Master of Healthcare Admin (MHA)

As clinical, operational and financial practices continue to evolve in large health systems, collaborative leadership competencies have begun to supplement traditional and transformational leadership styles. Characterized by the difference between "leading collaboration" and "leading collaboratively," this C-Suite modeling of team-based care is borne out in dyad partnerships and joint decision-making. This course will expose students to the roles and priorities of various C-Suite executives in health systems, and how their strategic thinking must stay nimble, predictive, and synergistic. Faculty will also discuss leadership practices and traits gained from many years of experience, as well as lessons learned in the process.

Health care systems are evolving rapidly based on input from consumers, payors, federal government, regulatory bodies, and clinicians. This course will examine the evolution and structure in the current health care system, discussing the issues that impact social justice, healthcare reform, and equitable health care for all. Students will apply systems and leadership theories to affect change within the healthcare system at both a macro and micro level.

Health Justice seeks to give students an in-depth examination of the various social determinants of health and how integration of medical and legal professions can enhance quality of life for the most vulnerable among us. Students will enhance their understanding of how these non-medical factors affect health of individuals and communities. Students will embark on a serious analysis of the design of medical-legal partnership, the motivations of partners, and current strategies for success. Students will examine past policy campaigns to address national shortfalls in the health and legal systems. Students will be encouraged to spot problems within the current healthcare and legal systems, and develop solutions. Advanced advocacy methods will be employed to discuss and defend the need for healthcare reform. This class seeks to inspire innovative interdisciplinary collaboration to meet the needs of this country's most vulnerable populations to improve human welfare.

More than ever, today’s healthcare professionals are called upon to provide personalized patient care safely and efficiently with measureable outcomes and an emphasis on prevention. The field of Health Informatics offers tools and strategies that leaders can use to influence the use of technology, data, and information to improve healthcare safety, quality, efficiency, and the healthcare consumer/patient experience. This course will highlight these approaches and topics will include key concepts, theories, tools, and technologies in the fields of health informatics and data management.

Local, regional and system-level priorities must support and strengthen each other to create a cohesive health system vision and mission. Creating functional health system synergies, namely workforce alignment, integrated leadership, and a universal culture, particularly after M&A activity, ensures engagement and accountability. This course will consider how to develop a high-performing, integrated delivery system that focuses on patient-centered, valued care across the continuum. It will also discuss governance, including board selection and evaluation, the role of local and regional boards in large health systems, and preparing and educating boards for the transition from volume to value.

The landscape of health care services delivery and community benefits is rapidly transforming. New competencies are required for leaders to effectively navigate and succeed under community benefits requirements, emerging value-based payment models, and health financing models. This course acquaints students with key and emerging community health, health equity and population health concepts and frameworks related to maintaining the health and wellness of defined populations and communities. The course examines the importance of “upstream” social determinants of health and their relationship to multiple community sectors.

While epidemiology includes studies of incidence, transmission and prevention of disease, social epidemiology works backwards from a patient’s clinical presentation to the myriad of upstream social and economic conditions that ultimately influence that patient’s health. An in-depth understanding of social epidemiology concepts is critical to the development of interventions to affect the health of communities.

This course focuses on the role of health and community data, and data analytics in advancing community health priorities and investments. This course provides in-depth knowledge on how to interpret data from health systems, community health needs assessments, payers, public data sets, emerging geospatial analytics and information systems. Drawing from data analytics, students will learn how to apply different approaches to community health financing to address prioritized health needs. The student will explore emerging funding models for social drivers of health that include pay for success, and socially responsible investing principles.

Enhanced leadership skills are essential in constantly changing healthcare environments. This course focuses on theories of leadership, and their relevance to different workplace situations. Learners will create a professional values statement and complete a series of leadership assessments. Through this process the learner will identify focus areas and specific steps to affect personal growth in preparation for the challenges of healthcare leadership.

Facilitation; Coordination; Orchestration: leadership effectiveness in a team- based environment requires cooperative skills and competencies . Social intelligence (the ability to perceive, interpret and adapt to social situations) and emotional intelligence (the ability to understand, use and manage emotions) have been positively correlated with leadership effectiveness. This course will enhance students' abilities to understand self-awareness, leverage strengths, manage blind sides and maximize personal and interpersonal effectiveness while leading the largest health systems. To capture individual learning styles, each student will complete a personality assessment through Personalysis - a tool that can be used to understand and apply learning styles to commit self, and teams, to a change management project.

This course will examine the impacts and consequences of leadership decisions upon various stakeholders within healthcare organizations. Building upon the foundational theories of leadership, learners will explore moral and ethical decision-making, fiscal responsibility, strategic planning, conflict resolution, and complex initiative implementation.

