Healthcare Policy Concentration in the UD MBA Program

Background:

We have recently proposed a MD/MBA dual degree program in collaboration with TJU. There are several other graduate programs at TJU and we have therefore also proposed UD MBA on-site for TJU graduate students as well as for their employees. This is a wonderful opportunity for both institutions, as well as for the students, in a time of great change in our nation's healthcare system. Both UD and TJU are excited about this partnership, and we are looking forward to other ways to collaborate. TJU has also opened doors for our MBA students to take classes in the Healthcare Policy field. There is interest and excitement among our MBA students to do this.

The unique opportunity for UD and TJU students is that the two programs together provide a degree that is not commonly found in other accredited business schools in our area.

Why do we need a Healthcare Policy concentration?

Some of our MBA students have begun taking classes in the Healthcare Policy area at TJU this fall 2009. My exploratory conversations with some local companies in the healthcare field (AZ, ENDO, Christiana Healthcare etc.) led me to believe that they will continue to provide financial support to their employees if such programs show a positive return on our knowledge and skill sets used in day-to-day business.

I believe that a prepackaged Healthcare Policy concentration in the graduate degree into the family of MBA concentrations will provide leverage for students in this competitive billion-dollar industry. There is a strong presence of large healthcare companies in the area, from Christiana Care, AZ, ENDO, Merck, GSK, Medco, to BCBS of Delaware, and others. Thus, there appears to be abundance of potential students who would be interested in this concentration if we could bring it on books and promote it well.

TJU offers a good portfolio of courses in the healthcare policy field as listed below and we have already scheduled a class at the Newark campus during spring 2010.  The students will need 9 credits (any three courses out of six listed below) to get the Healthcare Policy concentration.

Healthcare Policy Concentration

List of Courses for the Healthcare Policy Concentration:

(A student needs 3 courses or 9 credits for the concentration):

HPL 500: US Healthcare Organization and Delivery (3 credits)
An overview of how health care is organized, delivered and financed in the United States.
Traces the historical evolution in political, economic, and social contexts, including the distribution and access to medical and other services, the roles of public and private insurance for health care, and the structure of healthcare benefits. Addresses current issues in US healthcare organization, delivery, and financing as well as policies and approaches that impact changes in healthcare delivery.

HQS 501:  Organizational Behavior and Change in Health Care (3 credits)
Introduces Organizational Behavior (OB) as the study of how individuals and groups act in organizations and takes a systems approach to the application of this knowledge in building better relationships within organizations. Examines human, organizational and social objectives within organizations. Examines how different types of healthcare organizations assist or impede the development of healthcare quality or safety improvement initiatives and how organizations adapt and change.  Analyzes ways in which healthcare organizations are similar to, and different from, other types of complex organizations.

HQS 503: Healthcare Quality and Safety Measurement and Outcomes Analysis (3 credits)
Establishes a basis for critical analysis of issues in healthcare quality and safety and presents conceptual and scientific approaches to management.

HPL 504: Health Law and Regulatory Issues (3 credits)
Explores critical legal and regulatory issues in health care using a case-based approach. Demonstrates how the legal system overlays with the healthcare enterprise and prepares students to critically analyze the impact of the law on healthcare delivery, policy decisions, and payment. Examines risk management laws, approaches, and regulations. Analyzes liability and “apology” for medical errors. Students critique and propose approaches to developing and modifying healthcare policy that consider legal and regulatory constraints, healthcare system variables, and societal issues that affect the organization and delivery of care.

HPL 506: Health Policy: Analysis and Advocacy (3 credits)
Prepares students to apply policy analysis tools to define and address health policy issues and problems. Uses the Medicare program to illustrate the policy development process. Examines the complexity of policy problems and provides the basic tools used in policy design, feasibility analysis, implementation and evaluation. Builds on prior coursework and incorporates stakeholder analysis and role of socio-cultural contexts, and economic, legal, and ethical perspectives in establishing a policy analysis framework.

HPL 532: Managerial Accounting in Health Care (3 credits)
An introduction to analysis of selected financial data and metrics for management planning, decision making, and evaluation.