Master of Health Administration (MHA)
This course of study builds a broad conceptual understanding of the health care industry, and develops specific, focused administrative skills that will help graduates guide health care organizations toward greater efficiency and effectiveness.
- Students will be able to explain the important terminology, facts, concepts, principles, analytic techniques, and theories used in the field of health care administration.
- Students will be able to effectively apply important terminology, facts, concepts, principles, analytic techniques, and theories in the field of health care administration when analyzing complex factual situations.
- Students will be able to effectively integrate (or synthesize) important facts, concepts, principles, and theories in the field of health care administration when developing solutions to multifaceted health care administration problems in complex factual situations, for greater organization efficiency and effectiveness.
The 36 credit hours required for the master of health administration (MHA) or the 57 credit hours required for the master of business administration (MBA/MHA dual) degree must include the following courses:
| HLTH 5000 Organization and Management in Health Administration | 3 hours |
| HLTH 5020 Organizational Planning and Change in Health Adm. | 3 hours |
| HLTH 5040 Human Resources Management in Health Administration. | 3 hours |
| HLTH 5050 Financial Management in Health Administration. | 3 hours |
| HLTH 5070 Financial Analysis in Health Administration. | 3 hours |
| HLTH 5100 Statistics for Health Administration. | 3 hours |
| HLTH 5120 Issues in Health Policy. | 3 hours |
| HLTH 5140 Health Administration Law. | 3 hours |
| HLTH 6000 Integrated Studies in Health Administration. | 3 hours |
In addition, the student chooses elective courses offered in this major and/or from the program curricula of other George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology majors.
If the requisite course is waived, the student must choose an elective course from this major or from the program curriculum of another George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology major. Students pursuing dual majors who have the requisite course(s) waived will complete only the remaining required courses for the dual majors.
The MBA/MHA dual degree option requires the completion of 57 credit hours consisting of the 9 required core courses (27 credit hours) in the Master of Health Administration (MHA) and the 10 required core courses (30 credit hours) in the Master of Business Administration (MBA), as listed in the respective sections of this catalog.
Upon completion of the 57 credits, two separate diplomas are issued at the same time. The two degrees cannot be awarded separately or sequentially under this arrangement. Dual degree students must take BUSN 5760 Applied Business Statistics, but they may substitute another relevant graduate course for the HLTH 5100 Statistics for Health Administration requirement. (They may also complete both statistics courses as an option.)
HLTH 5000 Organization and Management in Health Administration (3)
This course explores the many different methods of health care delivery, their respective financing, and the implications for managing in different types of health service organizations. Emphasis is placed on the role of the manager in directing and guiding these different types of health service organizations.
HLTH 5020 Organizational Planning and Change in Health Administration (3)
This course identifies the various ways of introducing change in organizations and larger organizational systems as adaptive responses to the external environment. Change efforts at the macro, meso, and micro levels of organization are considered. Particular attention is given to the leadership role in health organizations and health systems. Organizational responses to the issues of market changes, managed care, system consolidation and system integration are analyzed.
HLTH 5040 Human Resource Management in Health Administration (3)
This course examines the traditional concerns of human resources management within the health administration field. Particular attention is paid to compensation management, employee recruitment, employee retention, employment policies, and the legal environment of human resource management. The various employment arrangements and contracts of physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals are discussed.
HLTH 5050 Financial Management in Health Administration (3)
This course emphasizes the managerial aspects of health administration finance that managers need in order to interact with the financial and budgeting systems. The course offers a brief review of different types of accounting systems in health administration. The impact of third-party reimbursement policies are described, including managed care and prospective payment systems. Cost behavior and cost analysis are examined as part of these payment systems. Budget and internal control, including auditing concepts and techniques are introduced as management control techniques. Prerequisite: academic background in accounting or demonstration of satisfactory accounting skills.
HLTH 5070 Financial Analysis in Health Administration (3)
This course introduces students to managerial skills that underpin decision making for managers. The following financial methods are presented as decision models: forecasting, capital budgeting, and capital access. In addition, the managerial implications of long-term financial planning are considered, including capital investment decisions, equity and debt financing, and lease/purchase decisions. Prerequisite: HLTH 5050.
HLTH 5100 Statistics for Health Administration (3)
This course introduces the use of statistical analysis in health administration. The course emphasizes development of the basic methods and underlying concepts of statistics that are used in management decision making and health services research, which include: descriptive statistics, probability, sampling, hypothesis testing, forecasting methods, and nonparametric statistics. Statistical applications in epidemiology and health services research are presented.
HLTH 5120 Issues in Health Policy (3)
The student examines significant health care policy issues. Special emphasis is given to public policies with broad implications, such as Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance reform, and health systems costs. The process of policy decision making is explored, and methods and approaches for the study issues are considered. American health policy issues are placed in the international context by comparison with selected other health care systems.
HLTH 5140 Health Administration Law (3)
The course introduces the law and legal processes that affect health administration. The course presents an overview of legal principles concerned with torts, contracts, and liability in health administration, including the legal standing of individuals covered by various types of health administration. Legal elements of labor relations in the health care field and the legal obligations and malpractice law are discussed as they apply to health professionals.
Capstone Course
HLTH 6000 Integrated Studies in Health Administration (3)
This course requires that the student synthesize and integrate the knowledge gained through the health administration management curriculum. This may be accomplished by means of an overarching management construct, such as health administration strategy, health administration cases, or through analyzing the health administration literature, and delivering oral presentations or writing critical papers on this review.
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