Health Services Policy and Management
Ronnie D. Horner, Interim Chair
The Department of Health Services Policy and Management promotes individual and community health through improvements in the organization and management of public health and health care delivery. The department offers the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), the Master of Health Administration (M.H.A.), and three dual degrees: the Master of Social Work/Master of Public Health (M.S.W./M.P.H.), the Master of Public Health/Master of Public Administration (M.P.H./M.P.A.) and the Juris Doctor/Master of Health Administration (J.D./M.H.A.) (see Graduate Dual Degree Programs). At the doctoral level, the department offers the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.).
The Master’s programs prepare students to assume leadership positions in public, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations in public health, health services, health policy, and related fields. The M.P.H. emphasizes preparation for a career in the public health sector. The program includes full public health foundation courses, taught in an interdisciplinary format, in the five core areas of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, administration, and health promotion, education and behavior. The M.H.A. emphasizes preparation for a career in management in the private health care sector. The program has a substantial emphasis on accounting and finance. A professional M.H.A. is also available for practicing professionals with courses held on weekends. All programs may be taken part-time. The M.P.H. may be taken by distance education via synchronous and/or asynchronous broadcast. A Certificate of Graduate Study in Gerontology may be combined with any degree program (see bulletin section for the College of Social Work).
The Ph.D. program prepare students to make a substantive impact in health services policy and management through teaching, research and policy leadership in university settings and in the public and private health care sector. For experienced health care managers and physicians, the Ph.D. program prepares them for senior policy and management positions in public and private health-focused organizations.
Admission
Applicants should submit an application packet through the School of Public Health Application Service (http://www.sophas.org) unless advised otherwise by the department.
Master’s Programs
Health Services Policy and Management, M.P.H. and Health Services Policy and Management, M.H.A.
Applicants for a master’s degree must submit the following:
- transcripts of all college-level academic work
- three letters of recommendation
- scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT)
- a statement of professional goals
- a personal resume
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam scores, if the applicant’s native language is not English
International applicants should contact the program director before applying to the program.
An interview with departmental faculty is highly recommended.
Graduate Assistantship
All full-time M.H.A. and M.P.H. students are expected to work as graduate assistants in health service or public health organizations in the community to acquire work experience and enrich the learning process through on-the-job application of concepts and techniques learned in the classroom. To qualify for an assistantship, a student must be fully admitted to a degree program, be enrolled as a full-time student, and maintain a 3.00 GPA.
Dual Degrees
Students seeking admission to dual degree programs must meet the admissions requirements of both programs. Our requirements are listed above. The College of Social Work, School of Law and the Department of Political Science specify the admission requirements for their programs.
The Department of Health Services Policy and Management and the College of Social Work, School of Law and Department of Political Science offer coordinated programs that lead to a dual degree. The requirements for the M.P.H. or M.H.A. portion of each dual degree program are the same as shown above. The M.P.A., M.S.W. and J.D. portions of the dual degree programs are determined by the respective schools and college. Some courses do fulfill requirements for both portions of the dual degree. A dual degree program thus typically requires fewer semester hours in total than if the two programs were taken separately.
Profiles of Admitted Master’s Students
M.P.H.
For Fall 2016, there were 44 applicants. Thirty-five were accepted. Their mean GRE score was 297 in combined verbal & quantitative on the new scoring scale. Their mean undergraduate GPA was 3.33 (on a 4.00 point scale).
M.H.A.
For Fall 2016, there were 103 applicants; 44 were accepted while 18 enrolled. Their mean GRE score was 301 in combined verbal & quantitative based on the new scoring scale. The mean GMAT score was 490 on the new scale. Overall mean undergraduate GPA was 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.
Doctoral Programs
Health Services Policy and Management, Ph.D.
Applicants for the PhD program must submit:
- transcripts of prior undergraduate and graduate work
- scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT). This requirement may be waived for applicants with a terminal clinical degree or other advanced degrees (such as M.D., M.B.B.S., D.D.S., J.D., or Ph.D.) on a case by case basis.
- three letters of recommendation
- a statement of professional goals
- a personal resume
- copies of publications, if any
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam scores, if the applicant’s native language is not English.
International applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the program director before applying to the program.
An interview with departmental faculty is highly recommended.
Admission criteria for the Doctor of Philosophy program include:
- Master’s degree in health administration, business administration, public health, or public administration is strongly preferred. Exceptional applicants with baccalaureate degrees will also be considered.
- A grade point average of at least 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) is required on previous undergraduate and graduate course work. Exceptions to this requirement will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the faculty.
The Ph.D. degree requires an approved program of 60 hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. Students with a relevant master’s degree may complete the PhD in Health Services Policy and Management by completing a minimum of 42 additional credit hours (including 12 credit hours of dissertation preparation). A student without a prior master’s degree will be required to complete a minimum of 60 graduate credit hours to graduate.
Health Services Policy and Management, Dr.P.H.
Admission criteria for the Doctor of Public Health program include:
- Applicants should have a master’s degree in health administration, business administration, public health, or public health administration. Exceptions will be considered by petition to the faculty. Applicants must have worked in a health-related midlevel management or policy position for at least four years.
- Previous graduate-level course work should include health care finance, statistics, organizational behavior, health economics, and epidemiology. Students lacking one or more of these will be required to make up the deficiency. Courses taken to make up deficiencies do not count toward the Dr.P.H. program. Students with three deficiencies will have a conditional admission contingent on successful completion of make-up courses.
- A grade point average of at least 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) is required on previous graduate course work.
Applicants must submit:
- transcripts of prior undergraduate and graduate work
- scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT). This requirement may be waived for applicants with a terminal clinical degree or other advanced degrees (such as M.D., M.B.B.S., D.D.S., J.D., or Ph.D.) on a case by case basis.
- three letters of recommendation from persons who can reflect upon the applicant’s prior academic and professional performance
- a statement of career goals
- a personal resume
- copies of publications, if any
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam scores, if the applicant’s native language is not English (may be waived, by petition to the faculty, if academic experience in the U.S. demonstrates English proficiency).
International applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the program director before applying to the program.
An interview with the departmental faculty is highly recommended.
Profile of Admitted Doctoral Students
Ph.D.
For Fall, 2016, there were 39 applicants to the Ph.D. program, of whom 26 were accepted and 13 matriculated. The mean GRE scores of accepted applicants were 152 (verbal) and 153 (quantitative). Their mean graduate GPA was 3.62 (on a 4.0 scale).
Dr.P.H.
For Fall, 2016, the Department did not admit any student in the program.
Courses
Provide students with overview of health services management, management techniques and the different roles and functions of the different health care services. Use of field trips and guest speakers from different health care providers.
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences
Overview of the delivery and financing of health care in the rural U.S., with emphasis on vulnerable rural populations and access to care.
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy
Comparative health systems of the world including health system organization, management, financing, resource use and health outcomes.
An introduction to data management in healthcare institutions for undergraduate students and non-HSPM major graduate students. Topics include the nature of medical data, legal protections surrounding such information, and basis strategies for managing information technology resources.
Overview of health services delivery in the United States, including organization and financing of health care, health insurance practices, primary and long-term care among other topics.
Introduction to health care finance. Course will teach reimbursement structures, regulatory mechanisms, cost control, and related factors unique to healthcare organizations.
An interdisciplinary perspective on the field of health administration. Philosophy concepts, and skills of implementation, management, and evaluation are presented and discussed. Principles in the practice of health administration are applied to identified problems and situations.
Introduction to historical and contemporary health care programs and policy initiatives in the public and/or private sectors that help improve equity in health and health care appropriate to women, childhood, and adolescence.
Linkages among economic development, poverty, inequality and health. Direct and indirect effects of health in economic development.
The ethical dimensions of decision-making in health care delivery, administration and epidemiologic research. Provides ethical foundations for discussion of topics in health-related research and practice.
Cross-listed course: EPID 707
Concepts and principles of economic evaluation and applications of evaluation techniques (e.g., cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, cost-benefits, decision modeling) to the real-world issues and problems.
Analysis of issues and demographic, economic, and political forces affecting health care delivery systems in rural America. Examines structure of federal and state public health programs that impact rural health.
