Doctor of Health Administration Course Descriptions
DHA-801. Seminar on Financial Management. The focus of this course will be to improve the executive’s ability to use financial information for strategic decision making. This will be accomplished through a review of the concepts and methods for financial analysis for health care organizations. This includes capital investment analysis with an emphasis on valuation, benchmarking, and marginal analysis. 3 s.h.

DHA-804. Community and Global Health. Managed care plans and integrated delivery systems provide services to defined populations. Service planning requires that managers must understand the health status and health risks of the service population in order to provide high quality care at the lowest possible cost. This course covers demographic measurement, epidemiological methods, outcomes assessment, health promotion, and disease prevention from a managerial perspective. 3 s.h.

DHA-807. Managing Healthcare Information Resources. This course examines the state-of-the-art of information technology and its application to patient care and strategic management in health care organizations. The course covers: (1) techniques for effective management of information resources, and (2) effective utilization of information for management decision making. Course content will be closely coordinated with material covered in HAP-806, Decision Analysis. The course will be delivered through a combination of classroom exercises and Internet learning activities. 3 s.h.

DHA-861. Foundations in Leadership. The seminar on leadership has a two-fold goal. The first order is for the class to undertake a critical assessment of the literature and research on leadership effectiveness. The second goal is to provide an opportunity for students to sharpen their own leadership abilities through an experimental simulation. Survey feedback from co-workers in the home organization and case studies will be incorporated with a “Looking Glass” simulation debrief to help students focus on specific actions to better lead changes in their organizations. Additionally, the class will engage in a better understanding of leadership in all aspects of life through a structured analysis of class reading. 3 s.h.

DHA-863. Foundations in Strategic Management. An advanced seminar on principles of strategic management applied to health care organizations and integrated delivery systems. Critical assessment of literature and case studies on strategic formulation, implementation and evaluation. Examination of alternative strategic frameworks of health care organizations. Topics include mission and vision statement development, external environmental assessment and determination of opportunities and threats, internal environmental analysis and determination of strengths and weaknesses, critical success factors, strategic objectives, linking strategy and budgets through business planning, establishing the culture for strategic management, and strategic control. 3 s.h.

DHA-864. Quality Improvement. An advanced seminar on principles and techniques of continuous quality improvement applied to patient care and management of services in health care organizations and integrated delivery systems. Critical assessment of literature and case studies on quality improvement. Topics include: the importance of leadership in establishing quality as an essential component of the organizational culture; planning and operating a quality improvement program; and techniques for measuring the effectiveness of continuous quality improvement in the organization. 3 s.h.

DHA-865. Seminar on Health Policy. An advanced seminar on the public policy-making process in the United States with application to the development of health policy (local, state and federal). Critical assessment of scholarly literature and cases on public policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. Topics include policy decision making, bureaucratic behavior, and governmental relations. 3 s.h.

DHA-866. Applied Research. An advanced seminar on principles and techniques for designing and implementing studies of organizational effectiveness in health care organizations and integrated delivery systems. Critical assessment of literature and cases on the role of executive management in study selection, design, implementation, and application of results. Review of techniques for problem definition, model formulation, determination of data requirements and availability, selection of analytical techniques, use of computer software, analysis and interpretation of results, and application of study results to management decisions for organizational change. 3 s.h.

DHA-867. Quantitative Methods for Research. This course will focus on the fundamentals of logic and decision making. Emphasis will be placed on instruction in classical methods of analysis, symbolic logic and game theory. This will include practical applications of logical tools to evaluating evidence, dissecting argument and arriving at valid conclusions in the context of real-world health administration and leadership. 3 s.h.

DHA-868. Foundations in Health Policy. This course will provide a conceptual and analytical understanding of health policymaking and politics, including their impact on health administration and leadership. Selected policy issues will be explored through the application of political concepts and behavioral models, including a systems model of policymaking. The emphasis will be on understanding how health leaders can approach the policymaking system, become involved in it, and work through it to attain their objectives, and those of their organizations. 3 s.h. Jones

DHA-869. Leadership II: Negotiation, Mediation, Conflict Management and Working with Professionals. This course will provide an understanding of theory and practice in negotiation, mediation and conflict management. In addition, management issues related to working with professionals and utilizing team approaches to problem-solving will be covered. Material and cases covered will relate specifically to applications with health care environments. 3 s.h.

DHA-870. Advanced Techniques in Applied Research. This is an advanced course covering principles and techniques for designing and implementing studies of organizational effectiveness. Students will learn to critically assess the literature and identify the role of health executive management in study selection, research design, research implementation, and the application of research results. This course will build on topics and methods introduced in the Foundations in Applied Research course, and will develop both qualitative and quantitative research skills. 3 s.h.

DHA-871. Strategic Management of Change. This course focuses on an array of issues involved in leading strategic change in complex health care organizations. It deals with new models of strategy implementation, behavioral barriers to successful strategic change, essential roles in the strategic change process, and success factors in strategy implementation. The course concludes with a focus on leadership and how leaders can facilitate the successful implementation of strategies of change. 3 s.h.

DHA-872. Leadership III: Community Relations and Organization. This course will involve an exploration of how health care executives can provide major leadership to their organization, their board, their profession and their community. Students will develop an understanding of community stewardship and the role of contemporary governance in changing organizational approaches to community health. They will also gain an appreciation of the skills necessary for effective collaboration in community-based reform and system development. 3 s.h.

DHA-873. Advanced Systems Thinking. The topics covered in this course will vary, depending on currently important issues in health administration and leadership. Students will have significant input into the selection of topics, and will participate in course development. The faculty members(s) teaching this course will also vary, depending on the topics selected for each student cohort. 3 s.h.

DHA-874. Interprofessional Studies. This course provides the foundation for health professionals to serve as interprofessional leaders in health professions education and health care delivery.  Through course activities, students will learn concepts and issues in interprofessional education and interprofessional collaborative practice.  These include interprofessional competency frameworks, effective team work principles and models for team performance in health care, research in interprofessional education and practice, and approaches to interprofessional learning. 3 s.h.

DHA-876. Evidence-Based Healthcare.  This course will provide an introduction to the utilization of best evidence in the practice of healthcare among multiple disciplines.  What is considered evidence by different professions is covered. The course begins with the literature review of EBM, research methods, development of relevant clinical questions and moves to successful search strategies, ending with the application of the evidence to improving quality of care. 3 s.h.

DHA-878. Advanced Information Systems. Comprehensive study of the role and impact of IT (Information Technology) in health services organizations. Specific emphasis on the role IT plays from clinical and managerial perspectives. Topics include electronic health record, clinical decision support, privacy, patient safety, and security and confidentiality.3 s.h.

DHA-990. Doctoral Project. Upon completion of the Doctoral Project, credit will be applied to complete the degree requirements. Specific guidelines for the Project and Committee composition are outlined in the DHA Policy Manual. 18 s.h.