This course introduces learners to the concept of quality improvement and performance management approaches that health systems and community partners are increasingly using to address patients’ health-related social needs and community-level social determinants of health. Using a case-based approach, learners will understand how to use quality improvement methods to address specific social drivers (e.g. food insecurity, housing instability, transportation barriers, education, social isolation, financial insecurity) and develop a quality improvement initiative and project/program charter for a health issue facing a defined community.

Generational shifts and increasing diversity in the US population require innovative strategies to attract and retain a strong, diverse workforce. Furthermore, new care models require the development of new roles to meet the needs of the evolving industry. Recruitment, engagement, development and retention is necessary for building and maintaining a sustainable talent pipeline. This course will touch upon topics such as: the changing role of the Chief Human Resources Officer; aligning HR structure; employee wellness & engagement; workforce planning & optimization; executive benefits & decision management; market strategy; leadership & talent development; and performance management.

While the clinical role of evidence-based practice in healthcare is widely recognized, healthcare leaders’ use of the evidence to affect outcomes in decision-making may be less well-known. This course offers an exploration of evidence-based management through the analysis and application of credible research, evidence, and best practice guidelines. Learners will apply concepts and develop foundational skills to affect management decisions.

Large health system improvement requires critical analysis and creative thinking to adapt and transform inadequate processes. Successful leaders must (1) develop actionable plans, (2) identify measurable indicators, and (3) effectively engage and manage team members. More broadly, they must keep sight of a larger vision while making key decisions at important junctures in project implementation. Stakeholder engagement, at all levels of governance, and a well-communicated mission sets expectations and encourages participation. This course provides participants the tools to execute change management projects: quality improvement models such as the Model for Improvement, PDSA, Lean, and Six Sigma; team science strategies to build, mentor and evaluate teams; and governance savviness.

Population health shifts the focus from the outcomes of one patient’s treatment and health to the health outcomes of groups of individuals. The field considers epidemiology, disparities, and social determinants of health, but is not to be confused with public health. Successful initiatives require extensive collaborations, both within systems and with external organizations, to make a difference in the health of communities. This course provides an introduction to a complex subject and the depth of leadership skills required.

This course provides opportunities for reflection on skills needed in healthcare administration and strategies to foster skill enhancement. Content includes soft skills, building a professional network, and presenting oneself professionally. A leader’s responsibility of professional advocacy for oneself, the profession, the organization, and the industry is also highlighted.

The patient experience is influenced by every interaction (personal or digital) with organizations and providers from the initial marketing message to receiving the final bill. The patient experience encompasses both single interactions and transitions between providers during episodes of care. Patients’ perceptions can influence impressions of the quality of care, word of mouth marketing, and provider reimbursement. The course includes strategic planning, marketing, and quality management approaches to affect the patient experience.

Healthcare providers and organizations are subject to regulatory criteria when providing services. If criteria are not met, there are implications to patient care and quality, as well as, to the ability to accurately bill for services. Regulatory compliance efforts start at the care unit or strategic business unit level, with input from the various stakeholders and business partners. This course explores managing risk by analyzing points of entrance and interactions, and compliance intersections.

Transformational leadership savviness is one leadership style that multiple organizations in business and healthcare have advocated for in the leaders they hire. How to inspire, motivate, challenge and develop loyal employees has been found by research to be a key component for successful, effective, and high quality organizational outcomes. This course focuses on the theory, research and practice dimensions of transformational leadership – how to lead from the heart to transform complex organizational systems.

The uncertain regulatory and policy environment, significant costs associated with health spending, and innovative disruptors in the industry have brought new complexities to health system large financial management. Partnerships and joint ventures are increasingly the transaction vehicle of choice across the industry. This course provides an overview of how to evaluate, manage and understand healthcare finance. Key topics include operational & capital finance; margin improvement & cost initiatives; defining and leveraging scale; physician payment models; bundled payments; Medicare Advantage evolution; the GPO market; health insurance consolidation; strategic alliances; prices transparency; and investment & commercialization strategies.

The course highlights how Health Justice approaches can change the healthcare landscape. Students focus on advocacy with attention to persuasive writing and speaking. Peer feedback will offer opportunities to polish presentations. Certificate coursework will conclude with calls to action in the student’s area(s) of interest.

The implementation and dissolution of The Affordable Care Act, provider consolidation, new entrants into the marketplace and a shift from fee-for-service to fee-for-value are just a few trends driving the changing health policy landscape. This course provides a foundation of ethics, federal health policy and economics, and the various roles large health system executives may take in the policy environment: analyst, advocate, and counselor. It will also consider private and public financing programs, population health and disparities in access to care, and strategies to engage the health system workforce in transitioning to value-based care .

