HSM-502 Health Care Organization
This course provides an overview of the United States health care delivery system. Students will understand and analyze the historical evolution, structure, financing mechanisms, major provider components, overall performance, and future directions of the system. Students have the opportunity to interview health care consumers to understand their interface with the system and related medical, social, and economic issues. Through class discussions, debates and guest lecturers, students gain an understanding of the major issues facing the system and consider alternative approaches to improve the system. The course provides students with a framework to organize knowledge of the health care system to support further study in health services administration. [2]

HSM-504A Professional Seminar I
The purpose of this course is to develop professionalism skills and data management skills. In this course, professionalism in terms of time management, planning and running effective meetings, working in and managing project teams, and written and verbal communication, including email and executive memo etiquette is re-enforced with helpful tips and in-class exercises. Building upon basic and intermediate excel and access knowledge, data management skills are further strengthened to handle real world data challenges (i.e., domain and data understanding, data cleaning, data transformation, output generation, and creating reports and dashboards) to facilitate decision making. This course should adequately prepare students for future projects / responsibilities, both in the classroom and the work environment. [2]

HSM-504B Professional Seminar II
This course builds upon skills introduced in Professional Seminar I and is designed to prepare students for employment interviews and for careers in health management. Exercises include recorded telephone, video and dining simulations and students are evaluated and coached by faculty. The emphasis of the course is placed on oral and written communication skills relevant to consulting, hospital, physician group, and association management. Students will gain confidence and competence in networking and job search strategies. [2]

HSM-505 Introduction to Clinical Concepts and Patient Care
The course provides an introduction to clinical terminology and how patient care happens in the healthcare setting. Concepts that are related to disease, health, healing, health professions, professionalism, and the experience of the patient are reviewed and discussed. The role of health professionals and the interdisciplinary nature of their work are introduced with emphasis on communication (interpersonal, written, presentation), problem solving, and patient care improvements across professional boundaries. How patient care is delivered in both the outpatient and inpatient settings is reviewed. [2]

HSM-514 Statistics for Health Care Management
This course emphasizes intermediate statistical principles that healthcare managers use for achieving optimal organizational performance, pursuing organizational transformation, and conducting research. Topics include descriptive statistics, normality, probability and non-probability sampling, parametric and non-parametric hypothesis testing, and regression. Statistical software packages including SPSS, Excel, and R are reviewed and utilized. Prerequisite: undergraduate statistics. [4]

HSM-515 Human Resources Management
This course provides an understanding of the human relations skills required of the health systems manager in an environment filled with both federal and state legal constraints. Skills acquired include motivating and coaching employees, appraising and improving performance, dealing with disciplinary problems, and employee counseling. [4]

HSM-523 Managerial Epidemiology
This course focuses on managerial epidemiologic principles that healthcare managers use to inform strategic initiatives and to achieve optimal organizational performance. Topics include market segmentation, needs analysis, research design, program planning and program evaluation. Prerequisite: HSM-514 or NUR-510 or concurrently. [3]

HSM-531 Health Care Financial Accounting
This course provides students with a solid understanding of financial accounting concepts/principles as they relate to the health care industry. The course is taken during the fall quarter of the first year and prepares students to analyze and utilize accounting information to make management decisions. Many of the concepts learned will be applied during other courses in the HSM curriculum. Prerequisite: undergraduate accounting. [4]

HSM-532 Health Care Managerial Accounting
This course moves beyond basic financial accounting to how financial information is used to manage and make decisions. From the revenue perspective, students are expected to learn and demonstrate an understanding of the way health care providers are paid for services based on the source of payment (Medicare, Medicaid, managed care) and the payment methodology. From a cost perspective, cost allocation methodogies as well as types of costs, e.g. fixed, variable, semi-variable, will be taught. Case studies, in-class exams, and team presentations will be used to evaluate students' competencies to assemble revenue and cost information to make strategic decisions and construct budgets and business strategies. The examples used will focus on existing and emerging reimbursement trends that are impacting health care organizations. Prerequisite: HSM-531. [3]

HSM-533 Health Care Economics
Students will learn the principles and tools of microeconomics and apply these principles and tools to the health care market. This course emphasizes applications of health economics that are directly relevant in today's political and economic climates, including the demand and supply of health care, physician productivity and incentives, health care labor markets, health insurance and medical malpractice. Applications will also explore specific sectors of the health care market, such as the hospital, physician and pharmaceutical industries. By the end of the quarter, students will be able to evaluate, both at a conceptual and at an analytical level, arguments about how the markets for health care and health insurance work. Prerequisite: HSM-514 or concurrent. [4]

