Courses
Courses primarily for undergraduates:
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: Sophomore classification
Introduces and provides an overview of the US healthcare delivery system for healthcare managers. Includes the theoretical basis for the system, its history and development, the resources that comprise it, as well as its overall planning, organization, management, evaluation, quality, professions, and its major health policy issues. Examines how healthcare policy is developed at the federal and state levels, considers the influence of all constituencies in policy formation, and compares existing policy and policy formation in other countries to the U.S. Explores how the healthcare policy environment affects the work of healthcare managers.
(Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer)
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: ECON 1010 and ECON 1020 and credit or enrollment in HCM 3010
Explores the economic influences and underpinnings of the healthcare delivery system. Examines the importance of economics in healthcare decisions, both demand and supply-side factors, and how third-party payers and public policy influence consumption and production of healthcare. Introduces evaluation of clinical outcomes using cost-effectiveness and other decision-analysis tools, as well as topics such as asymmetry of information, comparative healthcare systems, and healthcare policy.
(Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)
(Cross-listed with SCM 3030).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: Credit or enrollment in HCM 3010
Addresses the manager’s role in improving healthcare quality and outcomes, including clinical and organizational improvement, and quality improvement practices. Explores how healthcare delivery systems can better measure outcomes from both patient and organizational perspectives. Analyzes quality improvement programs and examines their adaptability to the healthcare environment.
(Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)
Credits: 3. Repeatable.
Prereq: At least 12 hours of HCM coursework with a cumulative HCM-specific GPA of 2.0 or better AND departmental permission
The internship is an integrative experience in a healthcare setting that allows students to apply the skills and knowledge obtained through their academic preparation in healthcare management. The internship consists of a minimum of 120 contact hours. Students are required to submit written and/or oral reports to the instructor of record on the internship experience as it relates to the healthcare management curriculum. Students may be responsible for facility-specific fees associated with the completion of organizational requirements, such as training and immunization.
Credits: Required. Repeatable.
Prereq: At least 12 hours of HCM coursework with a cumulative HCM-specific GPA of 2.0 or better AND departmental permission
Students who wish to remain enrolled in Iowa State and work full-time in a healthcare management position can complete the Cooperative Education course. The cooperative education experience in a healthcare setting that allows students to apply the skills and knowledge obtained through their academic preparation in healthcare management. Students are required to submit written and/or oral reports to the instructor of record on the internship experiences as it relates to the healthcare management curriculum. Students may be responsible for facility-specific fees associated with completion of organizational requirements, such as training and immunization. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only.
(Cross-listed with ACCT 4010).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: FIN 3010 and credit or enrollment in HCM 3010
Examination of the current accounting system for, and the financing of, health care and the factors affecting the industry. Exploration and analysis of budgetary concepts, financial management, cost accounting, and management under rate control and competition, as well as the differences between the goods and service industries. Additional areas of discussion include the practical application of health care finance theory as it applies to the current healthcare environment. The revenue and expense applications will be explored in-depth, particularly in relation to the delivery of health care services. Specific emphasis will be placed on understanding the components of the income statement and balance sheet, developing a budget, and using these financial statements for analyzing operational changes.
(Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: ACCT 2150 and PHIL 2300 and credit or enrollment in HCM 3010
An in-depth look at the legal and regulatory environment of healthcare management and practice. Explores aspects of employer-employee relations in the health care setting and legal ramifications of patient treatment and medical records. Discusses the importance of healthcare managers being familiar with the laws and regulations of healthcare. Included may be considerations of governmental, accreditation, and professional associations’ oversight.
(Cross-listed with MIS 4030).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: MIS 3010 and credit or enrollment in HCM 3010
Explores the critical role information technologies and systems play in healthcare organizations. The focus is on evaluating and implementing software and IT systems that facilitate delivery of health care; understanding information technology governance, data privacy, and security; planning and project management; and tracking future developments of information technology in healthcare management. Introduction to Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other Management and Financial Information System applications used by healthcare organizations.
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: COMS 1130 and FIN 3010 and STAT 2260
Introduces cost-effectiveness analysis in the healthcare context. Examines different forms of economic evaluations for healthcare interventions or technology, and how this impacts managerial decision-making. Includes cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, cost-benefit, cost-consequence, and cost-minimization analyses. Develops knowledge and skills in how to use these methods for evidence-based and ethical decisions in healthcare and other types of organizations.
(Typically Offered: Spring)
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Prereq: HCM 3010
Designed to complement the required curriculum in the Healthcare Management (HCM) major. Explores a rotating selection of cutting edge and timely topics in the area of HCM, with an emphasis on the application of HCM knowledge and skills to the challenges facing today’s organizations. Develops an awareness and understanding of the range, scope, and complexity of management-related issues in the modern (and post-pandemic) healthcare organization. Opportunities to apply introduced HCM knowledge, skills, and tools through class projects and exercises.
Credits: 3. Repeatable.
Prereq: Instructor Permission for Course
Students may accumulate knowledge of practices informing the discharge of healthcare management duties via an independent research effort. Students will be expected to independently identify a focus area of healthcare management for further study and complete a comprehensive review of the relevant academic literature. On the basis of those findings, students will propose and execute a research study that addresses a meaningful gap in knowledge with practical applications. Successfully completing this activity will require extensive data collection (including integration with the University’s Institutional Review Board), analysis and synthesis. The culmination of these efforts will be a formal research manuscript (minimum 30 pages, exclusive of references, tables and figures) and an oral presentation to faculty and peers detailing the outcomes of the student’s investigation as it pertains to informing HCM practices.
Courses primarily for graduate students, open to qualified undergraduates:
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Focuses on cost-effectiveness analysis as a decision-oriented tool that takes both costs and consequences of actions into account in a systematic way. Includes methods such as decision analysis, Markov models, and different ways of conducting sensitivity analysis. Discusses ethical implications of using cost-effectiveness analysis for managerial decision-making in healthcare organizations. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)