Curriculum

This course focuses on professional development within the healthcare industry, equipping students with tools to develop professionally, including: networking, interviewing, resume building, and project management. The course may be repeated 4 times. Offered as a Pass/No Pass course.

This course introduces students to the core principles and practices essential for success in the field of healthcare leadership. As the foundational course in the Master of Healthcare Administration program, it explores complex aspects of healthcare administration, analyzing important topics such as healthcare delivery models, healthcare economics, policy analysis, and strategic management.

This course examines communication theory and research in order to understand important communication processes reflected and addressed in healthcare organizations. This course prepares students with the necessary skills and behaviors required to effectively communicate with patients, co-workers, employees, society and outside organizations in the healthcare field.

Provides a framework for the economic analysis of healthcare issues, and an overview of health policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation in the United States. Examines current health policies and the key factors that impact them, including: political, social, economic, and institutional environments. Focuses on the application of economic principles to current problems in the healthcare industry.

This course focuses on the strategies, tools, and processes essential for managing healthcare operations efficiently and effectively. Students will examine key topics such as workflow optimization, project management, organizational structure, resource allocation, performance metrics, and quality improvement. Students will learn to evaluate operational performance using analytical tools and develop strategies to address common challenges. Through case studies and applied projects, students will develop the skills needed to enhance service delivery and support organizational goals.

This course will offer a current and historical overview of the legal oversight and regulation of healthcare delivery in the U.S. as it examines principles and practical applications of the laws that affect the operational decisions of healthcare providers, payers, and managers, as well as how that impacts development of markets for healthcare products and services. The social, moral, and ethical issues encountered in trying to balance the interests, needs, and rights of individuals against those of the larger society will also be examines.

This course will introduce strategic planning and marketing as they apply to healthcare organizations through the development of practical skills in strategic management such as internal and external environmental assessment, competitor analysis, and methods for evaluating strategic alternatives that can be used in different types of health care settings.

This course will examine methods and tools for managing quality in health facilities, physician practices, managed care, and public health organizations including developments in quality assurance and improvement, utilization review, risk management, and patient satisfaction.

This course examines the critical role of information systems and technology in healthcare delivery and administration. Students will explore health informatics tools such as electronic health records, data analytics platforms, clinical decision support systems, and patient engagement technologies. Key topics include interoperability, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), emerging technologies, and the ethical and regulatory considerations of health IT. The course emphasizes leveraging technology to enhance decision-making, operational efficiency, and care quality across diverse healthcare settings.

This course will emphasize the concepts of human resources management through understanding and identifying the importance of human resources in health organizations, establishing the need for relating organizational strategic planning to human resource planning, examining the role of organizational culture to the understanding of behavior and productivity, and the legal environment pertaining to employment law.

The course will focus on financial management and analysis of healthcare organizations including financial management concepts, capital acquisition, cost of capital and capital structure, capital allocation, working capital management, forecasting, control systems, capital budgeting, and institutional financing.

This course focuses on leadership theory and project management, and their application to health service organizations. The foundation and principles of lean leadership are emphasized, and tools for improved self-understanding of personal leadership styles and their impact on organizational functionality will be introduced.

Examines ethical issues related to professional practice and leadership through the lens of relevant Christian doctrine (such as vocation and two kingdoms), classical moral philosophy, and contemporary ethical theory. Prepares students to analyze and respond to ethical questions faced by healthcare managers at the individual, organizational, and policy levels. Relevant professional codes of ethics will be consulted and analyzed.

This culminating course offers an integrative learning experience for MHA students. Students will complete a capstone project that requires them to integrate theoretical knowledge and conceptual skills acquired through their coursework and other related experiences, with current literature, as they demonstrate application to the field. Upon completion of the written project, students will orally present their capstone in class. In addition to the capstone project, students will be required to develop an e-portfolio that includes reflective exercises and captures volunteer work. Graduation Application Fee: $185.