Program Overview

What will you learn in the MHA degree?

The vast majority of MHA Courses are eight-weeks in length,. The exceptions to this is MHA 5070-Seminar in Health Administration: Capstone Preparation and MHA 6100/6200- Capstone (Internship or Thesis) which are both 16 weeks in length. To review the program timeline, please visit our program progression page. 

Courses are a mixture of in both person and synchronous online (meeting in a live virtual environment). For each course, you will meet as a class 3 times over the 8 week term (Typically 6 – 8:30 pm).

Definition of a Full-Time and Part-Time

Full-Time: Students enrolled for 6 or more hours in each fall, spring, or summer academic period.

Part-Time: Students enrolled for 3-5.99 hours in each fall, spring, or summer academic period.

 

MHA Course Requirements

The MHA program’s curriculum has been developed based on industry best practices to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to become leaders in health care.

MHA PROGRAM TOTAL CREDIT HOURS:  40

 

Course Name & Numbers

Course Descriptions

MHA 5000   Fundamentals of Health Care Systems and Organizational Structures (3 credits)

Students in this course engage in an overview of the U.S. health care system. Students will learn about the role of providers in different health care settings, payers, intermediaries and other public and corporate entities involved in the delivery of health care services. Organizational structures, economic and political influences, financing and payment and evolving changes occurring in the health industry in the United States will be evaluated. Perspectives of the various stakeholders and cultural challenges in health care delivery are also reviewed. Critical issues such as access, quality, utilization, costs, technology, regulation, and ethics will be analyzed.

 

MHA 5010   Health Care Administration Theory and Application, Governance, and Leadership (3 credits)

Students in this course will analyze and evaluate the environment surrounding health care administration, governance, legal structures, and organizational leadership. Composition, diversity, cultural proficiency, and qualities that define excellence in governance and leadership of health care organizations will be considered. An examination of principles and theories related to managing different types of complex organizations will be addressed. Students will consider the role of governing boards, executives, and administrative leadership teams in developing a mission-focused culture that supports organizational strategic objectives, regulatory and policy changes, organizational change, excellent communications and overall organizational leadership.

 

MHA 5020   Health Care Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, Change, and Development (3 credits)

Students in this course will analyze and evaluate concepts and theories surrounding human resources and organizational behavior/development pertaining to the health care industry. Topics of study include: human resource functions; job analysis and design; recruitment, selection, and retention; performance management; employee relations; training, compensation, benefits; organizational development/behavior; HR legal and regulatory policies; organized labor; workforce innovation, forecasting, emotional intelligence and diversity.

 

MHA 5030   Health Care Legal Principles, Compliance, and Ethics (3 credits)

Students in this course will survey the major legal and ethical issues of the health care system. The course covers the legal issues surrounding the relationships of patient, provider, and health care institution. There will be specific isolation for analysis by career designation, i.e., MD, RN, etc., as well as ways in which organizations manage these professionals from a legal standpoint. Further, the course will focus on shareholder responsibility, corporate compliance, key cases that control health care law, elements of assault, battery, tort, etc., and elements of ethics within health care and how they are both similar and dissimilar to legal concepts.

 

MHA 5040   Population and Community Health (3 credits)

Students in this course will differentiate perspectives of the healthcare delivery system, identify chronic diseases and wellness needs at a community level using disparate sources of data, and create programs to address health determinants and care coordination among a defined population of individuals. Further, the course content will include information needed for designing plans to improve the health status of the community and its members. Concepts provided in this course will help students identify methods to conduct community health assessments, evaluate community intervention programs, and utilize data to understand community health profiles. Cultural competence will also be considered through both theory and case studies. Relevant data will also support the incidence of health disparities as it applies to the individual and the community.

 

MHA 5050   Health Administration:  Current Topics, Trends, Policy, and Sustainability (3 credits)

Students in this course will appraise current topics and trends within health care administration environment. Due to the changing healthcare environment, these topics and trends will shift over time. In addition, students will also develop the ability to explain and summarize evolving policy and ongoing efforts of sustainability. Familiarity with progressive trend setting, payment structures, innovative models of healthcare delivery, and modern policymakers are critical to the success of health care administration personnel. Students will have the ability to discuss, debate, and make informed evidence-based recommendations concerning the contemporary state of health care administration.