Analysis of issues and forces affecting health delivery through the public sector; major models of political decision-making; and current health legislation.
A critical introduction to the application of economic analysis to problems in the health care field. Related scientific literature.
Understanding and optimizing the use of health information systems and allied technologies including electronic medical records to improve healthcare organizations' performance in the areas of care delivery, operations management, quality, safety, and accessibility of healthcare services.
Origins/functions of public health and the U.S. health-care system; special attention to public health perspectives, social/behavioral determinants of health and environmental health issues.
An introduction to the concepts of community assessment and managerial epidemiology, and their use in the population-based planning and management of integrated health systems.
Evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of health programs. Different research designs will be discussed in terms of their relevance to specific evaluation problems.
Strategy and tactics of state, regional, institutional health services planning. Special attention to the role of marketing.
The role and methods of sample surveys in health administration; development of survey designs; survey procedures; questionnaire design; interviewing procedures; codebook design; utilization of computer program packages in data analysis.
Econometric methods for making proper statistical inferences using estimates for observational data.
Sociological approaches to the study of health and the decision to seek health care.
Sociological approaches to the study of health care institutions.
Legal basis for health care activities; health care provider laws, regulations, antitrust and organizational governance.
A study of the current problems, theories, models, and strategics associated with managing human resources in the health care sector.
Course addresses the significant legal and ethical issues in Public Health practice; basis for Public Health actions, authorities and limitations; role of the three branches of government in Public Health protection.
Advancing public health policy through design and implementation of a policy change campaign.
Application of the principles of financial management to the systems involved in the delivery of health care.
Provides working knowledge of financial management techniques for managers in the health care sector.
Provides knowledge base and decision-making tools for financial management in health care organizations using financial management tools and principles.
Financial accounting and internal accounting for management decision-making, including cost determination, cost control, performance evaluation and financial planning.
An overview of management and policy concepts and issues pertaining to long-term care facilities and programs.
Seminar on theory of and practice of leadership as a manager in the health care industry.
Human Resources Management in health care and allied topics.
Operations management in health care, supply chain management and logistics processes, health services process improvement.
To explore organizational behavior at the micro level (individuals, motivation, leadership, conflict management) and macro level (social systems, inter-organizational relationships, change and innovation, performance and strategy, organizational design), with particular focus on health care environments.
Overview of international health status, demographics; communicable/noncommunicable diseases; health care needs, financing, and infrastructure delivery; and maternal and child health, family planning, and public health programs.
Principles and tools of epidemiology applied to decision-making in a health care environment. Knowledge and skills useful to health services managers related to statistics, population health management and assessment of medical care processes/outcomes are taught.
Demand, supply, employment-based coverage, government-sponsored programs and managed care.
The principles of marketing applied to the health care setting.
Content varies by title. Course my be repeated for a total of 6 credit hours.
On-site management project in a health care setting.
Format for presentation of faculty research, doctoral student dissertation proposals and guest lecturers on timely issues in health care policy and management.
The course foci is on theories and techniques used in conducting economic evaluations and policy analyses to ascertain the efficacy and effectiveness of public health and health care programs, services, and policies. Enrollment is restricted to DrPH or PhD students.
The course is designed to give students knowledge and skills necessary to demonstrate leadership in a variety of public health venues. Course content will focus specifically on theories, skills, styles, and techniques used in providing leadership to public health and healthcare programs, services, and policy development, and research. Enrollment Restrictions: Students must be accepted into a PhD, DrPH, or MPH program.
Concepts of health data and heterogeneous health data structures within the context of health services research. Processes and methods to combine and integrate health data, measurement, and analysis. Design and implementation of data processing plans for addressing health services research questions.
Readings and discussion of topics relevant to research in health administration/health sciences.
Readings and discussion of’ major topics, including institutionally based issues, in research in health administration/health sciences.
Directed research on a topic to be developed by doctoral student and instructor. May be repeated for credit.
Students are required to conduct applied public health methods and strategies as a part of their practicum experience. Examples of practicum include, but not limited to development, implementation, and evaluation of public health or healthcare services, policies, organizational development, and regulatory activities.
One full year ,18 hrs, of graduate study beyond the master’s level.