Course Descriptions
HESA 5300 Introduction to the Canadian Health System
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course provides a brief introduction to the history, legislation, financing and payment systems, health professionals, health promotion, ethics and values, and trends (e.g. regionalization, consumerism, primary healthcare) in the Canadian healthcare system. The class is designed as an introduction to the Health Administration program. The discussion and tasks are directed toward the development of a lifelong and self-directed learning focus, the importance of networking and interpersonal skills, written and oral communication, and values.
Note: Not offered in 2018-2019
HESA 5315 Managing Change in Health Systems: Sustainability and Adaptation
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This class provides a theoretical and practical understanding of the design, implementation, and assessment of transformational and adaptive change processes within healthcare systems. Health system transformation is initiated and sustained by the broader social, political, technological, and economic context within which health systems function. Therefore, assessments of these and other factors related to health system change are examined. Specifically, topics that are covered include examining the environments of healthcare organizations, organizational culture, organizational effectiveness, knowledge management, organizational learning and innovation, business process reengineering, marketing in health systems, and creating and managing the future. Case analysis utilizing health systems examples, individual and group exercises, as well as the completion and presentation of a field project are used to facilitate participation and learning.
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 5330.03
HESA 5330 Management and Design of Healthcare Organizations
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Healthcare organizations are inherently complex and function in an increasingly dynamic environment. This course provides an introduction to the knowledge and skills necessary for the effective management of healthcare organizations. This is accomplished by examining the foundations of management thought, managerial roles, motivation, leadership, and job design as they relate to healthcare organizations. Additionally, topics such as organizational structure and design, teamwork, coordination and communication, and conflict management and negotiation will be examined. The major course objectives will be to provide opportunities for learning key concepts and theory in a setting which encourages discussion and feedback.
HESA 5335 Information Systems in Health Administration
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The main objective of this course is to prepare health administrators to manage information systems and to use information technology effectively. The strength of the course is the use of real problems, situations, cases, and experiences as supplements to the textbook and references. Students are expected to learn about processes and issues related to planning, analysis, design, procurement, implementation and management of information and information technologies in the health system.
HESA 5341 Healthcare Economics
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course entails the study of health economics and its impact on health policy, funding and service delivery. Students will learn the concept, theories and methods of analysis of health economics; they will conduct a project-based health economics analysis and evaluation with reference to health policy. Students will identify assumptions used in analysis of economic issues, and explain the theory underlying the assumptions, notably the theories of consumer behavior and production as they relate to health. Important concepts to be covered include: traditional theory of demand and supply and market equilibrium, the invisible hand and consumer choice, market failure, Pareto optimality and social welfare, elasticity, production and cost, public, private and quasi-public good; equity and redistribution. With the aforementioned framework as reference, the course will then focus on economic analysis and evaluation in the field with some coverage of related policy issues that are important for health care manager. Student will learn and apply techniques of economic analysis to current health issues with special emphasis on cost-effectiveness analysis, Cost utility analysis and cost benefit analysis. Students will learn the techniques of using patient-level data in economic evaluation and the basics of economic analysis using decision-making modelling.
HESA 5345 Financial Accounting, Governance and Management Control in Healthcare
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The purpose of this course is to provide a basic understanding of management control techniques and management accounting decision making techniques and processes that exist for health administrators. The class will cover the following topics: an introduction to management control; financial statement and analysis; breakeven analysis; responsibility accounting; socio-economic aspects of budgeting; financial decisions and relevant costs.
HESA 5350 Management Control and Funding Systems in Healthcare
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The purpose of this class is to provide a basic understanding of management control and decision making techniques and funding systems that exist for health administrators. The course will cover the following topics: management control; performance budgeting; patient classification; work measurement; responsibility accounting; socio-economic aspects of budgeting; cost allocation; multi-year cost; financial decisions; relevant costs; and funding systems.
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 5345.03
HESA 5505 Strategy and Change Leadership in Health Systems
CREDIT HOURS: 3
An organization's strategic plan is key to its sustainability. Change is triggered when the plan does not achieve its desired goals. Topics to be addressed include: organizational effectiveness; strategic planning; environmental assessment; implementation, monitoring and evaluation; governance; organizational culture; organizational change; project management; organizational learning; and integrated delivery systems.
FORMAT: Lecture
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 5330
HESA 6000 Healthcare Leadership in the 21st Century
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course focuses upon the changing role and expectations for healthcare managers and leaders within the Canadian healthcare system. Class topics include leadership/organizational theories, values based leadership, leadership theories, and evidenced based practice. Strategies for addressing common leadership/management challenges are covered through a variety of course activities including extensive readings, case studies, student presentations, and papers.
CROSS-LISTING:
NURS 6000.03
HESA 6100 Ethical Decisions in Health Administration
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course has three objectives: first, to raise the student's awareness of the ethical implications of decision-making in healthcare administration. Second, it will assist students in the development of approach for exploring and resolving ethical dilemmas in the workplace. Third, the course will assist students in examining and developing a greater understanding of their own value system as it relates to the decision-making and management practice. The course is a combination of case study analysis, group projects, guest speakers and self-directed study.
