.
HAS 547 Proposal and Grant Writing for the Health Professions 3 Credits
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of proposal and grant writing. Many healthcare organizations are ill equipped to meet the complex demands of successfully obtaining grant funding. This course will help students understand that in order to procure grants, an organization must clearly articulate its “story” to potential funding agencies – including mission, goals, objectives, and outcomes. Students will learn to develop a grant application that successfully outlines a well thought-out program to be implemented if funding is received.
HAS 554 Marketing in Health Services 3 Credits
This course provides an introductory explanation of marketing as a necessary component of modern health care. The basic principles of marketing will be presented as will the application of these principles as they relate to health care and a managed care environment.
HAS 555 Essentials of Health Care Sales and Marketing 3 Credits
This course is designed to introduce the student to the strategic selling methodology that looks at the health care buying decision. The focus is on the health care customer’s needs, both organizational and personal. The resultant analysis will allow the student to better determine how to add value to the health care customer’s organization and create a long-term business relationship that benefits all parties. The course will examine the key principles, methodologies, and strategies of marketing. The student will expand these basic concepts to include an analysis of the health care value chain: the trading relationships between the producers (manufacturers) of health care products, the purchasers of those products (group purchasing organizations, wholesalers/distributors), and the health care providers (hospital customers) that are the end users of these products.
HAS 556 Fundamentals of Health Care Quality Management 3 Credits
The course will cover the conceptual and statistical development of outcome measures in a variety of health care settings. Coverage will include health care delivery situations and health policy considerations. CQI principles will be developed and the key role of outcome measures in such programs will be illustrated. Appropriate statistical methods will be introduced.
HAS 557 Planning and Implementing Health Programs 3 Credits
Prepares students to conduct needs assessments of various, diverse populations and to plan, implement, and evaluate programs to meet the needs. Plans include detailed goals, behavioral objectives, methods, resource and budget allocation, including grant and contract considerations.
HAS 563 Computer Case Studies in Health Care Management 3 Credits
Case management class using personal computer applications to assist problem solving in health care management.
HAS 564 Health Information and Communication Systems 3 Credits
This course acquaints students with the types of information systems available in health care and their applications to health care delivery. It includes an overview of various health care networks, patient-centered information systems, and imaging systems. Also presented is a review of system platforms, electronic medical records, and computer assisted instruction. Students discuss the integration of health information systems with communication systems, such as E-mail, fax, pagers, and wireless telephones. Through the use of classroom demonstrations and site visits, students gain hands-on experience with several health-related information and communication systems.
HAS 570 Business Aspects of Managed Care 3 Credits
The course is designed to introduce the student to and expand on their knowledge base as it relates to the business and financial aspects of the managed care delivery system. Trends in the financing of health care will be explored, as well as the practical application of developing and writing a formal business plan.
HAS 571 Issues in Health Care Management 3 Credits
The course is designed to introduce the student to the current trends in the United States health care system, including trends in medical-legal issues, labor relations, cost accounting, and managed care. Models of progressive programs and health care delivery systems will be reviewed and discussed.
HAS 572 Ambulatory Care 3 Credits
The course is designed to familiarize the student with and develop their knowledge base as it relates to the areas of ambulatory care administration. National and local trends will be identified, as well as applications needed to administer outpatient care programs and facilities.
HAS 573 Statistical Process Control for Health Care Quality Management 3 Credits
Teaches health care management professional how to incorporate quantitative performance measurement into daily work routines to form the foundation for quality improvement-oriented culture. Provides strategies to gather and analyze data needed to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate health care quality improvement initiatives. Prerequisites: HAS 556 and HAS 550 (with minimum grades of B).
HAS 574 Group Practice Management 3 Credits
The course is designed to introduce the student to the practices and theories of group/physician practice management. It will provide the students with a fundamental understanding of the financial and regulatory issues that influence today’s medical practice. Insight into issues such as leadership, operations, compensation, and clinical productivity will be reviewed.
HAS 575 Long-Term Care 3 Credits
An in-depth examination of the essential components of the field of long-term care. The course is designed to enhance the student’s understanding of health care options for the elderly, the existing system of long-term care delivery, and the administrative aspects of operating a nursing home.
HAS 576 Workplace 2020 3 Credits
This course provides an overview of the issues affecting the American workplace in the year 2010 and beyond. These issues will then be discussed in the context of the health care environment as students learn how to forecast and plan for changes in the industry and their particular workplaces. Issues of technological advances, diversity, quality improvement, customer service, and organization change will be explored. The course will emphasize the students’ professional development by focusing on the competencies and attitudinal changes necessary to plan for their own career success and contribute to the success of their organization.
HAS 578 Leadership in Health Care 3 Credits
The organization of the future requires more than traditional management to remain successful and competitive in our rapidly changing world. This course will focus on the future role of the leader in the emerging society of organizations, while drawing on lessons learned from the past, in both theory and practice. The impact of leadership on the future quality of our lives, our businesses, our learning institutions and society in general will be examined. Students will learn from first-hand accounts of leaders’ experiences and the different challenges facing private, public, and non-profit organizations. The difference between management skills and leadership skills will be defined, as well as strategies for balancing and developing each skill set.
HAS 579 Advanced Seminar in Health Policy: Persuasive Communication 3 Credits
The course provides a basis from which students critically evaluate, develop, and deliver cogent academic discourse on topics central to health policy. Using a seminar format in combination with didactic content, the course will expose students to fundamental concepts and strategies for persuasive communication within policy making.
Permitted MBA courses include:
MBA 502 - Finance
MBA 504 - Financial Accounting
MBA 505 - Marketing
MBA 506 - Leadership and Team Effectiveness
MBA 509 - Continuous Quality Improvement
MBA 511 - Technology Innovations
MBA 530 - Employee Dispute Resolution
MBA 538 - Org Development & Change Management
MBA 570 - Entrepreneurship
MBA 571 - Social Entrepreneurship
MBA 574 - Project Management
MBA 592 - Organizational Behavior
