This course establishes the leadership foundation required to build and sustain effective healthcare organizations in an era of rapid, continuous change. The challenges facing healthcare leaders today are unprecedented, characterized by organizational realignments, legislative uncertainty, an aging population, the accelerating integration of artificial intelligence, and relentless pressure to deliver high-quality, reliable care, all of which demand both strategic vision and adaptive leadership at every level. Drawing on the Competing Values Framework, the course advances an integrative model spanning both micro-level dimensions and macro-level considerations, including change management, stakeholder engagement, and regulation. Through this lens, the course demonstrates how transformational leadership can be effectively balanced with the transactional realities of day-to-day management. The course is organized around four essential combinations of leadership roles: competition and commitment; communication and collaboration; community and credibility; and coordination and compliance. Students engage in self-assessment to build profile awareness and develop personal leadership development plans.

This course examines the historical development and current implementation of the United States healthcare market with emphasis on existing federal and state government policies. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the complex policy dynamics and challenges of an industry in a constant state of flux. Through readings, discussions, and written analysis assignments, students will analyze the healthcare industry from a variety of perspectives including but not limited to the development and implementation of Medicare and Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, Health Management Organizations, and emerging population health models. The course will also allow students to evaluate the influences of private and public stakeholder interest groups on the health care market, the need for change in health care organizations, and changing societal health needs as a whole. Students will gain an understanding of and apply terminology and language essential to effective communication with stakeholders internal and external to the healthcare organization such as employees, health services administrators, and policymakers.

As health care costs continue to spiral upward, healthcare institutions are under enormous pressure to create cost efficient systems without risking quality of care. Health informatics technologies provide considerable promises for achieving this multifaceted goal through managing information, reducing costs/enhancing revenue, and facilitating total quality management, continuous quality improvement programs, optimal clinical patient care and improved patient outcomes. In this course students will be introduced to the concepts and practices of health informatics. Topics include: a) an introduction to information systems and specifically to the health informatics field; b) major applications and commercial vendors; c) decision support methods and technologies; d) systems analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare information systems; and, e) new opportunities and emerging trends.

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the complex economic forces, dynamics and challenges of healthcare, an industry in a continuous state of flux. Specifically, this course applies microeconomic theory to analyze the healthcare market from the perspectives of those who demand and supply healthcare. We will also analyze the market for physicians and hospital services, as well as the pharmaceutical industry and other related industries. The structure and performance of the US healthcare system will also be compared to that of other countries. Discussion of empirical studies, current policy debates, and the relevance and limits of the economic approach will be emphasized.

The course examines contemporary issues in health care reimbursement and delivery. The course will introduce students to the foundation, evolution and characteristics of reimbursement methodologies, insurance plans, and government sponsored healthcare programs in the United States. The course also focuses on key business and administrative topics related to health care administration.

Students taking this course will be able to make sound decisions that promote the financial well-being of a health care organization. The course covers essential concepts underlying the preparation and measurement of financial data, measurement of business operations, business valuation, financial reporting, forecasting, cost allocation and pricing, and service and product cost. It also includes examination of special reports for executive review and decisions including financial ratio management and financial condition analysis. It then progresses to the evaluation of principles governing the healthcare industry and rules and regulations in collecting, preparing and presenting financial data for healthcare providers. As students learn to use the accounting and financial reporting aspects of healthcare organizations, they also learn about the financial decisions relevant for operating budgets, capital budgets and working capital management. Issues involving long-term financing and investment as well as risk and return analysis and management, debt and equity financing, managing capital structure and cost of capital, cash flow analysis and capital projects appraisal are also covered in this course.

