I.The Division of Health Administration, which is part of the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, offers the Master of Health Administration. The University of Memphis is proud to have one of only 70 graduate programs accredited through the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). The MHA degree program educates students interested in preparing for or furthering careers in a variety of health care settings, including hospital, ambulatory care, and managed care organizations. The program combines interdisciplinary academic preparation with health industry experience.

Program objectives are: (1) development of strategic thinking, legal and ethical decision making, finance, economics, and research, related to health administration; and (2) development of leadership skills in team-oriented environments.

II. MHA Degree

A. Program Admission

Applicants must receive favorable endorsement from the health administration faculty. Admission will be based on applicable test scores (Graduate Record Examination [GRE] or Graduate Management Aptitude Test [GMAT]); undergraduate grade point average; previous education and/or experience; and an ability to articulate career goals and education objectives via a letter of intent. Two letters of recommendation are also required, one of which should be from a professor or instructor familiar with the student’s prior academic history and abilities.

B. Program Prerequisites

Students are accepted from all undergraduate disciplines and professional areas; however, the program determines if students must complete up to nine hours of prerequisite course work before being fully admitted into the program.

C. Program Requirements

The student is required to complete a minimum of fifty-one (51) semester hours. Forty-five (45) hours are taken in the core curriculum (with a minimum grade of at least "3.00" in each course) and six (6) hours of directed electives chosen in consultation with an advisor. The six (6) hours of electives allow the student to extend basic knowledge gained in the core curriculum and can include such areas as health administration, economics, marketing, finance, public policy, public administration, and management. The comprehensive examination must be successfully completed during the semester in which the student expects to graduate.

D. Non-Degree Seeking Students

If a student has taken graduate courses at The University of Memphis as a non-degree-seeking student, the student may apply a maximum of twelve (12) credit hours toward his/her degree requirements. The grade in each course applied must be at least a "3.00." The appropriate academic coordinator must approve all coursework taken as a non-degree-seeking student.

Core Curriculum

6101. Health Systems. (3). ( HADM 7-8101). Analysis of health and medical care systems with reference to public, private, and voluntary agencies at local, state, regional, and national levels orient administrators to health and medical care systems with which they may work.

7102-8102. Health Care Law. (3). Covers legal topics in relationship to their effect on operation of health care organizations; includes informed consent, research, confidentiality, professional negligence, regulation of health care provider conduct, and other relevant topics.

7103-8103. Health Planning. (3). Application of strategic planning and management concepts and techniques to health care sector; focus on strategy formation, strategic planning process, business planning and business development.

7105-8105. Health Policy and Regulation. (3). Explores development of health policy and regulation in the US, forces affecting health policy, and impact of regulation on health care delivery; regulatory issues and health care reform discussed and debated.

7108-8108. Health Care Finance I. (3). Introduction to accounting and financial management focusing on the health care industry; includes understanding financial reports, cost behavior and profit analysis, cost allocation, pricing and service decisions, managerial accounting, planning and budgeting, time value analysis, and financial risk and return.

7109-8109. Health Administration Information Systems. (3). Introduction to health information systems built around and upon the manager’s role in the application in clinical settings of automated solutions to problems and concerns in today’s health care service industry. PREREQUISITE: HADM 6101.

7110-8110. Health Management Leadership. (3). Synthesis of theories, strategies, and systems of managing and leading health care organizations; emphasis on team leadership skills, utilization and outcome analysis, change strategies, and planning.

7116-8116. Administration of Health Services Organizations. (3). Introduction to analysis of administrative practices in health services organizations: examines leadership roles, analyzes impact of professional roles on process within the organization, examines evolution of organizational design, appraises accountability relative to public trust.

†7190. Internship in Health Administration. (1-6). Participation in a field experience program, including a written report critically describing the student’s responsibilities. Field experience may result from a supervised internship in cooperating public and non-profit organizations or from an appropriate administrative experience if the student is employed in a public or non-profit organization. PREREQUISITE: Successful completion of a minimum of 21 hours in the Health Administration program and permission of graduate coordinator.

7206. Managerial Epidemiology. (3). Introduction to principles and tools of epidemiology, exploring distribution and determinants of disease, and examining ways to apply this knowledge to the management of health service organizations.

