Health Policy & Management

MPH in Health Policy & Management

The Master of Public Health program, with a concentration in Health Policy & Management, provides students with the skills and knowledge necessary to formulate and implement sound, creative solutions to complex problems in the health care system. Students examine the link between health policy and effective management, incorporating concepts and skills from such areas as management, policy analysis, and finance. This degree is appropriate for students who are interested in highly responsible careers as either managers of health care organizations or analysts for public or private organizations involved in the financing, delivery, or evaluation of health care services.

Concentration Requirements

The Health Policy & Management concentration curriculum is designed to develop a solid base of analytic expertise and knowledge in the four key areas of health policy and management:

  • health administration/management;
  • policy, politics, and planning;
  • finance; and
  • organization and delivery of care.

Concentrators complete the core course, PM 702 Introduction to Health Policy and Management, and complete a minimum of 16 additional credits in the department, including 4 credits in each of the four distribution areas noted above. In addition, course selections must include a course that meets the research paper requirement and the culminating requirement for the department. A single course can be used to meet a distribution requirement as well as the research paper and culminating course requirements.

These courses meet the distribution requirements:

Management Distribution Area

  • PM 721 Organizational Behavior in Health Management
  • PM 733 Health Program Management
  • PM 736 Human Resource Management in Public Health
  • PM 776 Management Skills for Solving Practical Problems

Policy and Planning Distribution Area

  • PM 758 Introduction to Mental Health Services*
  • PM 810 Introduction to American Government for Public Health*
  • PM 834 Health Regulation and Planning
  • PM 838 Health Politics and Public Policy*
  • PM 840 Analysis of Current Health Policy Issues
  • PM 850 Organizing for Health System Change*

*These are two-credit courses so two are needed to meet the requirement.

Financial and Quantitative Skills Distribution Area

  • PM 734 Principles of Nonprofit Accounting
  • PM 735 Health Care Finance
  • PM 833 Health Economics
  • PM 842 Health Economics for Health Services Research

Organization and Delivery of Care Distribution Area

  • PM 755 The Shape of Health Care Delivery
  • PM 827 Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations
  • PM 836 Survey of Managed Care (2 cr, will satisfy the Organization and Delivery of Care distribution requirement, but students will still need to complete a minimum of 16 PM credits after taking PM 702.)

The following courses satisfy the department’s research paper requirement. Each requires a reasonably substantial research paper, with the outline and complete first draft of the paper reviewed by the instructor.

  • PM 721 Organizational Behavior and Health Management
  • PM 736 Human Resource Management
  • PM 776 Management Skills for Solving Practical Problems
  • PM 834 Health Regulation and Planning
  • PM 840 Analysis of Current Health Policy Issues
  • PM 931 Directed Studies in Health Policy and Management (with prior approval)
  • PM 932 Directed Research in Health Policy and Management (with prior approval)

Students must also complete a culminating course. One course can meet a distribution, research, and culminating requirement. The following courses meet the culminating course requirement in Health Policy & Management:

  • PM 755 The Shape of Health Care Delivery
  • PM 776 Management Skills for Solving Practical Problems
  • PM 827 Strategic Management of Healthcare Organizations
  • PM 834 Health Regulation and Planning
  • PM 840 Analysis of Current Health Policy Issues
  • PM 931 Directed Study, for minimum of 4 credits, with prior approval
  • PM 932 Directed Study, with prior approval, and for 4 credits
  • Examination—prepared on request

Courses that currently satisfy the departmental requirements are listed above. If the department adds courses after a student enters the MPH program, students may satisfy the requirements by taking courses under any list in effect while they are enrolled.

In addition to courses that fulfill departmental requirements, the Department of Health Policy & Management also offers the following elective courses:

  • PM 742 Introduction to Pharmaceutical Assessment, Management, and Policy
  • PM 744 Introduction to Health Facility Planning and Design
  • PM 771 Topics in Health Policy and Management
  • PM 807 Introduction to Cost Effectiveness Analysis
  • PM 811 Health Services Research Methods
  • PM 814 Contemporary  Theoretical and Empirical Issues in Health Services Research
  • PM 818 Health Information  Technology
  • PM 821 Advanced Health Services Research Methods
  • PM 824 Theory and Research on Organizations
  • PM 826 Health, Illness, and the Use of Health Services
  • PM 828 Advanced Seminar in Qualitative Methods for Health Services Research
  • PM 830 Developing Patient-Based Health Status and Outcomes Measures
  • PM 837 Evaluating Health Care Quality
  • PM 855 Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Decision Analysis
  • PM 871 Advanced  Topics in Health Policy and Management
  • PM 931 Directed Studies in Health Policy and Management
  • PM 932 Directed Research in Health Policy and Management

Optional Specializations

Health Policy & Management (HPM) concentrators who would like to focus their studies have the opportunity to complete an educational area of specialization. Specializations are noted on the transcript.

Health Care Management and Health Policy Specializations

The department’s longstanding distribution requirements offer breadth, while this option offers depth.

Completing a specialization is optional. The department appreciates that students may wish instead to take a broad range of courses because they are not certain about their career paths or for other reasons.

The department expects that students will develop conceptual, analytical, and practical knowledge that can facilitate entry into the job market. Completing this option requires coursework beyond what is needed for the HPM concentration, and a specialization-related practicum. Therefore, students should meet with their academic advisor to plan how to satisfy the additional requirements.

Credit requirements. Students complete a specialization by taking 12 or more credits in approved courses. Since 4 of these are credits already required to satisfy the HPM distribution requirement in that area students would need to complete an additional 8 credits from the approved courses shown in lists below. (These may include a course also used to satisfy the distribution requirement in another area.)

Health policy specialization. To complete the health policy specialization, students must choose at least 8 credits from the following list—in addition to the 4 credits taken to satisfy the politics/policy/planning distribution requirement.

  • PM 735 Health Care Finance
  • PM 758 Introduction to Mental Health Services
  • PM 810 Introduction to American Government for Public Health
  • PM 833 Health Economics
  • PM 834 Health Regulation and Planning
  • PM 838 Health Politics and Public Policy
  • PM 840 Analysis of Current Health Policy Issues
  • PM 850 Organizing for Health System Change
  • PM 855 Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Decision Analysis

Health care management specialization. To complete the specialization in health care management, students choose at least 8 credits from the following list—in addition to the 4 credits taken to satisfy one management distribution requirement for the MPH degree in health policy and management.

  • PM 721 Organizational Behavior
  • PM 733 Health Program Management
  • PM 734 Principles of Nonprofit Accounting
  • PM 735 Health Care Finance
  • PM 736 Human Resource Management
  • PM 776 Management Skills for Solving Practical Problems
  • PM 818 Health Information Technology
  • PM 827 Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations

Practicum. Completing either specialization requires a practicum that is closely associated with the chosen specialization. The faculty advisor and the department practicum coordinator must approve the practicum.