Courses & Curriculum

This course assists graduate students in developing strong, effective leadership skills. Successful professionals require effective leadership skills to flourish in the rapidly changing environment in which services are delivered today. Through the application of theoretical principles, this dynamic course focuses on developing the internal attitudes and external skills needed to lead oneself, other individuals, and teams.

This course offers a modular introduction to essential business tools for strategic marketing and human resource management. The course includes long- and short-term strategies for competitive advantages in the healthcare industry. The management of organizations includes recruiting, hiring, training, and challenging employees. The course will focus particularly on challenges facing long-term care and home and community-based service agencies.

This course provides an introduction for managers to the legal and ethical issues that impact the provision of client-centered care. The course will provide learners with an ethical framework for decision making, an understanding of the impact of regulations on implementation of client-centered care, and the tools and resources to analyze and address ethical and/or legal challenges. Learners will learn to recognize, prevent, and respond to legal/ethical challenges within their chosen care setting.

This course offers an introduction to the analytical techniques to the agency’s investment, financing, and dividend decisions. The course will have a focus on the healthcare industry, particularly long-term care and home and community-based service agencies. It will address financial considerations unique to healthcare, including third-party payers, civil monetary penalty funds, and reimbursement policies through the Affordable Care Act.

This course applies principles of quality improvement processes across stages of planning, development, implementation/execution, monitoring, and evaluation to the long term care and community-based environment. Students will learn how to develop, track, and report on quality improvement processes consistent with regulatory requirements within the long term care or community-based care setting

This course provides an overview of the federal regulations that apply to health facilities and agencies, including LTC, Residential Care, and Home and Community Based Services. The course focuses on reviewing regulations and competence to write policies and procedures to maintain compliance. Students will develop skills to manage the survey and inspection processes, including the maintenance of staff training, quality monitoring, and quality improvement systems.

This course provides students with an understanding of the core components of a health system, management and administration of health systems, and where public health fits within the system. Topics include health system infrastructure, health system management and administration, health policy overview, role of health and other policies in health disparities, related reforms of policy, international comparisons of health systems and policies, and population health indicators. Emphasis will be placed on recognizing the reciprocal relationships between public health practitioners, the health policies and systems within which they practice, and related health disparities.

*Students who matriculate into this program with previous academic credit and/or professional experience in healthcare administration may be eligible to take an elective in lieu of this course.

This course is designed for students planning careers involving analysis and formulation of, and advocacy for policies that impact population health. Policies across multiple settings including organizational, corporate, local, state and global public policies will be analyzed within the context of various ethical frameworks. Emphasis is placed on comprehensive analyses resulting in recognition of policy as a major tool of public health and recommendations for action and advocacy to impact population health policies.

This course provides the student with an introduction and overview of the multi-disciplinary field of gerontology including terminology, theoretical perspectives, research and demography, public policy, ageism, history of the study of aging, cross-cultural study of aging, end-of- life issues, spirituality, career exploration and professional ethics. Course investigations and projects will require students to explore personal value systems and perceptions of aging.

This course provides an overview of the development of integrated health systems (IHS) and how to manage them effectively. Students are introduced to financial, legal and leadership challenges in these systems. The course provides focus on population health, health policy, quality and value issues, access to care, ethical considerations, information systems, and workforce management.

Effective administrators must be competent in all areas to be successful. To assess the overall development of students throughout the program, the capstone will require that a variety of knowledge and skills be applied to a real-world problem within the internship facility. Students will work collaboratively with the site supervisor to develop a project proposal that seeks to resolve or address an administrative challenge within the facility/organization. Students will combine knowledge from their course work, reference regulations and standards, and provide appropriate evaluation. This course is to be taken one time concurrently with HCM 590.

The internship is designed to provide opportunities for students to apply knowledge and skills as a health care administrator in a long term care or community-based care setting. Students must provide their own transportation and meet all requirements of the organization for participation. Students may earn credit for more than one HCM 590 for up to a total of 10 credit hours.

*Students who matriculate into this program with previous academic credit and/or professional experience in healthcare administration may be eligible to take an elective in lieu of this course.