Health Care Administration (HCA)

This course provides an overview of the history, structure, resources, and future of the U.S. healthcare system. This overview includes legislation, policy, and governmental initiatives, as well as, reimbursement mechanisms and continuum of care components. The course highlights disparities and access, with a focus on vulnerable populations.

This course highlights aspects of organizational theory and its practical application within healthcare organizations to facilitate change and pursue goals. The material explores the relationship between individuals, teams or groups, and the organization's structure, along with skills and techniques to impact day-to-day operations management.

This course provides an introduction to principles, concepts and theories within management of healthcare organizations. It includes a focus on the functions of managers (i.e., planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling performance) in organizational and quality improvement.

The course highlights the basics of workforce management including legal issues surrounding employment, organized labor, diversity and inclusion, job analysis and design, compensation and benefits, recruitment and retention, and performance management. The material positions the human resource function as an integral component of operational improvement, while emphasizing human resource practices as a reflection of organizational planning and strategies.

This course provides an overview of legal issues in healthcare. Patient care issues include torts, negligence, and malpractice as well as, informed consent and providing, refusing or terminating care. Topics include regulatory issues (including governance, providers, services, payment mechanisms, compliance, privacy, fraud and abuse).

From clinical decision support to e-health and population health applications, this course highlights tools and strategies to influence the use of technology, data, and information for improving safety, quality, efficiency, and patient-centered care. Topics include managing, protecting, and harnessing the power of information.

Foundational concepts within accounting and financial management, along with types of insurers and payers, are introduced and applied across acute and post-acute settings in healthcare. The course includes budgeting, variances, cost structures, profit analysis, along with revenue cycle and supply chain management. The fundamental focus on clinical and operations management can benefit entry-level and early career managers.

This course emphasizes the need for not simply leadership, but skilled leadership in healthcare. Course materials provide an introduction to leadership theory, styles, essential skills, and diverse approaches necessary to meet the challenges of a dynamic and changing healthcare industry.

This course focuses on developing healthcare leaders' communication skills with specific emphasis on, assertiveness, conflict management, and using communication techniques to facilitate organizational results.

Many professional membership organizations have Codes of Ethics which shape the occupation's professionalization. Clinicians rely on their profession's code of ethics, but benefit from additional tools as they advance to managerial roles. This course material expands awareness of ethical practices beyond direct patient care to research, information management, human resources, and strategic planning across acute and post-acute care settings.

A study of population health shifts the focus from the individual patient to health outcomes within groups of individuals. This course explores population health approaches, as well as principles of epidemiology and the application of principles and concepts to affect health outcomes within communities. The course includes a focus on information seeking to access data and research, as well as, understanding descriptive and statistical analysis for managerial decision making.

This course frames payers, physicians, patients, and the public as targets of a healthcare organization's marketing efforts. Payers direct patients; physicians make referrals; patients may be referred or seek services; and while members of the public may not need services today, they or someone in their family or social circles may need services in the future. Each of these groups need to be educated regarding services available to make informed decisions. Everyone in a healthcare organization is in effect, a marketer. This course focuses on the research, considerations, planning and actions, to create strategic initiatives as well as, the leadership and communication skills needed in marketing.

From a focus on safety and quality of care within an organization to best practice and transition strategies to impact the patient j oumey and population health, quality management is part of every department or strategic business unit. Course content highlights the fundamentals of measuring, assessing and improving quality along with application of different tools in quality management processes.

This course examines health policy through a lens of economics. Reimbursement topics include Medicare, Medicaid, managed care and healthcare legislation. The course highlights how supply and demand affect the cost of healthcare. Course content raises ethical questions regarding payment for healthcare, as well as, issues surrounding competition, cost shifting, profits, and the roles of government and health associations in health policy.

As the final course in the sequence, Capstone provides opportunities to apply concepts from across the curriculum. It is a culmination of curricular work, designed to apply and demonstrate multiple healthcare leadership competencies.

This two-part course includes a 120-hour managerial experience internship across a 16-week semester. One credit will be earned for successful completion of the first 8-week term.

This two part course includes a 120-hour managerial experience internship over a 16-week semester. Two credits will be earned for successful completion of the second 8-week term.