HCA - Healthcare Administration

Students in this course will distinguish managerial concepts and practices as they apply to a variety of healthcare organizations, compare and contrast governance, strategy, structure, firm conduct, and performance across different types of health organizations (hospitals, clinics, physician practices, long term care, etc.), and create a culture of continuous improvement. Students will demonstrate leadership that creates a vision for all organizational stakeholders and integrate managerial principles to resolve problems and opportunities and achieve efficient and effective operation. The course will focus on synthesizing leadership and managerial skills necessary for change management implementation while integrating a biblical framework into managerial decision-making.

Students in this course will establish biblically consistent policies and procedures that respect human dignity and patient wishes in end of life situations, ethically prioritize decisions concerning patients receiving scarce or expensive medical procedures, and evaluate medical information security for compliance with ethical and legal standards. Students will integrate a biblical perspective into policies and procedures that guide medical research, experimentation, and healthcare delivery. Students will design networks that support effective and ethical patient-provider relationships.

Students in this course will explain information technology as a transformational science in healthcare, compare and contrast the functions of business management systems and health information technology in healthcare organizations, and summarize the importance of controlled vocabulary in health information management. Students will identify risks associated with the privacy and security of health information, apply principles of knowledge management to the clinical decision support process, and model virtuous business concepts in the management of health information and technology.

Students in this course will analyze leadership, governance structures, and performance outcomes for alignment with mission, vision, values, and goals. Students will determine the required changes in management processes resulting from changing regulatory policies, marketplace dynamics, and standards of the healthcare industry. Students will assess how personnel structures, systems, and technology influence high reliability healthcare providers, recognize the influence of governance systems and legal structures, and evaluate a culture of safety and reliability for appropriateness. The roles, responsibilities, and relationships among executive management and the governing body will be evaluated from a biblical worldview.

This course provides an overview of the U.S. healthcare delivery system and the development of policy that guides that system. The financing of healthcare in the U.S. is examined and compared with that of other developed countries. Federal, state, and local legislative and regulatory processes are studied and their impact explored. Healthcare law, policy, and ethics are considered through a biblical worldview.

Students in this course will evaluate the current system of financing health care and the factors affecting it, analyze cost measurement and allocation processes, and determines the organization's financial condition and potential for the future. Students will analyze budgetary concepts and the differences between the goods and service industries and determine the pros and cons of single payer vs. third party systems. A biblical worldview will be integrated throughout the course.

This course provides an overview of epidemiology principles and tools applicable to decision-making in health administration. The content focuses on the application of epidemiology to management functions. Students will critically evaluate factors influencing the health status of populations served by healthcare organizations using clinical and administrative data and applying a virtuous business framework. Topics include study designs, population health, quality management, quantitative measurement, and terminology.

Students in this course will assess the healthcare delivery system, the resources that comprise it, and its strengths and weaknesses. Students will identify the components of public health and epidemiology, and the availability and role of alternative medicine in treatment programs. Students will determine the theoretical basis for the healthcare system, including its history, development, and epidemiology for major health policy issues, and assess health issues and intervention strategies from the perspective of health providers, community leaders, and community residents within a biblical worldview framework. Students will demonstrate methodological skills including the calculation of rates, analysis of vital statistics, and programming data using a basic statistical package and distinguish the challenges for privacy and patient rights resulting from increasing use of technology within the healthcare industry.

Students in this course will recognize the role of quality in the healthcare industry and its importance to patients, providers, payers, and regulators. Students will apply effective quality improvement tools and analyze available data to drive change in healthcare organizations. They will illustrate the use of change management practices to facilitate quality improvement in an organization's processes. Finally, students will relate biblical virtues to quality practices in the healthcare industry. Prerequisite: STA-320

Students in the course will examine the principles and applications of strategic and change management concepts necessary for healthcare organization sustainability. The course provides a structured approach to the strategic management process, including methods of assessing organization environments and competitive situations, approaches for developing strategic plans, and processes for ensuring the successful implementation of strategy within a virtuous business model.

This course presents opportunities for students to evaluate solutions and strategies for complex business problems and opportunities within the health care industry, evaluate personal management capabilities and design a plan for lifelong growth, and integrate critical analysis with healthcare administration disciplines. Students will synthesize ethical standards in decision making and strategy development, create appropriate communication strategies to achieve organizational goals, and integrate a biblical framework into the practice and standards that guides interactions within the healthcare industry. The assessment of technologies for implementation in healthcare organizations will be featured throughout the course. Prerequisite: successful completion of all core courses