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 5315
HESA 6305 Analyzing the Outcomes of Healthcare
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Determining the outcomes of healthcare provision and measuring the performance of healthcare organizations are redefining how healthcare is strategized and delivered. This is a reflection of the urgent need to improve healthcare quality and the imperative of assessing healthcare interventions. The objective of this class is to expose students to the origins of the medical outcomes movement, the importance of understanding the forces driving outcomes management, and the necessity of developing the requisite skills for managing healthcare organizations. Topics examined in the course include developing strategies for implementing an outcomes measurement system, assessing customer satisfaction and feedback, quality of life measurement, the utilization of health services, small area variations, clinical practice guidelines, disease management, measuring outcomes in long term care, the dynamics of waiting lists, and system performance measurement. Didactic lectures, case analysis, assigned readings, assignments which combine theoretical and practical application, and a final presentation providing detailed analysis of an outcomes management project will be used to expose students to this area of healthcare management.
HESA 6310 Healthcare Policy
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course introduces the student to the evolution of Canadian healthcare policy. Students are exposed to three streams of study which, when taken together, help to illuminate how our healthcare system has emerged over time. The first stream will provide a conceptual and practical examination of public policy making which delimits the art and science of crafting healthcare policy. Public policy analysis will be introduced in a way that provides an overview of techniques and issues that are applicable to an understanding of healthcare policy at the provincial and federal levels. With this approach providing the backdrop, a second stream concentrates on current developments in the Canadian healthcare system as both a direct and indirect consequence of explicit and implicit public policy decisions. Finally, to facilitate interactive learning, problem solving, and critical thinking, students are required to examine and analyze a number of contemporary healthcare policy issues.
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 5300.03
HESA 6325 Continuing Care Administration
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course is designed to enable students to understand and appraise government policies that have shaped the direction of Long Term Care/Continuing Care in Canada with particular emphasis on Nova Scotia; organize and contrast a number of current structures that have been put in place to provide care to seniors; explain the concepts of aging, disabilities, dementia, and the social and medical model of care; and explain, compare, contrast, and critique a variety of issues in Long Term Care/Continuing Care including facility and community based care, leadership styles, aging in place, home care models, living wills/advanced directives and palliative care.
HESA 6330 Strategic Planning in Healthcare
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The focus of the course is on the processes, methods, models and techniques of strategic planning and project management in a changing healthcare system. Relationships between strategic and operational planning will be explored, as will the factors that both inhibit or facilitate the planning process. The overarching objective of the class is to provide students with a firm grounding in the analytical, political and interpersonal skills necessary to enable them to assess health needs, plan services accordingly, implement and to evaluate the planning process.
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 6505 and
HESA 5320
HESA 6340 Human Resources in Healthcare
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Canadian healthcare system, like many others, is facing unique challenges to the management of human resources. The healthcare environment poses particular challenges as governments and employers struggle with reform and restructuring, cost containment, and labor shortages. Human resource management is integral to the overall strategic planning process and key to organizational performance. Key industry leaders are calling for change and shifting focus to the healthy workplace to ensure success and sustainability in Canada's healthcare system. This course will provide the student with an opportunity to explore the challenges and best practices of administrative and operational management of human resources within the healthcare industry. Students will be challenged to understand human resource management strategies and the roles of leaders and managers to enable organizational, effectiveness and efficiency and performance excellence.
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 5330.03
HESA 6341 Management Union Relations: Decisions and Implementation
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course provides a comprehensive overview of labor relations in the healthcare system. Real life situations, cases and arbitration decisions will be analyzed and discussed. Issues studied include the certification process, the collective bargaining process, the outcomes of collective bargaining, grievance handling and the disciplinary process in a unionized environment. As well, trends in healthcare labour relations and management's role in maintaining and ensuring effective relations with unions will be addressed.
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 5330.03
HESA 6345 Healthcare Leadership: Decisions, Ownership and Accountability
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Effective leadership is foundational to successful organizations, determining not only strategic direction but ultimately determining success and sustainability. The topics to be covered include: a) Authentic leadership and decision making; b) Team-based decisions; c) Alignment of Commitment and performance; and d) Leading innovation and organizational effectiveness through strategic decision making.
Offered 2017-2018
HESA 6360 Healthcare Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course surveys legal issues relevant to individuals, institutions, and government agencies involved in Canadian healthcare delivery. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with many of the key laws and their associated public policy rationales and will understand how the law applies to healthcare delivery.
FORMAT: Lecture
FORMAT COMMENTS: Onsite Section
Combination of recorded/asynchronous online lectures and mandatory, synchronous onsite instructor-facilitated tutorial sessions
Online Section
Combination of recorded/asynchronous online lectures and mandatory, synchronous online instructor-facilitated tutorial sessions
HESA 6361 Business Law in the Healthcare Context
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course surveys business law topics relevant to the healthcare context. Students will learn the law related to contracts, business structures, employer-employee relationships, labour relations, human rights, property, debts and security, bankruptcy, and insurance. Students will be able to identify legal risk and apply legal concepts/principles to real case scenarios.
FORMAT: Lecture
FORMAT COMMENTS: Combination of recorded (asynchronous) online lectures and synchronous, online instructor-facilitated tutorial sessions
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 6360.03
HESA 6362 Advanced Healthcare Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This online seminar-style course builds on the foundational Healthcare Law (HESA 6360) course by offering a more in-depth examination of some of the topics surveyed in that course and exposing students to additional healthcare law topics. Students will be introduced to legal research methodologies and prepare a research paper.
FORMAT: Seminar
PREREQUISITES:
HESA 6360.03