Director of Health Care Business
Carla Dirkschneider, M.S., RHIA
PH 402.552.6295 TF 800.647.5500
dirkschneider@clarksoncollege.edu
Introduction
Clarkson College recognizes the structural changes that have evolved in the health care industry in recent years. National statistics and labor predictions show that over the next decade, many health care roles will be redefined and newly created. These will be among the fastest-growing opportunities in the workforce. Health care professionals serving within the industry will be required to adjust to these environmental changes. Those entering the profession will be expected to possess new skills and talents to be productive employees.
The Health Care Administration & Management programs are designed to develop the knowledge, leadership and critical thinking skills for individuals to become successful in business and health care work environments. Program options range from certificate programs to a master’s degree in Health Care Administration. Clarkson College also has a bachelor degrees in Health Care Business Management. We’ll help you choose an educational plan that is right for you. And since many of our programs are offered online, you’ll have as much flexibility and convenience as you need.
Mission
The mission of the Health Care Administration & Management programs is to prepare students for leadership roles in health care delivery systems through high quality, ethical and compassionate health business education.
Undergraduate Health Care Administration & Management Courses
This course is designed to build proficiency skills in the Microsoft Office software suite, including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database software applications.
This course is a study of the basic operations of the U.S. economy. Survey of Economics focuses on the most important tool in economics—supply and demand analysis—and applies it to clearly explain real-world economic issues. The course presents a straightforward and unbiased approach to the application of basic core principles of micro-, macro- and international economics.
This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of financial accounting including introductory accounting theory, concepts, principles and procedures. It presents the theory of debits and credits, journals, the accounting cycle, notes and interest, receivables and payables, accruals and deferrals, valuations of assets and liabilities and the preparation of basic financial statements.
This course introduces managerial accounting concepts and models and illustrates the use of cost accounting data as a tool for planning, control and decision-making. Topics such as cost behavior, cost allocation, product costing, budgeting, performance management, responsibility accounting, financial information analysis and relevant costs/benefits will be included. Ethical challenges in managerial accounting will also be examined.
This course will cover advanced applications using Microsoft Office software. The course stresses the use of applications in a healthcare environment with examples such as pivot tables, multi-sheet workbooks and querying techniques.
This course focuses on the importance of business communication in the healthcare environment. Students will learn business communication techniques such as writing styles, email etiquette, elevator speeches, report writing and cross-cultural communication. Oral reporting and presentation skills are also practiced.
This course focuses on the local, state and federal laws that impact the business operations of health care. Special emphasis is given to laws that directly affect the development of health care businesses and the laws which affect health care delivery.
This course is an overview of the American health care system which includes healthcare services, healthcare professions, and insurance. It also includes the evolution and current state of the continuum of care, global/national healthcare policy, healthcare accreditation, and survey readiness. This course also has a strong emphasis on cultural issues within healthcare delivery.
This course is designed as an introduction to business management, specifically applied to health care settings. As such, it will provide an overview of managerial theories commonly practiced in healthcare organizations.
This course will discuss information about all U.S. health care payment systems and examine complex financial systems within today’s healthcare environment. The course examines the entire revenue cycle process from delivery of service to claim reimbursement.
Human Resources Management focuses on the principles and techniques of personnel administration. This includes department culture, staff recruitment and retention, staff performance benchmarking, training and development, as well as regulatory and legal and ethical issues in human resources management.
This class is the study of theory and application of the marketing mix with an emphasis on marketing health care services internally and externally. Each component of the marketing mix will be examined separately as well as the interactive nature of components. We will include the impact of qualitative and quantitative data analysis on marketing decisions.
In this course, students will learn the tools and techniques of managing health care departments. Topics such as departmental budgets, cost-benefit analysis, workflow concepts, staff management, departmental culture, and communication will be discussed.
This course provides an introduction to the principles of financial management. Topics that are covered in the course include risk management, time value of money, asset and liability valuations, credit management, insurance, and investment.
This course focuses on the theories and practices of human behavior within organizations. Individual and group behaviors in organizations are addressed. Organizational dynamics and development of work environments that foster successful team-building are studied.
