HC 4000 Health Industry Systems and Communication (4 Credits)

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the U.S. healthcare system, covering the roles of providers, insurance companies, government agencies, and professional associations in shaping healthcare policy, access, quality, and cost. Students will examine traditional and alternative payment models, regulatory frameworks, and the work of key federal agencies like the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), alongside global health organizations. The course also addresses patient, family, and community welfare through effective medical team communication and leadership, acquiring knowledge and terminology to optimize health equity and patient-centered outcomes. The course also addresses leadership skills and communication for healthcare personnel, preparing students to understand and navigate workforce challenges in a rapidly changing environment.

HC 4005 Healthcare Economic Ecosystems (4 Credits)

This course focuses on the economic ecosystem of healthcare. Students will explore the historical origins of the U.S. healthcare system and the impact of that history on the current state of healthcare economics. Students will learn about the fundamental concepts of macroeconomics as they relate to healthcare and will analyze the relationships among value, quality, and price within the healthcare delivery system. The course explores the roles of both commercial/private and government-sponsored healthcare payers in providing access to care across populations. Students will examine the impact of health policy and reform efforts on public health as well as on access to quality care, health equity, and health disparities. Through an understanding of the healthcare economic ecosystem, students will gain insights into how the U.S. healthcare system may be changed or improved to provide higher quality care at a lower cost to more people, communities, and populations.

HC 4015 Healthcare Finance (4 Credits)

This course gives students a skills-based grounding in the financial management in healthcare organizations operating in the United States. Students will gain a broad overview of the business of healthcare in the U.S., including interpretation of financial statements, budgeting, operational analysis, expense management issues, revenues, and payment systems used in the current U.S. healthcare system. The course will use a case-based approach where students will demonstrate mastery of financial management skills through application of knowledge to real-life scenarios from the industry.

HC 4100 Management, Leadership, and Ethics in Healthcare (4 Credits)

Healthcare systems are complex, dynamic, and multilayered. They require constant situational awareness to maintain safety, efficiency, compliance, relevance, and fiscal responsibility while supporting an increasingly diverse workforce. Managers and administrators must be able to create and lead effective teams to address constant change. In this course, students explore the functions required to lead and support healthcare systems, organizations, and practices. Students will simulate the role of healthcare managers and leaders by gaining an understanding of leadership, ethical and social approaches, analyzing the performance of a business unit and identifying opportunities for improvement, building teams, identifying and tracking key metrics, and creating solutions that contribute to an effective, efficient, and equitable work environment.

HC 4110 Healthcare: Innovative Strategies and Change Management (4 Credits)

Effective healthcare takes continual innovation to meet the ever-changing needs of the population. Through an examination of disruptions that create a catalyst for change, this course focuses on teaching students how innovative strategies can enable quality care and sustainability both within the healthcare delivery system and the health industry. Further, the drivers of innovation are explored from their use in grassroots efforts through regulatory reform through the lens of supply and demand. Finally, strategic planning for maximum use of financial resources to meet stakeholder expectations is ventured into in this course.

HC 4130 Organizational Behavior in Healthcare (4 Credits)

Customer and employee satisfaction elements of healthcare management are often a result of how well the entire healthcare system functions. Students examine successful and less successful examples of cooperation, compatibility, and dedication within the workplace and explore what contributes to a harmonious and effective healthcare environment. Interpersonal skills are discussed, as are ethical guidelines and laws that define acceptable workplace behavior.

HC 4200 Comparative Healthcare Systems (4 Credits)

This course describes variations in healthcare delivery systems locally, nationally, and globally as they relate to policy, structure, and finance. Comparisons of systems are made relative to expenditure of resources and outcomes. Students learn about healthcare coverage, access to care, healthcare rationing, provider manpower distribution, and seeking healthcare in foreign countries (medical tourism). The discrepancy between the desirable and the practical is explored, and students are asked to outline and defend a system that they believe is both desirable and practical.

HC 4210 Quality Improvement for HC Leaders (4 Credits)

This course provides an analysis of successful healthcare quality programs. Students will review the essential elements of a quality program and the national, state, and local laws and regulations that impact a quality program. The course explores the types of data and scientific methods that can be used to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of a quality program. Students will get the opportunity to design a healthcare quality program for a healthcare setting of their choice. Course content is beneficial to all types of individuals who work in healthcare, from entry level to high-level manager, administrators, and clinicians.

