MHA - Healthcare Administration

This introductory course serves to connect the business environment with the healthcare field. Students will learn about healthcare facility types and the services provided, key healthcare administration operational topics, and complete interactive activities to gain familiarity with medical and healthcare administration terminology. In addition, students will explore the components of the MHA program focus tracks, understand the variety of career opportunities, and analyze the healthcare facilities/services in their local communities. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have a foundational understanding of the healthcare environment to prepare them for the MHA program and associated career options.

This course provides a refresher of principles of administration within health and human service organizations and the basic concepts of leadership and organizational theories relevant to the effective administration of healthcare institutions. Students will learn the responsibilities of a healthcare administrator, day to day management, training, and organizational change which promotes environmental access within the open healthcare system. Upon successful completion, students will understand the roles and responsibilities of the healthcare administrator working in various healthcare organizations.

This course introduces practical awareness of the legal and ethical issues involved in the delivery and administration of healthcare in the U.S. Students will learn the legal and regulatory foundation for the management of healthcare entities and the fundamental philosophy of values, morals, and ethics. Upon completion, the student will be able to address concerns related to informed consent and denial of treatment, and the use and dissemination of health information to prepare for a future role in managing healthcare operations within a legal and ethical framework.

This course provides the basic knowledge required for the analysis, presentation, and application of data relevant to healthcare issues. Fundamental to these skills, students will study descriptive and inferential statistics, sampling and data preparation, probability and hypothesis testing, levels of data, measures of central tendencies, t-tests, correlations, ANOVA, chi square, and regression analysis. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to apply statistical knowledge in evidence-based healthcare administration practices.

This course reviews how healthcare laws and regulations in various healthcare environments act as a basis for healthcare compliance. Students will be familiarized with federal and state laws related to the activities of healthcare agencies, using case studies to practice the development of policy writing, education, and training programs. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to identify health enforcement roles and responsibilities and establish and execute an effective compliance program.

This course presents various health informatics standards and health information systems, including specification, design, and components for health information systems (e.g., electronic medical records and patient health records). Students will explore concepts of interoperability of various healthcare informatics systems and their issues and challenges. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have the skills to collect, interpret, and summarize decision-making data and to convey complex technical knowledge to healthcare staff at all levels.

This course provides students a broad review of economic concepts and theory related to health, healthcare, and healthcare systems. The student will learn the importance of the health status of human beings, the size of the health sector, and the limited resources available to meet the needs of an aging population. The relevance of health economics to various sectors (health services, public health, medicine, pharmaceutical, and health technology industry) will also be examined. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be prepared to demonstrate an understanding of the inner connection between healthcare policy and economics and how they serve to shape decisions and practice within the U.S. healthcare delivery system.

This is the last course in the MHA program. Students will present their culminating project, in which they apply knowledge, technical, and administrative skills to a current healthcare issue that impacts healthcare or community health organizations. Upon completion of this course, students will demonstrate leadership by analyzing how to implement change in a healthcare organization.