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Online BS in Health Care Administration: Curriculum

Curriculum Details

124 TOTAL CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED

EIGHT-WEEK TERMS

TWO TERMS = ONE SEMESTER

Crafted by experts with experience in management across health care settings, the online BS in Health Care Administration’s AUPHA-certified curriculum balances a comprehensive focus on health care, medicine, and business to ensure you have the necessary skills to lead in the field. Through the program’s internship opportunity, you will develop a real-world understanding and approach to health care administration.

The degree consists of 124 total credit hours, with 60 hours in the major, including required core HCA courses (48 c.h.), required electives (12 c.h.), and an internship (3 c.h.), all taught by a dynamic and experienced faculty.

Note: For students in the BS in Health Care Administration program, the Business Administration minor is already built into your program’s curriculum. To officially add this minor to your degree, contact your advisor.

Core Courses

A study of the United States health care system, its nature, organization, and functions. Study of how providers, managers, and consumers interact in the health care system. Current issues, with an emphasis on legislative initiatives, are studied.

An introduction to the overall management of health-related organizations. Emphasis is on integrating fundamental tools, concepts, applications and principles as a basis for successful management of a health-related business. Focus is on managerial leadership, problem solving and critical thinking within contemporary health care-related organizations.

An introduction to the strategic management process in health care organizations. Provides the concepts and theories pertaining to strategic planning/management and marketing approaches to patients, medical staff, and other major stakeholders. A comprehensive approach to translating the strategic plan of the organization into a functional marketing plan that can assist in operational decision-making.

The course will serve as an introductory course in health care organizational behavior. This course examines the nature and dynamics of organizational behavior affecting the health services administrator and other individuals. The course aims to develop students’ awareness of their own behavior and how it can affect their work within health services organizations. Behavioral patterns, organizational design, organizational development and assessment are studied in order to guide students in the decision making process within health organizations and their role as health services administrators.

An introduction to health economics and financial management applications in health-related organizations. Specific information is presented concerning reimbursement systems, insurance, accounting, Medicare/Medicaid, investment decisions, capital financing, government regulations, liability issues, accessibility, budgeting, and human resources. National health insurance and state/local initiatives will be discussed.

The course covers fundamental concepts of management information systems; current and developing health and business information systems of interest to managers in health services organizations; healthcare information system architecture; security and privacy issues; uses of healthcare information for clinical and strategic analysis and decision support; techniques required to develop and evaluate an information system request for proposal; and thoughts on the future of healthcare information systems including community health and Web-based access to health information. The course will also cover current information and issues regarding the latest technology applications.

The capstone course for the health care administration major and it synthesizes material from entire curriculum. The focus is upon the health care administrator as a professional. Classroom material is integrated with experimental learning through a major research project.

The student examines significant health care policy issues. Special emphasis is given to public policies with broad implications, such as Medicare, regulation, and financial assistance for the uninsured. The process of policy decision making is explored. Methods and approaches for the research of policy issues are reviewed.

Learning operational aspects of the health care industry through a minimum of 200-hour work experience via placement within a health care facility or related organization. Supervision and evaluation are conducted by a faculty member and an on-site preceptor. Weekly classroom contact and written reports with the instructor is required. Placement involves discussions with student, faculty, and on-site preceptor. The intern develops managerial skills through varied experiences in the performance of administrative tasks and through direct participation in the problem-solving process.

*Currently, all students (traditional or non-traditional) who do not have a minimum of five years’ work experience (documented) in a health-related organization will be required to take the HCA 4800 Health Care Administration Internship course as a requirement for graduation within the Health Care Administration degree.

Fundamentals of financial accounting, with an emphasis on understanding the use of the accounting information system and analyzing and interpreting financial accounting information. Required of all accounting, business, financial economics, and marketing majors, and usually taken in the sophomore year. Prerequisites: completion of 12 semester hours or permission of the instructor, department chair, or school dean

Completion of fundamentals of financial accounting, with an emphasis on analysis and interpretation of business operations, and an introduction to managerial accounting. Required of all accounting, business, financial economics, and marketing majors, and usually taken in the sophomore year. Prerequisites: ACC 1510, MAT 1050 or higher, or permission of the instructor, department chair, or school dean

Inferential statistics using business and economics data. Principal topics: probability, hypothesis testing, regression and correlation, and time series and forecasting. Prerequisite: MAT 1050 or permission of the instructor, department chair, or school dean

Aggregate income measurement and analysis, fiscal and monetary policy, inflation, unemployment, and other current issues.

Price theory applied to product and resource markets with emphasis on pricing and output decisions under various market conditions.

The organization and theory of the American legal system and its relationship with the business environment, including contracts, tort law, and parts of the Uniform Commercial Code and its provisions concerning sales, the law of agency, and employment law. Prerequisites: ENG 1020 or ENG 1040 or permission of the instructor, department chair, or school dean.

Study of marketing: models of buyer behavior, functions, channels of distribution, promotion strategies, and pricing policies. Emphasis is on the use of marketing variables in decision-making.

Elective Courses

Introduces prefixes, suffixes, and word roots used in the language of medicine. Topics include medical vocabulary and the terms that relate to anatomy, physiology, pathological conditions, and treatment of the conditions that can affect the eleven systems of the human body. Upon completion, students should be able to pronounce, spell, define, understand, and interpret over 11,000 medical terms as related to the body’s systems and their pathological disorders.

A course focusing on the managed health care arena and the relationship of medical group practice management to the constantly changing environment of managed care. Students receive a strong background in many facets of managing a medical group practice and concepts/practices of managed care in health care delivery systems. Emphasis is on integrating concepts and management theory with specific skills and competencies to improve the student’s success in the ever-changing demands of medical group practice management.

A study of the modern long-term care center as it has evolved over time. Analysis of the various settings for long-term care such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, retirement homes, home health care, and adult day health care centers. Issues of medical organization, legal, financial, human resources, and current topics are discussed.

A course focusing on the managed health care arena in terms of the translation of diagnoses, procedures, services, and supplies into numeric and/or alphanumeric components for statistical reporting and reimbursement purposes. Emphasis is on integrating concepts with assessment of billing options for solid claims process to ensure the appropriate compensation for ambulatory services rendered.

Studies in specialized, upper level applications of health care administration theory and practice.

After a brief consideration of ethical theory, this course will examine selected ethical issues which arise from business, such as corporate responsibility, whistle-blowing, environmental issues, and privacy. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of the virtues in business practice.

After a brief consideration of ethical theory, this course will examine selected ethical issues raised by clinical practice, medical theories, and biomedical research and technologies. This course does not meet the medical ethics requirement for the Methodist University Physician Assistant Program.

Using a managerial framework, this course is a study of the relationship between business and economic policy, social responsibility, and political influence on a global level. As an intensive writing course, it uses case studies to study business ethics and corporate responsibility while recognizing management’s traditional obligations to shareholders. The course spotlights current examples of business ethical issues which are relevant for stakeholders, corporate governance, accounting, and regulation of business.

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