HC 4220 Ethical Considerations in Healthcare (4 Credits)

This course provides a survey of important ethical considerations encountered in U.S. and global healthcare, past and present. It covers issues on which consensus has generally been reached, and some on which debate is currently active. Clinical, professional, and organizational scenarios will be examined, with an occasional glance toward public policy. Students will practice recognizing the elements of ethical problems and applying a "toolbox" of principles, theories, and concepts to understand them. Through readings, class discussions, and assignments, students will review noteworthy cases and policies. They will evaluate the merits of ethical arguments taking different forms. They will compare different frameworks for making ethical judgments and solving dilemmas that arise from competing value perspectives. This background is an essential foundation for practitioners and leaders in every role in a healthcare environment.

HC 4225 Healthcare Public Policy and the Legislative Process (4 Credits)

This course provides students an opportunity to transform a healthcare policy-related idea or problem into policy and legislation reform, change, or development. Students examine political and legislative procedures; the functions of government agencies; the influences of lobbyists, public hearings and testimonies; and advocacy efforts on these processes. Students objectively evaluate how policy changes occur at the federal and state levels and subsequently affect citizens from differing backgrounds and professionals in a variety of settings. As such, students explore the importance of developing relationships, communicating, and creating advocacy strategies with elected officials and various stakeholder groups that interact with the federal and state legislative processes.

HC 4230 Implementation and Evaluation of Healthcare Public Policy (4 Credits)

This course examines strategies for implementation and evaluation of healthcare public policy. Students develop skills in analyzing issues, considering and weighing pros and cons of proposed policy, and defending strategies for bringing about change. Beginning with the passage of a new law, policy, or regulation, students track the process to implement and evaluate new policy. Topics related to implementation of a new policy include funding the implementation, effect on constituents and the overall national economy, sustainability, and short- and long-term evaluation of the policy. At the conclusion of this course, students will prepare an implementation plan for selected recently passed state legislation. Students are strongly encouraged to complete HC 4000 prior to registering for this course.

HC 4300 Health Equity and Justice (4 Credits)

In this course, definitions and historical perspectives of health equity, health disparity, and social justice will be introduced. Students will learn to recognize the geographic, cultural, and social contexts, where health inequities occur. Through reflection and journaling, students will explore the concept of implicit bias. From this critical reflection, students will gain an understanding of the impact of bias on patient care and population health in the U.S. healthcare system. Issues of, racial, ethnic, and gender status and their relationships to health disparities and inequities will be analyzed. Through course assignments, students will conceptualize interventions and design improvement projects aimed at making substantive positive changes toward health equity and justice.

HC 4305 Healthy Aging: A Healthcare Imperative (4 Credits)

As technology advances, the ability to healthcare to keep people alive increases, but not always in ways conducive to improving quality of life. It is the hope of healthcare providers that quality of life improves as well. However, there are many factors this piece of the puzzle challenging. In this course, the older adult population is examined both for the challenges they face and the effects of an increasing elder population on the healthcare delivery system. The course will focus on specific assessment of the impact of unhealthy lifestyles that create the co-morbidities, health disparities commonly seen in aging populations, and the improvements that can be made in health and technological illiteracy/accessibility on older adults. Extending this assessment, students create a cultural care model for end of life care. These explorations of older adulthood culminating in evaluating the underlying cultural issues that need to be addressed to improve population health and resiliency in meeting the challenges during the end of the life spectrum.

HC 4701 Topics in Healthcare Management (1-10 Credits)

This is an advanced special topics seminar course. The focus is on specialized areas of interest. Topics courses may be used as electives within the Healthcare Leadership degree and certificates, and, with advance approval from Academic Director, may substitute for core courses in the degree or certificate programs.

HC 4815 Analysis of Healthcare Environments for Virtual Care (4 Credits)

This course will provide an in-depth exploration of virtual care and its impact on healthcare delivery. Students will learn about the various technologies and platforms used in virtual care, along with key issues and challenges involved in implementing and integrating virtual care into healthcare systems. They will assess different healthcare environments, legal and regulatory issues, impact on patients, and financial considerations surrounding virtual care, as well as the need for a virtual care solution. The course will cover topics such as telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and data analytics.

HC 4980 Internship (0-4 Credits)

The Healthcare Internship is designed to offer students a purposeful experience in a practical, industry related setting. The internship is an individualized learning experience. A training plan is created for each student in conjunction with the internship site supervisor to provide experiences related to the skills and knowledge covered in the certificate and master’s programs as well as professional goals. Students are responsible for finding their own internship site and proposing their internship ideas. University College will send notification to all Healthcare students if they hear of internship possibilities. Students may also work through the DU career center, to explore opportunities for internship experiences.

HC 4991 Independent Study (1-8 Credits)

This is an advanced course for students wishing to pursue an independent course of study. The student must be accepted in a degree program, have earned a grade point average of 3.0 or better, obtained the approval of the department director, and have completed the Independent Study form and filed the form with all appropriate offices before registering for the independent study. Independent Study is offered only on a for-credit basis.