Healthcare Administration: PhD in Health Services

In this course, students will explore the multidisciplinary nature and integration of professional practice in the health field. Students will have the opportunity to utilize their scholarly voice with diverse audiences and with academic integrity to assure academic and professional success as a scholar-practitioner and social change agent. As leaders in their profession, students will discuss critical health services in the health field utilizing a response to a natural disaster, review of emerging topics in the health field, and what it means to be part of a multidisciplinary team to develop community partnerships with key stakeholders to address health issues impacting their communities, agencies, and/or organizations.

In this research course, students are provided with core knowledge and skills for understanding, analyzing, and designing research at the graduate level. Students explore the philosophy of science, the role of theory, and research processes. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research designs and data collection methods are introduced. The alignment of research components is emphasized. Students also explore ethical and social change implications of designing and conducting research. Students demonstrate their knowledge and skills by developing an annotated bibliography. RESI 8401.)

In this research course, students are provided with the opportunity to develop core knowledge and skills for designing and carrying out quantitative research at the doctoral level, including the application of statistical concepts and techniques. Students explore classical common statistical tests, the importance of the logic of inference, and social change implications of conducting quantitative research and producing knowledge. Students approach statistics from a problem-solving perspective with emphasis on selecting appropriate statistical tests for a research design. Students use statistical software to derive statistics from quantitative data and interpret and present results. RSCH 8110 or RSCH 7110 or RSCH 6110, and RESI 8401.)

Students in this research course are provided with the opportunity to develop basic knowledge and skills for conducting qualitative research at the doctoral level. Students explore the nature of qualitative inquiry, how theory and theoretical and conceptual frameworks uniquely apply to qualitative research, data collection procedures and analysis strategy, and how the role of the researcher is expressed in the ethical and rigorous conduct of qualitative research. Students practice collecting, organizing, analyzing, and presenting data, and they develop a detailed research topic for conducting a qualitative study. RSCH 8110 or RSCH 7110 or RSCH 6110, and RESI 8401.)

Students in this research course build upon knowledge and skills acquired in the prerequisite quantitative reasoning course and are presented with opportunities to apply them. They are provided with more specialized knowledge and skills for conducting quantitative research at the doctoral level, including understanding multivariate data analysis and applying more advanced statistical concepts, such as factorial ANOVA, mediation, moderation, logistic regression, ANCOVA, and MANOVA. Students explore existing datasets and apply suitable statistical tests to answer research questions with social change implications. In this course, they approach statistics from a problem-solving perspective with emphasis on selecting the appropriate statistical tests for more complex research questions and social problems. Students use statistical software to perform analyses and interpret and present results. They will apply and synthesize their knowledge and skills by carrying out a quantitative research project. RSCH 8110 and RESI 8402.)

Students build upon the knowledge and skills acquired in RSCH 8310 - Qualitative Reasoning and Analysis. and have experience applying them. Students develop a more sophisticated understanding of the theoretical antecedents and practical applications of eight contemporary qualitative approaches. Students gain experience developing qualitative interview guides, collecting data, and managing the process from transcription through analysis. The unique challenges of confidentiality and ethical issues are explored as well as implications for social change. Students will apply and synthesize their knowledge and skills by developing a qualitative research plan using a topic relevant to their capstone. RESI 8402.)

Students build upon knowledge and skills acquired in RSCH 8210 - Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis and RSCH 8310 - Qualitative Reasoning and Analysis for more specialized knowledge and skills to design mixed-methods research at the doctoral level. Students are provided with more specialized knowledge and skills for designing mixed-methods research at the doctoral level. They gain an understanding of the types of mixed-methods designs and how to select the most appropriate approach for the research question(s). The emphases of this course are on integrating quantitative and qualitative elements into true mixed-methods studies, practice in data analysis, and integration of qualitative and quantitative data within a research write-up. Students will apply and synthesize their knowledge and skills by developing a mixed-methods research plan that incorporates qualitative and quantitative elements appropriately. RSCH 8110 or RSCH 7110 or RSCH 6110, and RSCH 8210 or RSCH 7210 or RSCH 6210, and RSCH 8310 or RSCH 7310 or RSCH 6310, and RESI 8402.)

The focus of this course is on the process of writing the doctoral dissertation premise and prospectus. The premise will guide students through their committee selection process. The prospectus will guide students through the stages of writing a dissertation—conducting a literature review, developing a problem statement and research questions, and evaluating research designs, methods, and types of analysis. The premise and prospectus that students write for this course will be for a possible dissertation topic. This exercise is the cornerstone of this course and will prepare students for working with their chosen dissertation topic. RESI 8402.)

Students in this course are provided with the opportunity to gain thorough insight into the current structure and components of health services and delivery. Students identify and describe components of the system, including patients, healthcare professionals, public and private third-party payers, regulators, reimbursement methods, and technology. They engage in activities and discussions focused on the continuum of services related to healthcare, such as hospitals and hospital systems, ambulatory care, and long-term care. Students also explore issues related to these services, such as wellness, prevention, and community and public health, for a comprehensive understanding of the system. Students contextualize their study through the examination of current factors and challenges as well as the impact these challenges have on delivery and management.

