Specialization: Operations in healthcare organizations

The Health Care Tetralogy specialization is designed for anyone interested in health care organization as it is practiced in the United States. A wide range of health care organizations (e.g., medical, dental, pharmacy, and public health) are considered. This specialization is especially useful for anyone who works in health care and either: 1) has an interest in the issues important to the administration of health care organizations; or 2) has some experience but would like an overview or refresher on these issues. However, those who do not work in health care but who interact with health care organizations of any type as patients/consumers will also find this specialization useful. Over the specialization’s four courses, you will examine many aspects of health care organization operations, including the relationships between health care organizations and the health care system, as well as health care delivery, business process management, and quality improvement in health care organizations. Upon completion of the specialization, those who interact with health care organizations as patients/consumers will have a better understanding of the issues involved in effectively managing health care organizations and their operations. Those working in the healthcare sector will be able to contribute to the effective management of a healthcare organization upon completion of the specialization. **Applied learning project** The capstone project for each course requires students to critically synthesize course material to create a healthcare organization and present aspects of that organization to their peers. Each project is presented to their peers using a peer review feature, with each student evaluating the projects of two peers. The peer review feature was chosen because each project is presented from the perspective of the chief executive officer (CEO) of the organization. One skill that all CEOs need is the ability to present their thoughts and findings to others and expect their evaluation and feedback. Another skill that all CEOs need is the ability to critically evaluate the presentation, thinking, and findings of others. The communication/presentation format is different for each course and reflects the communication/presentation strategies that are important to healthcare CEOs.