7208-8208. Health Care Finance II. (3). Continuation of tools and techniques for financial management in health care settings, blending theory and practice through lecture and case analysis to provide students an opportunity to apply theory presented in class to practical examples. PREREQUISITE: HADM 7108 or FIR 7070.

7209. Financial and Operational Modeling for Healthcare Using Excel. (3). Covers use and capabilities of Excel, particularly in the functional ability to construct operational and financial models for healthcare organizations; encourages active "hands-on" participation of students in the learning process; all data sets relate specifically to health care: e.g.: DRG codes, lengths of stay, Medicare charges, ICD-9 codes, diagnoses, etc.

7210. Integrated Experience in Health Care Management. (3). Capstone course for the MHA program, requiring students to draw from all previous learning in the program. Major focus is a small-team project to create a needs analysis; identify gaps in health care services; plan an intervention (service or facility); and determine how to create, finance, staff, and deliver the intervention. Preparation of a Certificate of Needs (CON) also required. PREREQUISITE: Minimum of 39 credit hours.

7605-8605. Human Resources Administration. (3). (POLS 7-8605). Policies, methods, and techniques utilized in public and health organizations; special attention is given to problems reflecting contemporary demands upon human resource systems, capacity to diagnose problems, select the most effective means of addressing them, and plan appropriate courses of action developed through case studies.

ECON 7710. Health Care Economics. (3). Applies basic economic concepts to analyze health care market and evaluate health policies; including distinctive economic characteristics of health, health care industry, and health care professionals; American system of health care; current health care policy issues such as health care reform, managed care, and manpower planning. PREREQUISITES: ECON 7010 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

Electives

7106-8106. Health Services Research (3). (POLS 7-8601). Issues and techniques in data collection for design and implementation of independent research projects; logic of conducting health services research, measurement, ethical considerations, logic of sampling, various methods of collecting data for health services research, and writing research proposal; introduction to program evaluation and specific quantitative decision-making techniques; overview of epidemiological concepts and techniques. PREREQUISITE: POLS 6101 or permission of graduate coordinator.

7107-8107. Health Care Ethics. (3). Overview of ethical theory and its relationship to individual and community health; discusses critical issues, including beginning of life, end of life, medical research, access to care, and justice; emphasizes the critical decision making of individuals and how ethical thinking might inform public policy.

7111. Issues in Health Services Administration. (3). Seminar for discussion of health problems for underserved populations in US health care system; issues include cultural diversity, social diversity, health care access, and health disparities among and between diverse populations; focuses on improving patient-provider relations and staff relations through understanding diversity.

7113-8113. Managed Health Care. (3). Role of health service administrator in a managed care organization (MCO); theories of negotiation, incentives structure, pricing, information systems, legal aspects, and regulatory issues applied to practical management situations for the MCO administrator; issues in public/private managed care markets addressed in class lecture, discussion, and group/individual projects.

7115-8115. Public Health Systems. (3). Introduction to analysis of public health systems in the US: examines inner mechanisms of public health system; analyzes relationships between public and private healthcare delivery systems; reviews public health system’s roles, themes, and paradigms to improve systems; explores future challenges.

7117-8117. Ambulatory Practice Management. (3). Examines environmental context, financial management, operations management, human resources management, planning and marketing, and strategic management within the variety of ambulatory settings.

‡7120-8120. Independent Study. (3). Independent investigation of research problems or directed readings in selected area of health administration. PREREQUISITE: Permission of graduate coordinator.

†7703. Reading for Comprehensives. (3). Arranged on an individual basis for graduate students in health administration only. PREREQUISITE: Completion of degree requirements or in the last two semesters of program.

7705–7715. Special Topics in Health Administration. (1-3). Intensive study of selected topics in health administration. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 hours. PREREQUISITE: Permission of graduate coordinator.

7718-8718. Medical Technology and Sales. (3). Describes changing health care market environment, provides knowledge and skills about purchasing behavior and selling strategies important in adoption of medical technologies and services surrounding their adoption; reviews purchasing behaviors of key stakeholders e.g., physicians, pharmacists, and materials managers in major health care institutions; covers appropriate approaches to selling medical technology products to health institutions. PREREQUISITE: Permission of the Graduate Coordinator.

†7996. Thesis. (1-6). The student must write and defend satisfactorily a thesis on a subject approved by the major professor.

† Grades of S, U, or IP will be given.
‡ Grades of A-F, or IP will be given.