The Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) degree prepares students for leadership roles in the health care sector, including positions in hospitals, health care systems, long-term care facilities, clinics, insurance firms, health departments, and government agencies. The MHSA offers a systematic examination of the health care system, exposure to the impact of health policy and the policy process, a mastery of analytic methods, and a broad exposure to the practice of health care management. Classes are taught on the KUMC campus and offered in the late afternoon and evening.

The mission of the MHSA Program is to improve lives and communities in Kansas and beyond by preparing students to be outstanding health administration professionals and future leaders in the health care sector. To accomplish this mission, the program:

• recruits students with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, along with the ability to succeed;
• hires, values and respects faculty with varied backgrounds, who are committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship and service;
• designs and develops a competency-based curriculum that stresses lifelong learning;
• emphasizes interprofessional education through collaboration with learners and practitioners from multiple disciplines;
• stresses the practical application of knowledge; and
• enables graduates to be competitive in the marketplace.

Typical Plan of Study

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer	Hours
HP&M 810	3	HP&M 827	3	HP&M 852	2
HP&M 822	3	HP&M 832	2	HP&M 860 or 862	1
HP&M 825	3	HP&M 850	3
HP&M 858	3	HP&M 853	2
HP&M 859	2	BIOS 704	3
	14		13		3
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
HP&M 819	3	HP&M 833	2
HP&M 830	3	HP&M 846	3
HP&M 837	3	HP&M 847	2
HP&M 854	3	HP&M 848	2
Elective	3	HP&M 861	2
	15		11
Total Hours 56

The Graduate Certificate in Health Administration provides an introduction to the field of health administration. Students will obtain a basic understanding of the U.S. healthcare system and how it operates. This certificate is designed for those aspiring to leadership positions in healthcare, to those newly in healthcare leadership positions, and to those considering a Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) degree (Master of Health Services Administration, KU School of Medicine Department of Population Health (kumc.edu)).   If a student is subsequently admitted to the MHSA program, credits from a completed certificate may upon approval be used towards fulfillment of MHSA degree requirements. All certificate classes are accessible to distance learners. 

The certificate will be comprised of four courses taken in the following order:

Summer HPM 810: The Healthcare System (3 credits, online) 
The structure and function of the components of the U.S. healthcare system are introduced in the context of the history, values and social forces that influenced its development and evolution. Students gain exposure to the concepts and vocabulary associated with aspects of the system, including delivery (providers, institutions, services), resources (finance, payment, insurance), population and public health, and outcomes (cost, access, quality). Healthcare outcomes from consumer, clinical and societal perspectives are explored.

Fall HPM 825: Financial Concepts in Healthcare Management (3 credits, hybrid) 
Introduces the financial and managerial accounting concepts used in health care. This includes financial statement analysis; cost accounting; budgeting; and capital project analysis.

Fall HPM 858: Health and Social Behavior (3 credits, hybrid) 
Health care as a cultural and socio-behavioral system is presented. Using research and theory, students explore alternative perspectives on the nature of medicine and healing within comparative health systems, both U.S. and abroad. Students examine at an advanced level how healthcare organizational structures contribute to patient health outcomes and influence employee behaviors. The course reinforces the nature and characteristics of the health professions, particularly medicine and nursing perceptions, and the complex behavioral dynamics of health professionals with organizational leaders.

Spring HP&M 822: Healthcare Economics (3 credits, online) 
This course introduces the core concepts from economics to healthcare with a focus on helping health care managers use economic tools in making sound decisions. The demand for health care products, the structure of insurance, and the supply of health care products are examined. Students will apply a variety of economic analyses to health policy and health system issues.

