This course provides an overview of how healthcare and public health are organized and how their services are delivered in the United States. Topics to be covered include public policy including U.S. health reform initiatives; organization of healthcare systems; components and operation of healthcare organizations, including e-health delivery; professional roles and accreditation; and legal and regulatory issues, including licensure requirements. Emphasis is given to the key indicators and organizations that drive policy and planning in health care systems. The course also considers the impact of policy on practitioners in health care.
This course introduces health informatics, an evolving and multidisciplinary field that is concerned with the cognitive, information-processing, and communication tasks of healthcare practice, education, and research, including the information science and technology to support these tasks. Students will learn to apply informatics skills and knowledge to health-related problems.
Examines disease prevention and infection control undertaken by federal, state and local governments. Delineates roles and responsibilities of public health officers and public health departments, governmental standards, oversight of contagious disease, air and water safety, emergency situations, and health education and behaviors. Considers the limits and strengths of epidemiology in containing and limiting high-risk substances and disease. Cites models of collaboration between public and private sectors to effect positive change toward healthier communities. Discusses role of public health services in light of bioterrorism.
This course serves as a capstone course in the Health Services Management program. Students complete the SCPS Portfolio they have been assembling throughout their program. The portfolio provides students with an opportunity to look at the past, present, and future. Students reflect on personal growth and development during their program of study. Students also demonstrate the ability to integrate theory and practice by proposing a solution to a current problem in a professional setting via a research project. The portfolio concludes with a professional development plan wherein students identify goals for continued professional growth and lifelong learning.