This course provides a framework for analyzing and comparing the philosophical, policy, and economic foundations of selected health care systems around the world. The history, societal values, financing, and organization of those systems – including those from the highly industrialized sector as well as developing nations – will be examined and compared to that of the U.S. health care system. Students will explore the advantages and disadvantages of the various health care systems, focusing on the role of government; the broad landscape involving the systems’ relationships among cost, access, and quality; sociological implications that influence the role of the provider and consumer; effectiveness at serving their populations’ health and wellness needs; and their ability to identify determinants of health and strive for continuous improvement in outcomes. Public and social policy implications that have relevance to the U.S. model will be examined.

Healthcare organizations are immeasurably complex systems and there is mounting industry-wide pressure to address the challenges of and opportunities for instituting significant operational improvements. Within the healthcare sector, operations management has several goals including reducing costs, increasing patient safety, improving clinical outcomes and quality of patient care, and improving financial performance of the organization. This course is designed to focus on the approaches and strategies for achieving these operational goals to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare systems. It provides an integrated approach and set of contemporary tools that can be used to improve the management and delivery of healthcare services and the financial performance of a healthcare organization. Topics include challenges and opportunities related to operations management in healthcare, project management, quality management tools with a focus on six sigma and lean thinking, process improvement and patient flow, capacity management, scheduling, forecasting, and supply chain management.

This course is aimed at providing healthcare industry leaders and executives with the essential tools for setting performance goals and measurement metrics to recuperate and grow in a vast competitive industry that is sustained by high productivity and cost containment strategies. The main focus is on designing and conducting cost-effectiveness analysis in medicine and healthcare fields. It provides students with the opportunity to learn accounting principles applied in healthcare industry with all of its sectors to prepare useful information for financial and operational decision-making. Among topics covered are various healthcare payment systems and measurement, pricing models, operating and capital investments, assets management, facility programming and space management, risk-based contracting with third party payers, recognition of revenues related to various services, strategic decision and opportunity for growth, healthcare services integration versus independence, advanced cost management techniques such as total quality management (TQM); just-in-time (JIT); activity-based-costing (ABC) and process re-engineering (PR). This course was previously MGT-653511.

Healthcare leaders understand that their facility is often judged by how they respond ethically to the issues and conflicts that regularly occur in the delivery of healthcare services. A healthcare facility’s mission and values are an integral component of its commitment to provide patient-centered care. Every institution that wishes to thrive in today’s highly competitive healthcare market must find a way to incorporate ethical principles into its operation and management. Successful healthcare leaders recognize that the surest way to ensure stability and growth of their organization is to integrate ethical principles into the culture and climate of their organization. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge, tools, and skills to more effectively address and manage the ethical aspects of healthcare management. The course explores, through real-life case studies, the key role that ethics plays in every area of the healthcare system.

Bioethical conflicts in patient care present some of the most complex and challenging issues for healthcare managers and clinicians. The topics included in the course are cutting-edge issues, such as how to allocate limited healthcare resources, and whether to perform certain tests, procedures, and treatments at the beginning and at the end of life, which often involve emotional and heart-wrenching decisions. Successful healthcare leaders and organizations must be adept at identifying these ethical issues and deftly navigating through often conflicting principles and viewpoints in order to attempt to reach an appropriate and, where possible, consensus-based decision. This course is designed to provide students with a solid understanding of core bioethical principles, and to enable them to utilize their knowledge and skill in applying these ethical principles to real-life situations that arise in healthcare. This course was previously MGT-653514.

The law permeates every aspect of healthcare. A strong healthcare leader recognizes that he or she must feel competent in understanding how law affects the management and operation of a healthcare facility. Successful leaders in healthcare acknowledge that the surest way to ensure the stability and growth of their organization is not only to comply with legal requirements, but to also proactively identify potential legal problems and risks and undertake timely and appropriate interventions. This course utilizes real-life problems in order to provide students with a firm understanding of the nature of the legal process and the legal issues that are most likely to arise in managing a healthcare facility or department, or in supervising and engaging in clinical care. The topics included in the course cover some of the most interesting and challenging areas that arise in healthcare; however, students do not need to have any background in law to take and appreciate this course.

