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Health Administration - Courses

Applied Research Project Provides Industry Experience

Students will have the opportunity to interact with local health care executives and develop a research project designed to provide the health care organization with answers to questions, research data, opportunity exploration, or project development. This allows students to experiment and utilize the skills and knowledge gained in the program in service to the community and the health care organization.

The course work for Roberts Wesleyan College’s Bachelor of Science in Health Administration program is an innovative and contemporary blend of health administration and business:

PSY 441 | Adult Development and Lifelong Learning | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course explores the development of adults as learners. Students will review the mental, physical, and psychological stages of adult development and how those changes affect the adult learning process. The course introduces adult learners to both classical and contemporary adult learning theory. As students analyze adult learning theories, they will reflect on their own life experiences and review their strengths and motivations as adult learners. Students will have an opportunity to reflect, think critically, and prepare written responses to readings in the field of adult learning and adult development.

BHA 400 | Health Care Systems and Organizations | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course introduces the history and evolution of our health care system. The structure and function of health care organizations, internally and with one another, is examined in depth. A systems approach to administration and management is covered within the health care context. The organization of health services is reviewed with an overview of the interaction among, and the integration of, the major health care subsystems: primary; secondary; tertiary; long-term; palliative; and special populations/disorders. Delivering health care in a systematic and integrated framework is stressed throughout the course.

PSY 331 | Effective Interpersonal Relations | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course investigates the role of communication in creating a productive organizational environment. It aids adult learners in developing and strengthening their communication skills by focusing on self-assessment, reflection, and interpersonal skills.

PHL 413 | Bioethics | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course will assist students to better understand their own values and the relationship of those values to professional activities. Ethical decision-making will be explored through analysis of everyday dilemmas that occur within health care delivery. This course focuses on ethical decision-making, especially in the health care setting in which you function. It is not being assumed that you are not ethical or have not thought seriously before about how you make ethical decisions. What is being assumed, rather, is that all of us can benefit by taking time to reconsider our approach to ethical issues in a conscious, systematic manner.

BUS 300 | Organizational Leadership | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course introduces a broad range of concepts, theories, and practices important for a basic understanding of leadership in health care organizations. Topics studied will focus on the various styles and environments of effective leaders and will analyze leadership roles in relation to decision-making and strategic planning. The course will also examine servant leadership principles as they relate to team building; motivation; conflict management; mentorship; workforce planning; human diversity; and power and communication in health care; and how these principles can best be utilized by leaders in the health care environment.

BHA 450 | Health Care Budgeting and Finance | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course examines and focuses on financial management functions at the department level. The primary focus is on budgeting and cost analysis for department-level operations and the accounting for capital expenditures in health care organizations. Topics covered will include: budgetary systems and controls; budgetary preparation, processes, and cycles; and an overview of financial statements. In addition, students will examine costs and cost behavior in health care settings.

BHA 425 | Health Care Reimbursement Systems | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course covers the current state of the health insurance industry and reimbursement for services in the United States. The status of managed care and its continuing evolution is examined in depth. Private and public reimbursement structures and functions are studied in detail as well as application of reimbursement processes.

BHA 410 | Health Care Operations Management | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course provides an overview of the field of operations management in the health and human services arena and establishes a foundation and common vocabulary for future course work. It emphasizes the health care supply chain; risk and cost management; resource allocation and utilization; and process management. The course assumes adult learners have limited academic knowledge of operations management theory, and little or no experience in real world management situations to bring into the classroom. In each session the class explores some aspects of management in theoretical terms and then focuses on application of the theory to the practical problems facing managers in health and human services organizations.

BHA 480 | Contemporary Issues in Health Care | 3 credits | 5 weeks

This course will serve as a capstone experience for HA students. Adult learners will synthesize and integrate their learning across the curriculum, as they examine complex issues from multiple perspectives. Constant changes in business and environmental conditions present daunting challenges to modern organizations and their members. Traditional textbooks often do not fully portray the complexity of health care reality. Through this module, adult learners will consider theory and reality to develop and demonstrate meaningful application of management skills and competencies.

MKT 380 | Healthcare Marketing | 1 credit | 2 weeks

This course will introduce the learner to the data and technology-driven enterprise that is healthcare marketing today. In studying the marketing process, the learner will look at what marketing is, the nature of marketing strategy and the environment in which marketing operates. Special emphasis will be placed on how healthcare organizations are responding to the changing demographics of an aging population. At the core of marketing is the consumer. In healthcare, the consumer can be the patient, the family, the physician, the company buying care, a judge making a referral for mental health care, or an insurance company.

This course follows the 3 C’s and 4 P’s o from the marketing core. We will begin by analyzing the customer, competition, and company (3 C’s). We will complete this section with a discussion of situation assessment. The second section of the course focuses on implications for marketing tactics. Specifically, we will discuss the opportunities and barriers associated with tactical marketing decision making of the 4 P’s (e.g., product/service design, promotion, place, and pricing) within a healthcare environment.

MTH 351 | Biostatistics | 4 credits | 6 weeks

Biostatistics is an innovative field that involves the design, analysis, and interpretation of data for studies in public health and medicine. Biostatistics experts arrive at conclusions about disease and health risks by evaluating and applying mathematical and statistical formulas to the factors that impact health.

This course provides an introduction to selected important topics in biostatistical concepts and reasoning. This course represents an introduction to the field and provides a survey of data and data types. Specific topics include tools for describing central tendency and variability in data; methods for performing inference on population means and proportions via sample data; statistical hypothesis testing and its application to group comparisons; issues of power and sample size in study designs; and random sample and other study types. While there are some formulae and computational elements to the course, the emphasis is on interpretation and concepts.

BUS 395 | Applied Research Project | 7 credits | 7 weeks

The applied research module requires adult learners to select a problem they have encountered at work or elsewhere, conduct research to determine its cause(s), and make practical recommendations to solve the problem based on the results of the study. Intended to provide solutions to concrete problems, questions, or concerns within an organization, the research project enables adult learners to apply the academic skills and knowledge acquired across the healthcare curriculum. The value of the research project, therefore, depends on its applicability to real management or organizational concerns. While the project is individual, adult learners gain a basic understanding of the applied research process through collaborative work with their academic Project Advisor, Workplace Site Contact person, and classmates.

The first few weeks of this research course lays the groundwork for the research study by providing an introduction to research, establishing the development of the background statement and research problem statement, and culminates with a comprehensive literature review. The second half of the course requires the adult learner to determine the most appropriate data collection method and procedure, design a data collection instrument, if need be, collect the necessary data, analyze the data, and present the overall results of the research project in both written and oral reports.

Total credits: 37

Students must have no less than 124 credit hours (including program coursework) to graduate. Credit requirements may be satisfied through a variety of credit sources.

585.594.6600 or AGE-Admissions@roberts.edu

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