MHA/JD Curriculum

MHA/JD courses are designed to build foundational, analytical, and integrated knowledge of the health care industry. Woven throughout the curriculum is application of the concepts of managed care and information technology. Field assignments are used to enhance learning in the classroom. The following list describes required courses and demonstrates a typical course schedule over the three-year program. A total of 49 credit hours are required for graduation.

First Year, Fall Semester

All courses are three credits unless otherwise noted.

Health System Organization, Financing and Performance (HADM 602) - Examines the structures, functioning and financing of the U.S. health services system. Emphasizes foundational concepts for understanding and analyzing patterns of health and illness; health care cost, quality, access, and utilization; workforce; competition in health care markets; and supplier, provider, and payer effectiveness and efficiency.

Health Care Managerial Accounting (HADM 606) - A foundation course covering financial accounting, financial statements analysis, budgeting, reimbursement, costing and short-term decision-making. Emphasizes accounting concepts and using financial data in management of providers and payers.

Managerial Epidemiology (HADM 609, 2 credits) - Introduces and uses analytical techniques to study and measure the health status of populations and to evaluate programs. Topics covered include: health status measurement, evaluation design, and managerial applications of epidemiology.

Organization Behavior and Design in Health Care Management (HADM 646) - A survey of the key concepts of organization behavior and design as they apply to health care management. Focuses on both micro and macro issues, including: designing and coordinating structures and jobs, managing teams and workgroups, assessing organizational effectiveness, managing organizational politics and conflicts, understanding organizational culture, fostering innovation and creativity, addressing the organizational psychology of the health care workforce, and emphasizing the role of leadership.

Clinical Concepts and Relationships (HADM 681, 2 credits) - Introduces students without clinical backgrounds (nursing, medicine, other) to medical and healthcare terminology.  Reviews and discusses concepts that are related to health, healing, health professions, and the experience of the patient.  Examines the role of health professionals; emphasizes communication, problem solving, and patient care improvements across professional boundaries.

First Year, Spring Semester

Financial Management in Health Care Organizations (HADM 607) - Examines theory and techniques of corporate financial management as applied to health services providers and insurers including time value of money, working capital management, capital budgeting techniques, cost flow analysis, and capital structures planning.

Health Care Management Decision Support Systems (HADM 610) - Applications of traditional industrial engineering techniques in health care institutions. Applications of operations research techniques to health care planning, control and decision making including deterministic, and stochastic decision analysis models and their use in health services administration.

Health Economics (HADM 624) - Fundamental concepts of microeconomics theory and their application in analyzing health care policy; understanding the structure and dynamics of health care markets; and monitoring and controlling the allocation of resources within health service organizations.

Management of Health Care Organizations (HADM 647) - Analysis of the current state of management study and practice with the objective of achieving a balanced development of both knowledge and skills in solving the operations problems of health institutions. Examines critically the managerial process; emphasizes leadership behavior and develpment, performance improvement, structure and purpose of health care organization subunits, interfunctional coordination, and organizational processes.

Executive Skills I (HADM 682, 1 credit) - Applied course in executive skills and behavior of the healthcare executive. Focus is on the healthcare executive leadership development and personal effectiveness.

Summer

Internship in Health Administration (HADM 693) - Assesses and examines administrative and organizational structures and cultures of the assigned site with perspectives from macro an micro organizational views. Develops an understanding and gains knowledge of the complex health care industry and the internal and external factors that influence decision making in the organization. Researches and prepares a management project with recommendations to assist the organization in decision making, policy development and/or performance improvement.

Second Year, Fall Semester

Seminar in Health Care Finance (HADM 608) - Advanced studies of financial issues and the application of analytic tools in case studies and exercises. Designed to enhance and strengthen the knowledge and skills provided in the graduate program's foundation and required sources in accounting and finance.

Health Information Systems and Performance (HADM 612) - Analyzes current information and management systems including workforce planning and productivity, financial planning and monitoring, quality assurance, staffing and scheduling, administrative information systems and patient care systems. Evaluates alternative uses of computer technology in health care.

Health Policy and the Legislative Process (EPID 603, 3 Credits)
Provides an understanding of the public health policy development process, the influence of politics and special interest groups on this process, and current governmental policies for the provision of major public health services. The legislative process is a major focus of the course.

Executive Skills II (HADM 683, 1 credit) - Advanced applied course in executive skill development. Focuses on the healthcare executive leader and development of skills relating to the external environment of healthcare organizations. Emphasizes relationships with physicians, governing boards, regulatory bodies, donors, and other key stakeholders.

Second Year, Spring Semester

Health Care Marketing (HADM 614) - Fundamental theories, concepts, and techniques of marketing applied to the distinctive properties of health care services. Emphasizes the role of marketing in aligning organizational capacity and health care needs; market analysis and planning; strategic marketing management; tactical marketing mix design; developing and managing new services and systems of delivery.

Strategic Management in Health Care Organizations (HADM 648) - Integrative seminar on strategic decision making in health care organizations. Considers the concepts and alternative models of strategic management, the strategic management process, and the evaluation of strategic decisions.

Human Resources Management in Health Care (HADM 649)- Concepts in human resources management as applied to health care organizations. Explores relationships between human resources management and general management, nature of work and human resources, compensations and benefits, personnel planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, employee appraisal and discipline, organized labor issues, employment and labor law.

Leadership and Change Management (HADM 684, 1 credit)-
Analyzes the current management/leadership role of the health care executive.  Focuses on the requisite knowledge, skills and values essential to success.  Involves students in assessing their own leadership styles and skills and discussing key concepts of leadership and change management in various health care organizations and structures.

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