Healthcare managers must have an understanding of various marketing concepts and tools to successfully accomplish organizational goals. Decisions involving marketing must be based on a manager’s ability to link marketing strategy to the organization's products, services, and overall direction and work with managers throughout the organization in a highly coordinated manner. This course is designed to provide an understanding of the complex processes involved in Marketing Strategy. Through readings, lectures, discussions, projects and case analysis, students will learn fundamental principles of marketing planning and how to better utilize planning tools in their own organizations. We will review and analyze branding, consumer behavior, customer loyalty, and marketing segmentation strategies involving the targeting of populations and aligning products and services to meet their needs. This course provides methods to evaluate marketing performance and productivity, analyze internal and external resources, and perform a SWOT analysis; various models and methods for the promotion and positioning of health care services and products are presented. We will then focus on the importance of controlling and monitoring the strategic marketing process to ensure success. The course will also review the importance of marketing research and the analytical tools required to be successful. Students will also learn how to create a marketing plan.

This course introduces students to the unique theoretical, practical and regulatory concepts of quality control and compliance management in the healthcare industry. It focuses on tools and techniques used for quality improvement and patient safety in compliance with external quality mandates. The course explores various quality assessment measures and tools for improving healthcare services with practical real-life cases for improving and sustaining a quality control system. Among various topics covered are managing the use of healthcare resources and quality management environments, performance improvement tools, quality project teams, measuring and improving patient safety, measuring and evaluating quality performance and continuous improvement.

The rapid change in healthcare and the increasing complexity and size of healthcare organizations require high performance leaders. This course will examine important current issues that will affect healthcare for years to come. Particular areas of focus include (1) leading an organization in the setting of strong tradition and tumultuous change; (2) using data and evidence as bases of managerial decision-making; and (3) using quality as the critical parameter of institutional effectiveness. This course also covers evidence-based and cost-efficiency guidelines and solutions to managing and leading value-based accountable care organizations. The course includes readings, discussion of specific topics related to these broad leadership problems, and preparation of a project that could be implemented in the student’s own organization. This course was previously MGT-653513.

The strategic role of HR is important in complex healthcare organizations in light of the need for improved healthcare delivery models. This course stresses the principles and techniques used in the attraction, retention and evaluation of employees in healthcare organizations. It focuses on the technical, legislative, and strategic issues associated with the effective management of human resources. Using the SHRM Competency Model, the course facilitates the knowledge of concepts, theories and practices of human resources management and provides insights into practices used by various healthcare organizations to deal with challenges in the workplace. Students will learn how HR practices are deployed in an industry characterized by: uncertainty and flux; a highly diverse labor market; realignment of organizational systems; technological advancements which influence the management of information, human capital, and clinical activity; shifts toward systemic integration; and the adoption of best practice models which place an increasing emphasis on quality of outcomes. Major discussion will include strategic human resources management and emerging issues in health care human resources management. Through readings, research, analysis, discussion and assignments, students will acquire skills and develop an in-depth understanding of HR practices and strategic roles in healthcare organizations. This course was previously MGT-653503.

The course examines the management of health systems and organizations. It introduces students to the foundation, evolution, and characteristics of health care systems and organizations in the United States. Students will gain knowledge and skills that will help them to understand, evaluate and manage decision-making processes in health care organizations. The course also focuses on the ramifications and implications of the health services system on interactions between and among stakeholders in the system in the United States. It provides an opportunity to explore the various aspects of managing in the complex modern health care environment, including how to recognize and balance the agendas and interests of the multitude of stakeholders, for example, payers, consumers, and suppliers. Hence, there is an emphasis on the dynamics of change, health policy, and management effectiveness. Through readings, case study analyses, and active online discussion, students learn about factors that influence internal and external health care environments, stakeholders, and critical competencies for the effective management of healthcare organizations.

