HPM Elective Courses 2008-09

The Division of Health Policy and Management offers a variety of electives to complement your studies.

PubH 3801 Economics and Policy, 3 cr., Spring, Karaca
This course examines the economics of health care markets, and aims to further enhance your understanding of real world problems faced by consumers and producers of health care services. The course builds on basic microeconomic principles of the supply and demand for health, health care, and health insurance, and also explores the role of government. Both theoretical models and empirical applications will be discussed. The course will be a combination of lecture and class discussion, with students leading some of the discussion. Readings will come from textbooks, journal articles, the media, and information found on the Internet. Students are expected to read the assignments before class and be prepared to discuss the readings.

PubH 3810 Math Review for Public Health I, 1 cr., Fall, Patel 
This course is a review of basic calculus and linear algebra. It is presumed that the student has had exposure to these topics through previous coursework. The topics covered include differentials, integral calculus, exponentials and logarithms, matrix algebra, and introduction to mathematical models. The course includes lecture, and working mathematical problems as class exercises.  Students who complete this course are expected to see an improvement to their calculus and linear algebra skills, and be better prepared for statistics and health economics course work.

PubH 6551 Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Administration, 1-2 cr., Fall, Spring, Weckwerth
Interested in what are current issues and problems in healthcare delivery, evaluation, insurance, drugs, etc? Need to stay "up" on what's happening in HC delivery? Here's your chance to be engaged in an exciting weekly seminar of topics that "are now"... in which each student presents, to the "peer" group of other students on a selected topic, an analysis and asserts solutions/resolutions. It is a wildly engaging course. You can take it for 1 credit (Really a space filler to take your mind off the "other courses") or 2 credits and take it again in subsequent terms. The 2 credits require a written paper. One credit requires everything except the final formal written paper. (Intent is to have a "class" period for each student's topic, but if more enroll we'll have to do two in a week. We'll then negotiate the schedule.) We welcome a diverse group from Public Affairs, Business, Pharmacy, Medicine (Human and Vet), Nursing, Dentistry, the Therapies, Education, Arts & Sciences, Law and Public Health.

PubH 6568 Interdisciplinary Teamwork in Healthcare, 2 cr., Fall, Mosser
Leading and participating in interdisciplinary teams. Team communication, problem solving, conflict management, organizational support.

PubH 6570-Sec. 1  Integrated Delivery Systems (the integration of hospitals and physicians) 2 cr., Zismer 
U.S. health care market dynamics will continue to encourage the consolidation of the provider-side of the industry leading to large, complex integrated health systems where most, if not all, physicians required to meet mission and strategic objectives are employees of the health system.  This course will examine the integrated models of health care delivery with an emphasis on:  organizational design, governance, operations, strategy, resource deployment, and the role of the “embedded medical practice”.  A practical and applied “case-based” approach will be applied.

PubH 6570-Sec. 2  The Nature of Clinical Care, 2 cr., Spring, Mosser 
This course provides an understanding of clinical care for future health care professionals who are not clinicians.  The primary aim of the course is to enable administrators in health care delivery or public health to feel comfortable in discussing clinical matters with their clinical colleagues and to participate as peers in managing health care performance in hospitals, medical groups, and other health care delivery and public health institutions.  The course is also suitable for future health services researchers who do not have clinical backgrounds.  Covers medical terminology, basic human anatomy, common human diseases, the scope of practice for medical and surgical specialties, common medical and surgical procedures, and the culture of health care clinical professionals.

