school of allied health and life sciences

Business Analysis and
Decision Making in Health Care

COURSE SYLLABUS

WELCOME MESSAGE:

Welcome to the Land of Decisions

COURSE NUMBER:

HSA 4431/5438

COURSE TITLE:

Business Analysis and Decision Making in Health Care

COURSE OVERVIEW:

a fully online course

This course is also part of the Master of Public Health degree program and counts as a technical elective in this program.

INSTRUCTORS:

Bob Murphy, R.N., MPA , JD (left) and David Di Loreto, M.D., MBA (right)

CONTACT INFORMATION:

rmurphy@uwf.edu and ddiloreto@uwf.edu

PREREQUISITES OR COREQUISITES:

Working knowledge of how to use personal computers, including knowledge of word-processing, spreadsheet packages and Internet searching.
Training (or interest) in a health care-related field at the Associate's or Bachelor's level.
Those interested in this course or the Master of Public Health Program should contact Mr. Steve Celestial at (850) 474-2885 or scelestial@uwf.edu.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course provides an overview of Business Analysis and Decision Making in Health Care beginning with an overview of health care in the United States. Topics will include: Health Care Strategy, Regulatory Issues, How We Get Paid, Non-Profit vs For Profit Health Care, Rural Health Care, Hospitals and Facilities, Health Care Professionals, Demand Management and Consumer Driven Health Care, Labor and Supply Issues, Cost Effectiveness and Comparative National Systems, Information Technology and Clinical Technology, and Pharmaceuticals and Genomics.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (Objectives):

In general, upon completion of this course, a student will acquire the skills to:

Understand how healthcare in America is structured
Participate in discussions regarding healthcare business strategy
Understand changes in the healthcare regulatory environment
Understand how healthcare is financed and how healthcare dollars are spent
Discuss demand management and consumer driven health care
Understand the impact of technology, labor and supply issues, pharmaceuticals and genomics on health care business.

Students will specifically learn how to:

propose and develop evaluation studies of health care business plans.
create proformas to defend new health care businesses.
present and defend recommendations for alternative health care delivery systems.
apply the impacts technology, labor and supply issues, pharmaceuticals and genomics on health care business.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

This course will draw upon a variety of reading materials to cover the topics provided above, with electronic versions of relevant articles provided.

SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED BY STUDENTS:

Email, elearning and web surfing.

REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY:

The Economics of Health and Health Care, 4/e, Sherman Folland, Allen C. Goodman, Miron Stano.

GRADING/EVALUATION:

50% Online Tests. Tests will be based on online content, supplemental handouts, and provided on-line resources. Test materials may include true/false, fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions
50% Online Participation. Online participation includes contributing to discussion forums and evaluating assignments submitted by classmates.

Class attendance: In view of the fact that MOST questions on ALL exams come from the online materials and notes, which also includes discussion of current issues, it is unlikely that you will pass this course if you don't regularly login to the course.

Graduate Students: Paper/Project and Online Defense. This project will include the submission of a paper and the online defense of it.

EXPECTATIONS FOR ACADEMIC CONDUCT/PLAGIARISM POLICY:

Academic Conduct Policy [Web]
Plagiarism Policy [ PDF]
Student Handbook [ PDF]
It is the philosophy of The University of West Florida that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts.
In addition, any behavior that interferes with the conduct of a class is classified as disruptive behavior and will not be tolerated. Although not exhaustive, examples of disruptive behavior would include: routinely participating in online class discussions late or not at all without specific permission from the instructor; inappropriate postings; threatening faculty or fellow students or electronic abuse of faculty or fellow students; electronic displays of anger; etc.

ASSISTANCE:

Students with special needs who require specific examination-related or other course-related accommodations should contact Disabled Student Services (DSS), dss@uwf.edu, (850) 474-2387. DSS will provide the student with a letter for the instructor that will specify any recommended accommodations.

Every effort will be made to accommodate the special needs of disabled students. Please privately contact your instructor during the first week of class to indicate your particular needs. All such accommodations are officially arranged through the Office for Disabled Student Services and a letter from this office must accompany your request.