 

MHA 5060  Health Information Systems (3 credits)

Students in this course will gain insights to the use of information systems on evaluating and improving the quality and efficiency of the delivery of health care. After reviewing data gathered by contemporary health information systems, students will engage in applied exercises to identify how information and decision support tools can be used to investigate and formulate responses to current health care management problems.

 

MHA 5070   Health Administration: Capstone Preparation (1 credit)

Students in this seminar course will transition from theory to practice, including evaluating elements of professional relationship skills and accountability. Considered the pre-requisite to the capstone internship and thesis courses, students will explore internship and thesis options for their capstone, develop goals and create measurable learning objectives.

 

MHA 5080   Marketing and Strategy in the Health Industry (3 credits)

Students in this course will explore concepts of strategic and marketing management – analyze mission, vision, external trends, competitive forces and internal issues and investigate primary and secondary research – all in creating, executing, and analyzing a strategic plan. Students will evaluate marketing principles of product, price, place, and promotion, as well as positioning as derived from the strategic plan in order to create a marketing plan. Students will critique how all aspects of health care management – including financial and operations management – are derived from the health care organization’s strategy.

 

MHA 5090   Financial Analyses and Application in Health Care Organizations (3 credits)

Students in this course will be familiarized with the financial statements used to manage health care businesses and the essential skills of financial statement analysis and budgeting. Students will explore the key elements of managing the revenue cycle in health care, pricing, cost analysis, expense management, and capital investment analysis. Students in the course will also be challenged to use financial and operational data to support management decision-making.

 

MHA 5100  Health Care Research Methods and Statistical Analysis (3 credits)

Students in this course will gain an overview of essential statistical concepts in health care administration including descriptive statistics, sampling and hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, and fundamental inferential techniques. Students will then apply this knowledge to implementing various research study designs methodologies (quantitative, qualitative and mixed), using hands-on experiences to apply concepts presented in the course to health services research ideas of interest.

 

MHA 5200   Health Care Operations, Risk Management, and Quality Assessment and Improvement (3 credits)

Students in this course will obtain a comprehensive and practical examination of all aspects of operations management in health care. Students will use mathematical skills to critically assess patient flows, process and quality improvement, volume projection, and supply chain management to improve processes in health care organizations. Detailed content on reducing cycle times (e.g., patient wait times), measuring productivity, streamlining process flows, tracking outcomes, quality, and performance metrics, and risk assessment of health care business processes will also be presented.

 

MHA 5300   Health Economics (3 credits)

Students in this course will evaluate economic concepts and tools including demand theory and production functions in health care. Insurance, provider, and health care labor markets will be examined. Economic information will be used to analyze markets and understand contemporary policy issues in health care in the U.S. Assessment of economic utility in health care from different stakeholder perspectives will also be addressed.

 

For the Capstone, students have a choice of either the Residency (Internship) or Thesis.

 

MHA 6100   Health Administration Capstone: Internship (Field) (3 credits)

Considered the culminating experience for students in the Master of Health Administration program. This capstone course is a structured field experience in which students work under direct supervision of a faculty advisor and internship preceptor. Students function as an integral member of a health care organization to complete a minimum of 150 field hours. The purpose of the field capstone is to obtain first-hand knowledge, apply didactics, build professional competencies, gain critical thinking skills, negotiate consensus and collaboration in work teams, and analyze administrative and operational matters.

 

MHA 6200  Health Administration Capstone: Thesis (3 credits)

Considered the culminating experience for students in the Master of Health Administration program. This capstone course requires completion of a major analytical paper. Students investigate a health care topic related to his/her career aspirations or personal research interests. Under direct supervision of a faculty advisor, students will analyze, synthesize, and integrate previously learned knowledge gleaned from coursework and professional experiences. Students will be required to demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research and create an individual, unique, analytical thesis paper and present the project and findings to peers and faculty.