PubH 6589 Medical Technology Evaluation and Market Research, 2 cr., Spring, Parente & Town
Innovations in medical technologies are one of the leading areas of economic growth in the world. Whether new technologies take the form of pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, information technology of some combination of these innovations, the opportunities for both private enterprise and social welfare are substantial. However, these innovations are not without cost and require reimbursement from either a privately or publicly financed health care delivery system to enter the marketplace. Thus, the strong demand for the evaluation of new medical technologies continues to grow due to the confluence of an aging society seeking new therapeutic agents to enhance health and productivity and unyielding medical care price inflation. This course aims to provide knowledge of the skills, data and methodology required to critically evaluate new medical technologies in order to meet financial investment as well as regulatory compliance objectives, such as FDA approval. The course is designed to provide the analytic tool kit for a manager of a new medical technology to formulate the evaluation

PubH 6700 Foundations of Public Health, 3 cr., Fall, Virnig
In this course, we will examine the history, values, contexts, principles, frameworks, and organization of delivery systems that are a foundation for public health administration and practice. We will focus on the administrative processes and strategies that drive and support achieving results efficiently, effectively, and responsively. We will explore policy and programming challenges and opportunities in strategic public health issues. Grounded in theory and concepts, we will incorporate the core competencies and skills for public health professionals and focus on developing the problem solving and decision making skills through case studies and debates.

PubH 6717 Decision Analysis for Health Care, 2 cr., Fall, Kuntz
Influenza immunization rates among non-elderly individuals with high-risk medical conditions are below target levels in the United States. How can we optimize vaccine delivery for these individuals, particularly during periods of national influenza vaccine shortages? There is disagreement among physicians, administrators, and board members about how this year’s capital should be allocated to competing strategic initiatives. In which projects should the hospital system invest its capital? A bioterrorism attack would require rapid deployment of medical and pharmaceutical supplies to exposed individuals. What are the optimal strategies for pre-attack stockpiling and post-attack distribution and dispensing of supplies? Decisions in health care and public health at the individual, organizational, and policy levels involve tradeoffs among competing objectives, uncertainty about outcomes, incomplete information, and different attitudes among stakeholders towards risk and reward. In this course you will learn quantitative methods for structuring, analyzing and solving decision problems using decision trees and decision tree software, with a focus on the process of decision making aimed at providing insights into the situation. Upon completion of the course, you will be equipped to apply these methods to a range of practical problems you will face in your clinical, managerial or research career.

PubH 6727 Health Leadership and Effecting Change, 2 cr., Fall, Mosser; Spring, Begun
Applications of a broad theoretical base in planned change to solve managerial/organizational problems in health professions.

PubH 6730 International Comparative Health Systems, 2 cr., Spring, Blewett
History and development of health systems from a socio-political perspective. Overview of relative importance and meaning of health outcomes data. Role of WHO. Students used OECD health database.

PubH 6732 Topics & Methods in Global Health Assessment, 2 cr., Spring, McBean
Evaluation of health populations relative to specific topics important to global health, including methodology appropriate to examining a particular issue. Focuses on developing countries.

PubH 6765 Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), 3 cr., Fall, Spring (online), Riley
This course on Statistical Process Control and Quality Improvement will place a specific emphasis on understanding and applying statistical process control techniques applied to health care management and clinical problems. The purpose of this course is to provide a comprehensive overview of quality improvement, including the history, methods and issues in health care quality. The current health care system cannot deliver the necessary quality to ensure safety or consistent outcomes in predictable and controllable ways. However, widespread errors are not caused by lack of knowledge, insufficient commitment or poor training of health care professionals, but poor processes. An objective of this course is to discuss how to analyze and implement appropriate processes which address these problems.

PubH 6780 Management for Clinical Research, 2 cr., Fall, Mosser
This course is designed for researchers who are pursuing careers in clinical research and/or are actively involved in advanced clinical research at the University of Minnesota. The curriculum is tailored to management competencies that are essential for clinical researchers managing large scale projects. This course will place an emphasis on practical knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to develop and successfully implement major research projects. A key purpose of the course is to provide scholars with knowledge needed to lead and manage interdisciplinary teams.

PubH 6801 Health and Human Rights, 2 cr., Fall, Allison
This course explores the relationship of health and human rights under a public health horizon, both historical and contemporary.

PubH 6802 Managing Electronic Healthcare Information, 3 cr., Fall, Wholey
Managing health information is a central function of health care organizations. Information is used for managing population health, profiling providers, and measuring quality. This course describes the organizational context of health information. Sources and types of health information, organizational processes affecting information quality, consistency, completeness, and accuracy, methods for organizing information, and use of information will be discussed. Relational data theory will be used to describe the structure of information and Structured Query Language (SQL) will be used to create and query databases. Students will be introduced to the basic programming skills necessary to manage data in research projects. Programming aspects of the course will use SQL procedure in the SAS language.

