Healthcare Leadership

This course will provide students with an overview of the U.S. healthcare system, its components, as well as relevant policy challenges currently facing us. This course will give special attention to the status of health reform and the role of the state and federal legislators with respect to budgetary implications of healthcare spending. We will focus on the major health policy institutions and important issues that cut across institutions, including private insurers and the federal/state financing programs (Medicare and Medicaid/SCHIP). Attention also will be given to disparities in access to care, the role of pharmaceuticals in health care and the pricing and regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, the quality of care, and the drivers of cost growth.

This course will provide students with the knowledge, awareness and skills in multicultural competency within the context of the allied healthcare professions. Students will gain an applied understanding of healthcare ethical best practices. The course will provide the context and knowledge for professionals to approach their practice with an understanding of how healthcare providers must recognize, respect, and integrate the patients’: cultural beliefs, race and ethnicity, immigration status, religion and spirituality, sexual orientation and gender identity and social class into service delivery to eliminate or mitigate healthcare disparities and provide patient satisfaction and culturally competent care. 

This course will introduce Healthcare Consumer Advocacy/Patient Navigation students to major healthcare insurers and issues arising from payments and reimbursement for healthcare procedures. This will include Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance (HMOs, PPOs, and others) and the influence they have on medical practices and decisions. It will also include practice reading and interpreting insurance reimbursement documents. 

The Keystone Project course is the culminating experience of the program study. The Keystone Project will consist of an independent research study and/or a professional action project.  A suitable project involves both secondary (library) and primary (field) research on a topic pertinent to the field of management, leadership and human services. Students engage in the process of planning, collecting, analyzing and presenting data. As a result, students move from consumer to creator of new knowledge. The culminating product is a written report of the investigation and a presentation to the course professor and peers.