Health Systems Management (MS) Curriculum

This course examines concepts and techniques in healthcare enterprises for information resources management. Topics include strategic assessment of information needs, resource allocation, techniques for prioritization and control, system acquisition and strategic planning for information system needs and the IT Life Cycle. Governance structures for IT systems planning and evaluation, strategies for aligning competing interests within an organization and stages of planning for an enterprise system is also investigated.

This course addresses the differences between managerial and financial accounting within the modern healthcare organization. It begins with an analysis of healthcare finance and examines the various sources of funding within the field of healthcare. This course examines the various tools necessary to record, report, and accurately measure financial information. It will also provide students the ability to assess the monetary health of an organization based on both industry benchmarks and historical data. This course concludes with the importance of developing a strategic financial plan based on current and future funding trends.

This course examines the relationship between law and ethics and the influence they have on healthcare professionals. Advancements in both technology and pharmaceuticals will continue to increase life expectancy, as such, it is expected that there will be an ensuing, peripheral increase in ethical dilemmas. This course will review such dilemmas and the role that both health professionals and ethics committees will likely play now and in the future.

Students will investigate the processes of determining the direction of a healthcare system by establishing objectives and designing and implementing strategies. The course will stress the dynamic nature of the issues as they relate to rapidly evolving healthcare delivery systems.

Students examine healthcare systems and their effects on the health of populations. The purpose of this course is to bring the student up-to-date on significant developments that have occurred in the American healthcare system. Students explore the widespread penetration of managed care with its service management and cost control strategies. Topics include systems/ theory thinking, case management, health policy, the interrelatedness of elements within healthcare systems, and strategies to influence systems.

Students examine the foundations of clinical information collection, processing, recording and use to support decision-making in healthcare environments. The importance of patient information privacy, compliance with regulatory standards, safety and data integrity is prominent throughout the course. Topics covered include types of health care information systems for specific healthcare settings, system selection, implementation process, system security and data standards. In addition, students will explore strategic planning and management implications associated with information technology in healthcare management.

This course explores the development and utilization of healthcare informatics as it relates to the administration of healthcare agencies and institutions. Students will appraise the theoretical underpinnings of healthcare informatics. A comprehensive overview of healthcare practices will be examined. Acquisition of clinical and financial information, processing, analysis and reporting, as well as informatics trends and issues will also be explored

This course covers the utilization of technology in the healthcare environment from an individual and organizational point of view. Challenges faced by nurses and healthcare professionals in the dynamic technological era requires a broad understanding of the concepts of healthcare informatics. Students will be provided the tools, techniques, and resources used for specific application in the healthcare environment. Regulations for meaningful use of information in healthcare systems is explored. Students are exposed to interdisciplinary collaborative models of informatics processes which improve efficiency as well as patient experience and outcomes. This course also covers technological changes, challenges, and risks that organizations face internally or externally.

This course examines the development and administration of relational databases through the stages of the database application life cycle. Advanced topics in database administration, recent trends in database technologies and the roles of administrators are covered.

This course introduces the methodologies, issues and technologies behind management support systems. Systems covered include Decision Support Systems, Executive Information Systems, Expert Systems and other types of management support systems. Students focus on how these systems are used to support the decision-making process within an organization.

This course provides an overview of business communication technologies, from basic components and subsystems to whole networks. Highlights include areas such as TCP/IP and the Internet, wireless networks, high-speed LANs, Wide Area Networks (WANs), network security, and issues concerning network management. This course enables students to make informed decisions about technologies comprising the data communications field. The purpose of this course is to present the concepts of information communications in a way relating specifically to the business environment and to the concerns of business management and staff. An important theme throughout this course is the essential role of standards, which are addressed in terms of groupings shaping the marketplace and defining the choices available to the decision-maker.

This course reviews efficient processes for information systems analysis and development. It also covers state-of-the-art techniques for information systems specifications and design. Other topics covered include real-time structured analysis and design, and object-oriented analysis and design.