HSM-536 Corporate Finance
Enables students to understand the concepts and apply the tools of corporate finance and financial management. The overall objectives of the course are to understand the roles, functions and responsibilities of financial officers in managing a health care institution, be able to identify and analyze corporate finance problems and issues in the management of health care institutions, and be able to evaluate the financial performance of institutions in asset and debt management. Cash flow, financial management of assets, timing and uncertainty and access to the capital markets are covered in order to understand the importance of finance to health care operations and strategic planning. Prerequisites: HSM-531, HSM-533 or concurrent. [4]

HSM-543 Health Law
This course is designed as an introduction to law for emerging health care administrators. The topics survey a variety of legal issues that are relevant to the practice of healthcare administration, including regulatory law, fraud and abuse, employment, tort and business law among others. Key learning goals include developing an understanding of legal theory and the court system, demonstrating proficiency with analysis of central concepts of law applicable to health care administration, and fluency in applying legal standards to case studies. [3]

HSM-545 Organizational Analysis and Change
This course is designed to help students develop a solid conceptual understanding of organizational processes from a socio-technical perspective, and gain experience in using this understanding in planning successful organizational change efforts. Content includes organizational culture, organizational ethics, motivation and performance, groups and teams, decision making and problem solving, diversity, communication, and leading and managing change. The course draws heavily on organizational and behavioral theory, but emphasizes application through team-based learning, experiential exercises and reflection on the exercises. Prerequisites: HSM-502 and HSM-515. [4]

HSM-550 A, B, C HSM Internship
The HSM internship requires a minimum of 440 hours of real world work experience in a health care organization. HSM fulltime students will almost always fulfill this requirement through part-time jobs within Rush University Medical Center or its affiliates during their first year in the program; however, fulltime students do have the option of fulfilling the requirement through a more traditional summer internship that they identify and secure. There are a number of options for part-time students, who work fulltime, to complete this degree requirement; the student’s academic adviser and the program director work with part-time students early in their studies to plan an approach that meets the requirement and accommodates the student’s fulltime job commitment. The internship emphasizes the 10 distinguishing competencies contained within the full set of 26 competencies for the National Center for Healthcare Leadership; these include: accountability, achievement orientation, leadership, collaboration, communication skills, professionalism, project management, and self-confidence. Demonstration of behavior consistent with the Rush ICARE values is also expected. [3]

HSM-551 Health Informatics
This class provides students with an introduction to Health Informatics, a field concerned with the use of information technology in healthcare. The course will provide students with an understanding of health information systems, including the electronic medical record, pharmacy systems, billing systems, and business intelligence/data warehousing systems. Students will understand how to use data from these informatics systems to measure the quality and costs of care. Additionally, students will gain expertise in national policy initiatives in health informatics. The course utilizes data assignments, hands-on technology experiences, and a team debate as teaching methods. Prerequisite: HSM-552. [2]

HSM-552 Health Care Information Systems
This course provides students with knowledge, skills and abilities related to how information technology is used to improve decision-making and problem-solving across the health care enterprise. Students will appreciate the role that information technology and systems play in finance, strategic planning, operations, quality, and human resources management. Students will be able to evaluate the acquisition, implementation, and ongoing management of information resources in health care. The course will also cover concepts of technology planning, the challenges of successfully introducing new technology and systems into the organization, the management and protection of the information asset, and the governance of the IT function. [2]

HSM-557 Quality in Health Care
This course provides students with fundamentals of quality improvement in health care. Specifically, students will examine the history of quality improvement in hospitals and how that has translated into the current structures, processes and outcomes of the hospital improvement efforts of today. Emphasis is placed on philosophy, framework, and methodology of quality improvement, with a specific focus on the measurement and analysis of data. Students will learn to use frameworks and tools to apply quality improvement strategies and sharpen their skills in turning data into information and in change management. Quality as it appears in current health policy will also be discussed. Prerequisite: HSM-502. [3]

HSM-559 Health Care Planning & Marketing
This course develops students' understanding and appreciation of the health care planning and marketing processes. Through cases, business plan development, guest lecturers, and in-class discussions, topics are covered around all aspects of planning and marketing. These includes frameworks for strategic thinking and planning, consumer research, market segmentation, price, distribution and product strategies, advertising and promotion, mass communications/public relations, social media and evaluation of planning and marketing efforts. The development of persuasive marketing communication is studied from theoretical and practical perspectives. As a result of this course, students are able to discuss, assess and critically evaluate a healthcare organization’s strategic planning and marketing initiatives. Prerequisites: HSM-502, HSM-523. [4]

HSM-560 Health Policy
This course provides an overview of the health care policy making process in the United States; more specifically, how key governmental institutions and political actors have influenced the development, dimensions, and financing of health care policy throughout American history and within the contemporary political environment. This course prepares students to analyze health policy through empirical examination of policy formation, implementation, and evaluation; with an emphasis placed on how policies affect cost, access, and quality; and analysis that can assist health care organizations to best respond to potential policy opportunities and threats. Prerequisites: HSM-502. [3]

