GRADUATE STUDY
Program Overview
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Healthcare Management research is a multidisciplinary field of scientific investigation that examines the uses, costs, quality, accessibility, delivery, organization, financing and health outcomes of healthcare management in the U.S., and elsewhere. Healthcare management researchers investigate and interpret the complexities of healthcare systems. In particular, they study how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, health technologies, and individual and group behaviors affect access, cost and quality of care. The research domains of health services research center on groups, organizations, institutions, communities and populations.
The purpose of the PhD in Healthcare Management is to prepare high-level health services researchers for careers in academic settings or in public and private organizations where advanced research and analytic skills are required.
Ph.D. Course Descriptions
Foundation:
HCM 800: Advanced Health Economics
Doctoral Researches:
HCM 810: Advanced Research:
HCM 811: Health Services Research Methods I
HCM 812: - Health Services Research Methods II
HCM 813: Health Services Organizational Research
HCM 814: Research Foundations of Health Policy
HCM 815 Rural Health Research: Considerations and Implications
HCM 823: Quality and Outcomes in Health Services Research
HCM 824: Advanced Seminar in Health Services Research:
Doctoral Seminars:
HCM 832: Seminar in Health Care Access and Utilization
HCM 833: Seminar in Health Care Costs and Financing
Special Topics:
HCM 887: Society, Health, and Medical Care
HCM 889 Rural Health Research: Considerations and Implications
Thesis
HCM 899: Research for Doctoral Thesis
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Exposure to advanced economics models of health care sector, including static and dynamic models of consumer and producer behavior, risk selection in insurance markets, and optimal reimbursement mechanisms.
Research for doctoral students before admission to candidacy. Designed for students with a master's degree in the field of study or for students who have been accepted for a doctoral program.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Current and historical thinking about philosophy of science and scientific modeling. Experimental and quasi-experimental design. Introduction to measurement and sampling.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Review and appraisal of methods. Findings and examples from historical and contemporary studies. Introduction to qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Major perspectives in organization theory and their applications to health care sector.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. In-depth examination of U.S. health policy issues concerning cost, quality, and access, and interdisciplinary research methods used to address such issues.
HCM 817: Self-Management in Chronic Illnesses
Chronic illness is the major health problem today, and requires interdisciplinary teams to prevent and manage such illnesses. This course will focus on chronic disease theories and models and research strategies in order to be prepared for a program of studies that addresses the management of chronic illnesses. Concepts such as adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors, adherence to medical regimen, patient activation to adhere to therapeutic regimen, patient and family resilience; care giving, risk, vulnerability and disability, symptom management, economic considerations, and planning for the future are examined. Creative and innovative ways to promote patients' self-manage of chronic illnesses will be explored.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Current research concerning small area variation, outcomes, appropriateness, and effectiveness. Theory and specifics of alternative quality improvement and assurance approaches. History of approaches to health care quality assessment.
Prerequisite: completion of graduate core program and preliminary dissertation topic.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Overview of context and processes in which individuals seek and obtain health care services; distributional issues; equity.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Examination of health services research related to costs and financing. Cost measurement and analysis, health insurance, sources and methods of payment, current policy.
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Overview of health and medical care as sociocultural phenomena; health behaviors, health care organizations, and health services delivery in social and historical context.
HCM 889: Rural Health Research: Considerations and Implications
This course focuses on understanding the issues related to conducting research in rural and disparate populations. Specifically, this course will emphasize content related to disparities in rural health, challenges to health in rural America, health care access and health care policy, and strategies for conducting research in rural areas such as the use of technology, and considerations of the environment and community needs. Legal, ethical, political and economic implications for research in rural areas will be discussed.