This course will introduce contemporary leadership theory and principles, as well as personnel and change management theories. Students will apply knowledge learned to assess their personal leadership style; identify leadership approach to managing changes; use influencing skills in negotiation; establish a constructive climate and manage conflict; build effective team; and to manage ethically.
This course allows the student to apply Quality Management tools while constructing performance management measures. Students will apply analytical results to facilitate decision-making and use quality management tools to analyze clinical data to identify trends that demonstrate quality, safety, and effectiveness of healthcare. Product, process and service design will help to develop organizational action plans, implement customer service initiatives and develop protocols to help foster efficiency and organizational success.
This course is designed for the student going into the Long Term Care field and/or management. There are distinct differences in managing Long Term Care facilities compared to other hospital and health care institutions. The student will learn the fundamentals of management in the LTC arena. This course also focuses on how to work with the culture, clients, families and regulatory constraints that play a part in the long term care environment.
This course is designed to introduce the core project management tools and techniques used by project managers to effectively manage projects through a project life cycle. Students will also have the opportunity to practically apply and evaluate a number of standard project management functions utilizing Microsoft Project software.
This course will allow students to take part in the development of information management plans that support the organization’s current and future strategy and goals. Students will not only learn the particulars of implementing a departmental strategic plan but will also facilitate the use of enterprise-wide information assets to support organizational strategies and objectives.
This course focuses on current health policy and public health issues. Students will learn about the origins and development of the public health system. The course also focuses on how the U.S. health system is organized at the federal, state and local levels. Additionally, public health activities such as epidemiological investigations, biomedical research, environmental assessment and policy development will be explored.
This course provides opportunities for students to gain practical management experience in a healthcare-related organization. Students will apply theories and concepts learned in the program to healthcare-related business practice under the supervision of a manager at the internship site.
As a culmination of prior courses, the Capstone course is designed to give students the opportunity to practice proficiencies with various theories and concepts related to their field of expertise. This course will prepare the students with scholarly article review and IRB process. The final product of this course will be a presentation given to the communities of interest.
Graduate Health Care Administration & Management Courses
This course focuses on scholarly writing with specific emphasis on APA style. Students will refine their writing skills and apply APA style rules in a scholarly research paper.
Leaders have the power to do significant good or harm. This course explores the role of leaders in practicing moral leadership, fostering ethical behavior, and creating a culture of ethics within an organization. Students will not only gain an awareness of the dark side of leadership, but will also develop the requisite perceptiveness necessary to avoid it. Moreover, students will gain a greater appreciation of the ethical perspectives and the applications of various frameworks for ethical decision making.
This course is an overview of the American health care system. It includes the study of the evolution and current state of health care services and insurance, health professionals and health services financing. HMOs, PPOs and POS plans will be reviewed. Additionally, managed care functions and contracting will be discussed. Primary focus throughout the continuum will be leadership challenges associated with access, quality and cost of care by investigating the delivery of quality care to consumers.
This course will introduce students to classical and current views of leadership. Students will gain a foundation in theories and models of leadership and assess their own leadership style. Special focus on the unique issues of leadership in health care is presented and discussed.
This course provides various ethical frameworks and an overview of the U.S. legal system as basis for analyzing health care issues that affect health care institutions, individual patients and health care providers. Overall legal-ethical issues common to health care administration are reviewed. Selected complex health care ethical dilemmas, such as right to life, right to die and health care allocation are examined.
An understanding of individual’s behavior and group dynamics is a critical part of the present and future success of health care executives. These executives need to be able diagnose and understand the root causes of behavioral workplace problems such as poor communication, lack of employee motivation, poor performance, high turnover, conflict and stress. Among the topics covered are individual perceptions and attitudes, diversity, communication, motivation, leadership, power, stress, conflict, conflict management, negotiations, group dynamics, team building, managing organizational change and human resources.
This course examines the domain of informatics as it relates to healthcare administration. The content of this course is designed to prepare students to competently apply the theories and concepts that form the foundation of informatics. Through the application of the concepts and theories taught in this course, students will have an opportunity to improve their understanding with respect to the management of computer technologies, information, and information users. Collectively, at course end, students will be able to support effective information systems, use of information, information exchange, and overall delivery of high quality healthcare services.