HSM-567 Health Insurance and Managed Care
This course provides an overview of the integration of healthcare delivery and financing in the United States with an emphasis on public policy, contract negotiation, underwriting and pricing, and product and patient management. By the end of the quarter, students will be able to identify those elements important in insurance contracts, distinguish between public and private insurance plans, understand the underwriting behind an insurance plan and how the product gets priced, identify health reform initiatives and its impact on patients, providers, and insurers, and formulate cost reduction strategies. Prerequisites: HSM-502, HSM-523, HSM-531. [3]

HSM-572 Health Care Operations Management
This course provides students with the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to apply systems thinking, quantitative methods and other tools to better inform decisions and improve problem-solving in health care organizations. Students will appreciate the utility of these approaches for analyzing systems and improving processes. Emphasis is placed on students’ abilities to work with managers and clinicians to analyze problems, identify possible solutions, implement process improvements, and communicate with stakeholders in non-technical terms. The course uses a combination of learning methods, including group discussion, multi-media, site visits and operational projects. Site visits and challenging assignments in real health care settings—such as emergency department throughput, operating room logistics, and support services roles—give students the opportunity to apply what they are learning. Pre-requisites: HSM-514 and HSM-551 or concurrent. [4]

HSM-576 Ethics for Health Care Managers
This course is designed to help students better understand the ethical dimensions of health administration decision-making, and use this understanding to effectively analyze decisions to support ethically sound judgments. Students will be able to identify the ethical content under fundamental conflicts and decisions faced by health care managers and analyze ethical problems of/in business, including identifying stakeholders, defining ethical conflicts, proposing multiple courses of action as well as the possible costs and benefits of each. This course also includes coverage of the most current and salient health care ethics issues. Prerequisite: HSM-502. [2]

HSM-590 Topics in Health Systems Management (elective)
These elective courses provide students with the opportunity to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities for specialized areas of health care management or in specific sectors of the health care industry. Past electives have focused on topics such as international health, facilities planning, technology assessment, health care and the elderly, physician practice management, and health care consulting. [2 elective credits per topic]

HSM-593 Governance, Interprofessionalism and Leadership
This course is designed to increase students’ knowledge and competencies in the inter-related areas of leadership, interprofessionalism, and governance. For leadership, students will enhance their self-awareness concerning strengths and development needs as they relate to their career aspirations, through activities such as multi-source feedback and reflective learning exercises. Students will learn competencies associated with developing and maintaining effective interprofessional relationships, through interactive discussions with healthcare professionals as well as role-play exercises. Students will also develop their understanding and appreciation of the role of boards in organizational governance generally, with a focus on applications specific to the healthcare industry. Prerequisites: HSM-502, HSM-515, HSM-545. [4]

HSM-596 HSM Capstone: Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations
This course provides students with opportunities to apply the fundamentals of strategic planning and marketing, economics, finance, information systems, and operations acquired in previous courses in the HSM curriculum to practical problems and decisions faced by real health care organizations. Students apply techniques of situational assessment, data analysis, strategy development and problem solving. As the capstone course for the HSM program, students are encouraged to integrate and refine their knowledge from all sources of learning in the HSM program to apply to business case studies. They conduct strategic analyses and develop and present strategic recommendations consistent with the mission, vision and values of an organization under the guidance of a teaching team of senior health care managers. The result is an improved ability to think critically, identify strategic challenges, complete strategic analyses for different business problems, and communicate clearly. Prerequisites: HSM-533, 545, 552, 557, 559, 567, 572. [4]

HSM-597A Masters Project I

HSM-597B Master's Project II
The overall goal of the sequence of these courses is to integrate quantitative methods and health care management knowledge to address a problem that is important to health care delivery, management or policy. In this course, students will design and conduct an applied quantitative research project that results in a high quality, compelling management report and two professional oral presentations to key stakeholders. The key components of this course include integrating and synthesizing information from multiple sources; developing an appropriate research question; developing an appropriate research design and analysis plan; integrating rigorous analytic methods with data management skills to analyze data; and interpreting quantitative or qualitative results in light of the existing literature and best practices to provide new insight for health care management or policy. Prerequisites: HSM-502, 504A&B, 514, 523, 533, 551, 552, 557, and 572. [4 each, total 8]

HSM-597C Master’s Project: Writing for Publication
This elective course is intended for the graduate student who has successfully completed a Master’s Project and is ready to prepare a manuscript for publication based on his or her original research. The course will allow the student to learn general guidelines about writing for publication and making decisions about selecting appropriate publication vehicles. The design of this course provides a roadmap for preparing and submitting a manuscript for scholarly publication. Pre-requisites: HSM-597A and HSM-597B. [2]

HSM-900 Independent Study
Specialized course work designed around the needs of an individual student. [Variable credit - with permission].