Policy and Management explores the complicated underpinnings and current develop of health policy in the United States. Policy as a concept in part is based on the premise of decisions that are made on how best to use valuable and often limited resources. This course evaluates how policy and policy decision- making are fundamentally rooted in layers of politics, overlapping spheres of influence, and cultural considerations. The course ground students with a review of political and cultural ideology in the United States and its historical and current impact on healthcare policy. Through readings, discussions and written assignments, students will develop an applied understanding of the health policy process, how best to improve healthcare quality and access to care, with the aim to improve health outcomes. Some of the topics covered in the course include unearthing the “why and why not” of what policies are working, best strategies to use in policy development, how analysis of determinates of health can guide strategic policy, and whether the U.S. really does spend more money than other countries on healthcare.

The governing board of a healthcare organization holds an extraordinary responsibility for establishing the organization’s strategic direction and organizing a management structure designed to execute the strategy and align it with the community’s healthcare needs. This course focuses on the purpose and key functions of a healthcare organization’s governing body, including: establish mission, purpose, vision, and core values; develop a management structure and selection of executive staff; authorize strategic goals and strategies; ensure functional effectiveness of clinical care and quality management systems; establish and implement systems to monitor and evaluate all facets of organizational performance; maintain fiduciary responsibility; evaluate and authorize financial and budget plans; ensure compliance with legal, ethical, and regulatory standards. This course was previously MGT-653509.

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor/advisor in Healthcare Leadership and Management (HCLM). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

This course explores corporate communication as a strategic area of healthcare management. The effectiveness of corporate communication is largely determined by the development of an optimal balance between a coordinated, centralized perspective and a network of flexible, decentralized operations. This balance is vital for keeping communication programs and activities consistent across the continuum of care and aligning them with desired patient outcomes. Topics include inter-professional collaboration to improve the patient experience and overall quality of care, managing hospital reputation using effective communication strategies and social media tools, provider-patient communication and hospital ratings, communication with stakeholders, and identifying resilience strategies for disruption management.

The healthcare field is undergoing a rapid shift toward an evidence-based paradigm, in which strategic decisions are increasingly informed by data, analytical models, and demonstrable outcomes. As a result, healthcare leaders are expected not only to make sound decisions, but also to substantiate those decisions through evidence that demonstrates feasibility, impact, and sustainability. Emerging leaders must therefore show an ability to forecast outcomes, assess risk, and measure results in ways that support organizational learning and accountability. In this course, students will develop core competencies in framing, analyzing, and evaluating healthcare management decisions within this evidence-driven context. Students will learn to articulate issues of strategic importance and to apply critical evidence to systematically map healthcare challenges. Through this process, they will develop and justify practical, data-informed solutions that can be applied to their own organizations or to comparable healthcare settings.

This course is the culminating experience for students in the MBA in Healthcare Leadership program. It provides students with an opportunity to integrate knowledge and competency development in leadership, decision-making, planning, and managerial skills through the development of a comprehensive strategic plan. The strategic plan will be based on students' (1) learning throughout the program; (2) application experiences; (3) integration of critical leadership prerogatives and management tools; (4) assessment of the healthcare organization in the broader economic and policy environment; (5) analysis of the organization's resources and competitive positioning; (6) identification of strategic opportunities that leverage organizational strengths alongside challenges that require resolution; (7) evaluation of strategic alternatives capable of advancing the organization's mission, expanding its impact, or securing its long-term position; and (8) construction of an actionable, implementable strategic plan that translates analysis and judgment into concrete goals, priorities, resource commitments, and accountability structures capable of moving the organization from where it is to where it needs to be. By requiring students to integrate a broad range of concepts from their MBA in Healthcare Leadership studies, this course highlights the continuity of the program's curricular themes and creates an authentic bridge between graduate study and strategic leadership practice. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): HCLM-7010 (Evidence-based Decision Making)

Registration for this class must be approved by the student’s mentor.