CURRICULUM:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
HP&M 810	The Health Care System	3
HP&M 825	Financial Concepts in Healthcare Management	3
HP&M 858	Organizational Behavior in Healthcare	3
HP&M 822	Health Care Economics	3

Year 1
Summer	Hours	Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
HP&M 810	3	HP&M 825	3	HP&M 822	3
		HP&M 858	3
	3		6		3
Total Hours 12

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS:

• A completed application 
• An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (on a 4-point scale) from an accredited institution
• A letter of reference from a professional colleague or professor
• A personal statement about why the applicant wants to pursue the certificate
• Interview with an MHSA faculty member

Contact for More Information:

Nichole Evans, MHSA Program Manager

Department of Population Health

University of Kansas Medical Center

5001 Student Center– Mail Stop 3044

Kansas City, KS 66160

913.588.1934; nevans2@kumc.edu

The MHSA program is externally accredited by CAHME (Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education) and is required to provide a competency-based curriculum. In this program, students are assessed throughout the program on 14 competencies or learning goals.

Interpersonal Communication: The exchange of information, feelings and meanings through verbal and nonverbal means; includes listening well and having an awareness of how one’s messages are being received

Organizational Communication: Ability to effectively communicate within and without one’s organization; includes communications face-to-face, by phone, email or web; includes to superiors, subordinates, peers, customers/clients, etc.

Presentation Skills: Ability to confidently deliver an organized and engaging message that informs, persuades and or motivates the audience; includes content appropriate for the intended audience, good voice projection, appearance, body language, gestures, eye contact; effective visual aids

Writing Skills: Ability to write clearly and concisely; to write from the reader’s perspective; to use appropriate grammar, punctuation and word choice; puts main points upfront; stresses facts over opinion; format and content appropriate to the document type (e.g., email, memo, white paper etc.)

Qualitative Analysis: Understanding the appropriate use of qualitative methods including types of data collection (e.g., focus groups, interviews, observations) and approaches to analyses in order to investigate health care administration issues

Quantitative Analysis: Understanding the appropriate use of quantitative methods and ability to analyze, critique, and or conduct quantitative calculations such as cost analyses, supply and demand analyses, epidemiological measures

Critical Thinking: Ability to gather relevant information and to conceptualize, analyze, synthesize and or evaluate the information in order to take well-reasoned actions, make decisions, reach valid conclusion/solutions and or generate additional relevant questions

Strategic Analysis: Ability to develop an effective business strategy typically using the organization’s self-assessment and environmental scan for SWOT or SOAR

Marketing Analysis: Ability to develop an in-depth analysis of a market’s conditions and characteristics; understands and can use focus groups, surveys, interviews and e-marketing techniques

Financial Analysis: Ability to apply, interpret and explain financial and accounting information; demonstrate goal setting and development of organizational performance measures through financial analyses

Teamwork: Ability to work with others toward a shared goal, participating actively, sharing responsibility and rewards, and contributing to the capability of the team…(can) empathize and create an atmosphere of respect, helpfulness, and cooperation” (Daniel Goleman, Key Step Media); provides constructive feedback, puts aside interpersonal conflicts, appropriately subordinates individual aims to those of the team

Leading and Managing Others: The ability to lead and work effectively with individuals and teams to accomplish planned goals on time and within budget; can prioritize goals and objectives that align with the shared mission, vision and values of the organization; demonstrates management and leadership knowledge and behaviors including empathy, persuasion, goal-oriented teambuilding, influence, and appropriate use of delegated authority and organizational power 

Planning and Implementing Improvement: Selecting the appropriate planning and improvement tools for the performance challenge and using a structured approach to implementing and maintaining a change

Personal and Professional Ethics: Demonstrates ethical behavior in words and action including reliability, honesty and accountability; can identify ethical issues and articulate multiple relevant perspectives; can identify and articulate personal values and biases

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Upon completion of the MHSA program, the student should be equipped with the following areas of knowledge:

Systems Thinking 
· Identify the characteristics of a system.
· Give examples of intended and unintended consequences of system changes.
· Describe the effects of public policy on organizations and the health care system.
· Describe the dynamics of the health care system of the United States.