This course addresses social justice, law, ethics, and policy within healthcare. Learners will conduct an in-depth analysis of the social determinants of health, regulatory and reform issues within the health care system, and ethical considerations for population health. The course is designed to provide learners with essential skills for promoting social justice and human dignity while advocating for policies that improve equity and health outcomes for all people.

This course provides healthcare leaders with an overview of the legal and ethical issues presented in complex, challenging and quickly changing healthcare arenas. Students will be introduced to the legal aspects of healthcare at the local, state and federal levels. Healthcare leaders will be equipped to research and apply legal, ethical and regulatory principles to current issues facing the healthcare industry. Topics include criminal and civil healthcare claims, malpractice, fraud and liability for individuals and corporations.

Many large health system-patient interactions occur outside a care delivery setting, providing unique opportunities for engagement and awareness. This course is designed to orient students to the strategic imperatives of large health system philanthropy, marketing and branding. It encompasses communication and collaboration beyond the clinician-patient interface, touching on digital engagement and social media campaigns; fundraising and brand awareness; and community relationships and board engagement. It also provides the framework and tools to enable health system executives to engage in grateful patient fundraising with their development colleagues.

Serving as a critical tool for large health system growth and competitiveness, diversity in leadership and workforce is a hallmark of good governance with lasting effects on care delivery. The advantages of equity in leadership are well-evidenced: Diverse perspectives protect against the homogeneity of ideas, improve organizational performance, encourage new leadership styles and competencies, drive social responsiveness and innovation, and foster an environment of deliberation and transformation. This course will consider diverse patient populations and their representation on leadership teams; barriers to enhancing equitable leadership; the role of human resources and talent development; and health disparities and the social determinants of health.

The increased digitalization of patient information, diagnostic methods, and treatment monitoring has inundated the healthcare field with data. Clinical informatics offers the promise of new healthcare delivery mechanisms and precision medicine, tempered by the ever-present risks posed to cybersecurity. Executives must meet mounting expectations to make decisions with timely and high-quality evidence. Furthermore, prioritizing and synthesizing relevant data have become fundamental skills. This course will address creating and refining analytics programs and decision-support systems that consider context for care and patient preferences for evidence-based decision making. It will delve into the big data revolution and its impact on telemedicine and digital health strategies; cybersecurity risk management; interoperability; delivery innovation; consumer insights & market dynamics; and genomics & precision medicine.

Scalability and integration are keys to an organization's growth. Managing transitions from an acute care setting to the home or formal post-acute setting is a complex and expensive t ask . However, well-coordinated activities provide an opportunity for improved patient outcomes and cost savings in a value based world. As large health systems continue to build out their capacity to serve the consumer all along the continuum of care, unmet needs must be identified, the realities of ownership versus partnership assessed, and potential gains anticipated. This course considers effectively managing care transitions, identifying a configuration of people to manage the process, and evaluating the results of a re-engineered healthcare delivery system.

In the US healthcare industry, quality has become an expectation rather than a differentiator. "High value care" encompasses cost, safety, patient outcomes, distributive just ice, and resource utilization, as well as regular efforts to revise and improve such measures. To fully analyze reliability and sources of error, a systems approach examines both latent failures (those caused by operational or systemic design flaws) and active failures (those caused by human error and procedural violations). In this model, leadership, software issues, and environmental or institutional policies are scrutinized alongside the actions of front-line staff during harm event analyses. This course will address large health system strategies to reduce medical errors, procedural change successes and failures, and methods to measure success.

The economic landsca pe of healthcare is volatile - risk transference to individuals and providers and improvements in technology have led to significant scientific discovery and digitali zat ion. New, disruptive companies are taking advantage of these transformational forces, requiring large health systems to respond with innovative solutions or form strategic partner shi ps. Fostering a culture of innovation, supportive of risk taking and creativity, has become an imperative . This course will discuss the current environment of innovation, including (1) scientific innovation that has led to advancements in mobile technology , sensors and monitors, genomics, computational biology and personalized medicine; (2) risk management strategies to reduce healthcare costs via payment model changes and the transference of risk; and (3) digitalization of data to standardize best practices, utilize predictive analytics and develop customized care plans.

This course is an introduction to providing strategy and best practice principles for healthcare leaders on the topic of people and experience. Students will be exposed to practical situations and problem solving approaches based on innovative practices and legal compliance to enhance the overall employee experience in an organization. Course topics include staffing and workforce planning, organizational strategy and design, compensation, employee engagement, change management, and employee relations.

The course is designed to impart a working knowledge of introductory accounting and financial management concepts, techniques, and vocabulary as they apply to health care organizations. The student will first focus on understanding the principles and practices of financial accounting, and the methods for analyzing and using financial accounting information for decision‐making. Then the student will explore managerial accounting concepts, and apply these concepts to organizational planning and control. Finally, the student will develop skills in the valuation of cash flows, and discuss ways that health care organizations use financial markets to raise funds and invest in projects.