PubH 6803 Conducting a Systematic Literature Review, 2 cr., Spring, Kane 
How to conduct systematic literature review. Draws on skills/experience of staff at Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center, an AHRQ-funded program.

PubH 6809 Advanced Methods in Health Decision Science, 3 cr., Spring, Kuntz
Methods applicable to issues of medical decision making. Analyses of environmental/safety decisions. How to apply methods at cutting-edge of clinical decision science.

PubH 6810 Survey Research Methods, 3 cr., Spring, Rockwood 
Theory/application of survey research in data collection. Sampling, item development, instrument design/administration to conduct survey or be aware of issues related to design/implementation. Identification of sources of error in survey research.

PubH 6832 Economics of the Healthcare System, 3 cr., Fall, Nyman
This course is intended to give the student an understanding of and appreciation for the traditional issues in health economics. The topics to be covered are: the role of prices, the production of health, the demand for health care, health insurance theory, the demand for health insurance, the health insurance market and managed care, the market for physicians' services, production and cost of health care in hospitals and nursing homes, labor issues, pharmaceuticals, cost effectiveness analysis, equity and efficiency, role of government in the health economy, international comparisons, Medicaid and Medicare, and national health insurance and reform. The course relies on the use of conventional microeconomic analytical tools. Students should also have a basic knowledge of fundamental descriptive and analytical statistics. Students will not be expected to know calculus.

PubH 6845 Using Demographic Data for Policy Analysis, 3 cr., Spring, Davern
How to pose researchable policy questions, locate existing data into usable format, understand data documentation, analyze data, communicate findings according to standards of professional policy community. Quantitative issues.

PubH 6852 Program Evaluation in Health and Mental Health Setting, Gaarard, 2 cr., Spring-online  
Understanding an evaluation study. Program evaluation. Applications to health and mental health settings. emphasizes public health.

PubH 6861 Health Insurance, 2 cr., Fall, Feldman, Nyman-online
Insurance is a vital enabling factor in access of individuals to health care. People without health insurance are less likely to see medical providers and more likely to be in poor health than those with insurance. In the United States, health insurance is provided by employers, government programs (primarily Medicare and Medicaid), and individually-purchased polices, yet a substantial fraction of the under-65 age population remains uninsured. This course will explore the topic of health insurance from both theoretical and applied perspectives. What motivates people to purchase health insurance or not? Will new options such as consumer directed health plans increase the number of people with health insurance, and at what cost? What are the policy options for reforming Medicare and Medicaid? What impact does health insurance have on health?

PubH 6863 Understanding Health Care Quality, 2 cr., Fall, Kane
Harkening back to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, we have struggled to define quality. This course examines how quality is measured and how such information is used in regulations, rewards and information for consumers. It provides a framework for understanding the difficulties of quality assessment and the problems with quality assurance. It combines lectures with hands-on exercises.

PubH 6864 Conducting Health Outcomes Research, 3 cr. Prereq-Introductory course in epidemiology or health services research or #; spring, every year)
Major concepts/principles in conducting health outcomes research that evaluates medical care. Developing study designs matched to research questions. Frequently used study designs. Evaluating health outcomes. Analytical approaches.

PubH 8801 Health Sciences Policy Analysis: Theory, 3 cr., Moscovice & Dowd, Fall

PubH 8803 Long-Term Care: Principles, Programs, and Policies, 2 cr., Spring, Kane-online
Long-term care policy for functionally impaired persons, particularly the elderly. Team taught from healthcare and social services perspective; grounded in research literature on evidence of program effects. Innovative programs addressing current fragmentation of services.

PubH 8813 Measurement of Health-Related Social Factors, 3 cr., Spring, Rockwood
How social factors such as innovativeness, compliance, religiosity, and stress are measured and tested for reliability and validity. Relationships between theory, concepts, variables, data.

TOP