This course presents the fundamentals of research design and data analytics in a healthcare setting. Topics covered include concepts of research design, data management, data analysis, result interpretation, and presentations of analysis results. Students will be given an opportunity to develop competency in using a variety of healthcare data analytics applications. These data analytics applications are valuable support tools that healthcare organizations use to make sound decisions aimed at improving its operational efficiency, customer service, and responsiveness to changing healthcare business environments.
This course provides students with comprehensive attention to strategic practices necessary for future development and survival of a health care organization. Strategic planning and integrated marketing practices serve as the foundation of building a strong infrastructure for effective operations. How health care organizations relate to their external environment will help students to understand the forces that shape the organization under their leadership. The student will also learn how to foster external and internal customer service practices for relationship building as well as support and execution of governance decisions.
This class examines the financial and budgetary concepts as applied in the management of health care organizations. Topics will include capital acquisitions, cost of capital and capital structure, capital allocation, financial analysis, financial forecasting and use of various financial instruments. Hands-on learning is provided by analyzing health care-specific case studies.
Leading and sustaining effective change efforts are a primary responsibility of leaders. This course will provide students with the tools and techniques of leading continuous quality improvement (CQI) of clinical and organizational efforts within a facility. An emphasis on how to develop the processes of in-depth investigation of various areas of internal operations will be presented. Specific focus will be on skill development associated with selecting and implementing various CQI tools. Students will demonstrate correct usage on a specific organizational change effort within a health care organization.
This course focuses on project portfolio management and the alignment of project objectives with organizational strategic objectives. Tools and methods of project portfolio management will be introduced, and topics such as project management office (PMO), program management, and essential tools and techniques of project management will also covered.
The research process is examined in detail. Various research designs, both qualitative and quantitative, are analyzed in addition to exploring the relationship between research and practice. Furthermore, the course will prepare the student to critique published research studies, both qualitative and quantitative, and to apply research finding appropriately to practice. This course also provides an in-depth review of the strategies involved in data analysis, including statistical procedures and interpretation of data for research. Emphasis will be on interpretation of statistical results and on evaluation of published research and its applicability to health care.
This course explores the economics of the health care system in the United States by examining the demand for health care services, the behavior of health care providers, the influence of government policies, and the relationship between health care services and population health levels. Established health care systems and their potential for change in both the United States and other countries are considered in the context of current policy concerns.
This course will allow a student to choose a topic of interest that they wish to explore further. The curriculum will include a guided study of that topic under the supervision of a faculty member.
Students will be expected to identify an organization in which they will spend time under the supervision of a selected mentor to apply the leadership strategies and techniques learned throughout the program. The internship will consist of the supervised leadership duties by a designated mentor who will facilitate students’ health care career knowledge.
This is the first of three courses culminating in a scholarly capstone project. Students will synthesize and apply the theoretical knowledge gained during their Master of Health Care Administration program through the development of a sound business plan. In this course, students will complete a project proposal and develop the following sections of their business plan: Company/Organization Description; Product/Service Description; Industry Analysis and Trends; Target Market Description and Analysis; and The Competition.
This is the second of three courses culminating in a scholarly capstone project. Students will synthesize and apply the theoretical knowledge gained during their Master of Health Care Administration program through the development of a sound business plan. In this course, students will complete a comprehensive exam in which they will demonstrate their depth and breadth of knowledge in topics covered in courses in the Master of Health Care Administration program. Additionally, students will build on the material completed in MB 904 and will complete the following sections of their business plan: Management and Organization; Strategic Position and Risk Assessment; Operations; and Marketing Plan and Sales Strategies.
This is the third of three courses culminating in a scholarly capstone project. Students will synthesize and apply the theoretical knowledge gained during their Master of Health Care Administration program through the development of a sound business plan. Students will build on the material completed in MB 904 and MB 905 and will complete the following sections of their business plan: Financial Analysis; Source and Use of Funds; Other Factors for Consideration; and Executive Summary. Students will also present their capstone project in person.