An increasing need exists for healthcare administrators to address population-wide health issues. Developing evidence-based health programs enables healthcare to be addressed on a preventive basis at the community or service area level. In this course, students utilize clinical datasets and combine this knowledge with public health datasets concerning socioeconomic and behavioral influencers of health. Students analyze these influencers to determine effective, appropriate services, programs, and solutions to benefit the population as a whole. They discover health issues facing special populations, respond to case studies, and create program plans to improve population disease outcomes.

The rapidly evolving healthcare system presents the healthcare administrator with complex challenges and risks. Healthcare administrators must possess the skills needed to assess external and internal healthcare polices to influence organizational design and delivery of healthcare services. Students assess and discuss key policy initiatives from the diverse perspectives of policymakers, interest groups, and other stakeholders. Coursework focuses on required knowledge of laws and regulations developed by policymakers that impact the healthcare organizations and students will review key laws that govern patient care delivery, employee relations, contracts, and fraud. Emphasis will be placed on legal and regulatory failure points that administrators must avoid in designing and implementing policies and practices within the healthcare organization. To help frame these concepts, students examine the ethical underpinnings and principles that healthcare organizations and administrators follow in the delivery of services to patients.

In this course, students gain knowledge of economics principles such as cost, quality, and access as they relate to the healthcare world. The principles of healthcare financial management, including accounting and finance, are vitally important to the viability and ongoing operations of a healthcare business. Students have the opportunity to interpret and analyze the financial statements of a business, use and analyze financial ratios, utilize variance analysis, understand and implement operating and capital budgeting, and develop knowledge of the business planning process. Students create portions of a business/financial plan using these techniques and analyze the viability of their plan using accepted financial management tools. RESI 8401.)

Students in this course examine organizational behavior as well as the roles and responsibilities of management and leadership within healthcare organizations through the macro (organization-wide) and micro (individual and team performance) perspectives. Students also focus on understanding organizational values, mission, and vision; management and leadership principles to help manage change; and effective delivery of services in an increasingly global environment. They also learn and apply theories of organizational design, governance, and alternative organizational structures, and they consider the theory and practice of managing individuals and groups through motivation, communication, teamwork, leadership, organizational change, coalition building, negotiation, and conflict management and resolution. Through group assignments and personal assessments, students work toward developing self-awareness and effective management styles and strategies. RESI 8401.)

Students in this course analyze the four Ps of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion and how they affect the five Ps of healthcare marketing— physicians, patients, payers, public, and politics. The interrelationship of a healthcare organization's strategic plan, business plan, and marketing plan is analyzed and social marketing will also be an area of focus. Students will practice effective oral and written business communication skills. RESI 8402.)

Students in this course are provided with a foundational understanding of the administrative, managerial, and organizational practices of public health and healthcare delivery systems. They examine theories of leadership as well as the professional attributes, skills, styles, and strategies required to advance public health goals. Students engage in a variety of contextual and practical assignments focused on management theories, policy processes, systems thinking, strategic planning and partnerships, quality and performance improvement, leadership, and organizational behavior. They also consider the impact of global trends on public health practice, policy, and systems. RESI 8401.)

Students in this course focus on leadership models and theories, the core principles of public health leadership, and the application of systems thinking to public health. Students examine how to create strategies and solutions from a systems and ecological perspective that efficiently utilize public health and healthcare resources. Students discuss descriptive and prescriptive systems, focusing on the application of these processes to current public health issues and challenges at the organizational and community levels.

In an increasingly complex world, leaders and managers in public, private, and nonprofit organizations need to be strategic in planning and creating effective, collaborative programs and services. Students in this course explore the role and process of strategic planning, with an emphasis on collaboration, cooperation, and coordination within and among organizations. Students apply these concepts to real-life situations and organizations.

Democratic principles are the foundation of modern life. Students in this course are provided with an overview of democratic governance in public administration, public policy, or nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations in modern society. Students examine the theoretical underpinnings of democratic governance and public policy in their chosen area of specialization necessary for doctoral-level research. Students examine the context in which public and nonprofit leaders function and the social institutions that influence public policy and guide administrative decision making. Students also review fundamental theories of governance, research current literature on a specialized topic, and apply best practices as they relate concepts to complete practical application assignments and a final case scenario project.

This course is part of Walden’s commitment to help prepare students to meet the university’s expectations for writing in courses at the doctoral level. In this course, students write a short academic essay that will be scored by a team of writing assessors. Based on the essay score, students will complete or be exempted from additional required writing support needed to meet writing proficiency standards. This required assessment course is free. Students will be enrolled automatically in it at the beginning of their doctoral program.

In this course, doctoral students have the opportunity to integrate their program of study into an in-depth exploration within an interest area through the completion of a research study. Students complete the dissertation independently, with the guidance of a dissertation supervisory committee chair and committee members. They must also participate in an accompanying online course and complete a prospectus, proposal, Institutional Review Board application, and final dissertation paper and presentation. Once students register for HLTH 9001, they are registered each term until successful completion of the dissertation.Students take this course for a minimum of four quarters and are continuously enrolled until completion of their dissertation with final chief academic officer (CAO) approval.To complete a dissertation, students must obtain the academic approval of several independent evaluators including their committee, the University Research Reviewer, and the Institutional Review Board; pass the Form and Style Review; gain approval at the oral defense stage; and gain final approval by the chief academic officer. Students must also publish their dissertation on ProQuest before their degree is conferred. Learn more about the dissertation process in the Dissertation Guidebook.  Foundational and core curricula; appointment of an approved dissertation committee chair; and RESI 8403.)