As market dynamics shift financial risk onto the shoulders of individuals, patients must increasingly decide how they choose to engage with their healthcare. Quality, convenience, autonomy and transparency are among the core drivers that impact the modern consumer's preferences and attitudes towards healthcare. To create a new, consumer-centric strategy, large health systems must understand what drives the American patient before, during and after care delivery. This course considers the retail-orientation of healthcare and the importance of brand promise in a health system consumer engagement strategy.

Individuals interact with large health systems in a variety of ways: whether at one of the numerous inpatient or outpatient settings, or as consumer, patient, or caregiver. Each interaction provides a unique opportunity for health systems to develop a multifaceted relationship with their patrons. Patient experience denotes the sum of these interactions, with satisfaction delineating the quality of care provided. Patient education encapsulates the resources, tools and engagement strategy to ensure treatment plans are followed, outcomes improved, and readmissions reduced. In short, the patient's health improves. This course provides strategies, measurement tools and resources for health system executives to build and leverage these relationships to improve care delivery, patient outcomes and system processes.

Special Topics offers one of two opportunities. A faculty member or invited distinguished scholar to prepare and present a course on a professional topic. The course may be organized similar to a regular course or with a non-traditional format that best supports the course outcomes. The second enables the student and advisor may structure a unique experience to enhance the student degree plan. Prerequisite: Permission of the Advisor

Each student must work in conjunction with their health system mentor and CEO to identify and lead an action research project that contributes to the system's corporate strategic aims. These projects provide detailed insight into some of the high-level initiatives being addressed by large health systems across the country. In this course, executives design, develop, implement, analyze and report on the progress and end goals of their projects. A form of participatory research, the action research project expands the traditional form of graduate research to include applied knowledge that can be more easily integrated into health system practice. Determine project topic & scope in consultation with internal & external mentors: submit proposal, to include project description, processes, improvement tools, timeline, scope & metrics.

Each student must work in conjunction with their health system mentor and CEO to identify and lead an action research project that contributes to the system's corporate strategic aims. These projects provide detailed insight into some of the high-level initiatives being addressed by large health systems across the country. In this course, executives design, develop, implement, analyze and report on the progress and end goals of their projects. A form of participatory research, the action research project expands the traditional form of graduate research to include applied knowledge that can be more easily integrated into health system practice. Provide first project update: present project overview, processes & early results at Annual Meeting; collect and integrate feedback from colleagues, faculty & Academy executive forum membership.

The capstone project will focus on applying the knowledge learned in the community health investment certificate. Using the appropriate systems, informatics, community and system leadership approaches, people and/or financial theories and principles, the student may assess, create, implement and evaluate a program and/or project for an organization. Peers, community and system experts’ feedback will offer opportunities to advance the community health student’s initiative.

This internship/capstone project experience will focus on applying the knowledge learned in one or more of the following healthcare administration concentration courses to an organization depending on the student’s choice of internship/capstone project model: healthcare systems, informatics and data management, transformational leadership, ethics and law, people and experience, healthcare finance and budget. Choice of internship/capstone project models include: a) each of the six topics listed is more thoroughly explored in a one credit internship or 60 hours over an 8-week course. b) choose two of the topics listed to more thoroughly explore over 180 hours or 24 weeks each. This translates to one credit every 8 weeks. <p> Using the appropriate systems, informatics, ethical, people and/or financial theories and principles, the student may assess, create, implement and evaluate a program and/or project depending upon the internship/capstone project model. Within the 60 hours of each internship/capstone period, the student and faculty member will discuss and decide on agreed upon specific learning outcomes and assignments to demonstrate skills and competencies for the appropriate topic at the graduate level. <p>

Each student must work in conjunction with their health system mentor and CEO to identify and lead an action research project that contributes to the system's corporate strategic aims. These projects provide detailed insight into some of the high-level initiatives being addressed by large health systems across the country. In this course, executives design, develop, implement, analyze and report on the progress and end goals of their projects. A form of participatory research, the action research project expands the traditional form of graduate research to include applied knowledge that can be more easily integrated into health system practice. Submit final paper, executive summary & presentation slides; provide final project update; present project results to colleagues, faculty & Academic executive forum membership at Annual Meeting.

This capstone project experience will focus on applying the knowledge learned in one or more of the following healthcare administration concentration courses to an organization depending on the student’s choice of capstone project model: healthcare systems, informatics and data management, transformational leadership, ethics and law, people and experience, healthcare finance and budget.

This capstone project experience will focus on applying the knowledge learned in one or more of the following healthcare administration concentration courses to an organization depending on the student’s choice of capstone project model: healthcare systems, informatics and data management, transformational leadership, ethics and law, people and experience, healthcare finance and budget.