Professional and Community Service 
· Discuss the relationship between professional and service roles.
· Describe the roles of professional and community service in health care systems

Policy and Law 
· Describe the key elements of the United States health system.
· Assess the social, economic, political, and ethical implications of a policy change.
· Locate and synthesize information relevant to analysis of a policy change.
· Discuss the major legal issues facing health care organizations.
· Discuss the important features of a business contract.

Health Care Occupations and Professions 
· Describe the roles of various health professionals in the overall health care system.
· Discuss the key issues entailed in working effectively with physicians.
· Discuss the key issues entailed in working effectively with nurses.
· Review strategies for engaging associates in change efforts.

Organizational Structure 
· Discuss the effects of variations in structure and function.
· Review the implications of organizational theory for a health care organization.

Organizational Culture 
· Discuss how organizational culture affects effectiveness.
· Describe how to change the culture of an organization.
· Describe the value of diversity in communities and organizations
· Discuss culturally sensitive approaches to health care management.
· Describe the major cultural issues that arise in the delivery of health services.

Standards and Regulations
· Describe the regulatory process at the state and national level.
· Discuss the effects of regulations on the operations of a health care organization.
· Review the fiduciary and compliance responsibilities of a governing board.

Population Health 
· Describe core public health constructs.
· Describe population health status measures
· Discuss the impact of knowledge and behavior on population health.

Risk Management 
· Discuss how to improve worker and patient safety.
· Describe high reliability organizations.
· Distinguish between performance improvement and risk management.

Financial Management 
· Discuss the integration of strategic, financial, and operational planning.
· Describe the revenue cycle of a variety of health care providers.
· Describe various types of health care cost models.

Reimbursement Management 
· Explain the risks and rewards of common reimbursement mechanisms.
· Explain insurance risk and pricing techniques.
· Evaluate alternative approaches to health care reform.
· Discuss current trends in health insurance.

Technology Management 
· Identify key issues in technology acquisition.
· Discuss how to align an organization’s technology and overall strategies.
· Explain the role of technology in improving organizational performance.
· Evaluate a proposal to acquire a technology.

Human Resource Management 
· Explain how principles of human resource management apply in health care.
· Compare the human resource roles of general and human resource managers.
· Discuss best practices in employee selection, evaluation, and coaching.
· Describe the characteristics of an exemplary workforce analysis.
· Relate significant labor laws and labor practices to health care settings.
· Review trends in human resource management in health care.

Performance Management 
· Assess a variety of ways to improve workflow
· Describe the elements of a successful performance improvement effort.
· Discuss alternative approaches to performance improvement.

Project Management 
· Discuss how to set up a detailed project plan.
· Describe the key elements of project management.
· Identify the principal requirements of project leaders.

Because the MHSA degree signifies that the holder is prepared for entry into the practice of health services administration, it follows that graduates must have the knowledge and skills necessary to function in a broad range of management and leadership situations. Therefore, the following abilities and expectations must be met by all students with or without accommodations admitted to the MHSA program.

1.         Observation:  A student must be able to observe class demonstrations and field experiences relevant to the field of health services administration. Observation necessitates the functional use of the senses of vision and hearing.

2.         Communication:  A student must be able to communicate effectively in oral and written form with other students, faculty, staff and preceptors. Effective communication includes the ability to understand assigned readings and lectures, the ability to analyze    information, and the ability to present results of such analyses verbally and in writing.

3.         Motor:  A student must have sufficient motor function to attend classes, prepare assignments, and make public presentations. Class requirements may also include field work in a variety of health services organizations.

4.         Intellectual, conceptual, integrative and quantitative abilities:  A student must possess the ability to understand and work with measurements, carry out calculations, and engage in reasoning, analysis and synthesis. A student must be able to draw on all these abilities to be an effective problem solver.

5.         Behavioral and social attributes:  A student must have the emotional health required for the full use of his or her intellectual ability, exercise of sound judgment, and timely completion of a manager’s responsibilities. Integrity, reliability, self-direction, motivation, and ability to work with diverse groups are qualities necessary for effective practice in this field.