Graduate Health Systems Management Degree
Concentration in Assisted Living/Senior Housing Administration

Point of Contact
Andrew Carle
Program Coordinator
Phone: 703-993-9131
Email: acarle@gmu.edu

Students must have obtained a previous Bachelors Degree and have applied to and been accepted as a Student within the Department of Health Administration and Policy. Upon acceptance, students complete the following 39-credit hour curriculum leading to a Master of Science in Health Systems Management, with a Concentration in Assisted Living/Senior Housing Administration:

Program of Study

• Pre-requisite Course (3)
  • HAP 678 (3:3:0)
    Introduction to the U.S. Health System*
    Prerequisite to all other certificate courses for students who do not have familiarity with all aspects of U.S. healthcare system and recent working experience. Explores the structure, function, and financing of U.S. healthcare delivery systems. Familiarizes students with the development of the various subsystems of care and the ways in which public, private, and social forces influence the politics of healthcare, shape the system, and impact public health. Includes analysis of systems infrastructure and the socio-political context of the U.S. healthcare system. Course Website.
    *Students with a previous degree in a healthcare related field, and/or who have a minimum of 3 years relevant healthcare related experience may substitute this course for an approved HAP elective upon Faculty permission.
• Required Core Courses (24)
  • HAP 586 (3:3:0)
    Operations/Quality Management of Health Services
    Examines how improved work processes lead to quality improvement. Explores contribution of operations research and quality management to improve delivery and production of health services and business processes from the perspective of healthcare managers. Course Website.
  • HAP 501 (3:3:0)
    Introduction to Biostatistics
    Applies selected biostatistics techniques to public health and health system management issues. Includes univariate, bivariate statistics and regression analysis.
  • HAP 621 (3)
    Management of Health Service Organizations
  • HAP 750 (3:3:0)
    Legal Issues Relevant to Health Care Administration
    Provides general understanding of U.S. legal system and sources of law, with emphasis on laws that govern or are applicable to healthcare industry and general administration. Students examine the changing healthcare models and delivery systems and laws affecting them.
  • HAP 715 (3:3:0)
    Health Economics
    Emphasizes understanding of economic efficiency in the U.S. health system. Microeconomic methods examine markets and resources in healthcare. Healthcare is examined as a commodity, and explores demand for health and medical care services, provider behavior, and function and behavior of insurance markets. Topics include government role, financing arrangements, insurance reform, rationing, price regulation, and provider competition.
  • HAP 712 (3:3:0)
    Health Services Research
    Introduction to epidemiology and health services research as a body of knowledge and a method for analyzing health problems. Students learn the role of health services research and epidemiology in policy and evidence-based management and clinical practice. Students design experiments, analyze secondary data, and evaluate impact of programs on health outcomes.
  • HAP 740 (3:3:0)
    Management of Health Information Systems
    Introduces health and medical information systems with emphasis on systems analysis and design to support managerial and clinical communications and decision making. Explores trends and innovations in information technology and systems, focusing on managerial oversight of health and medical information systems. Explores contemporary management strategies for information systems personnel. Course Website.
  • HAP 790* (3:2:6)
    Health Management Practicum and Capstone Seminar
    Course Website
    Prerequisite: all course work. Team-based field practicum in health management, problem analysis, and project management in a healthcare or service organization. Learning teams define a complex problem in the assigned facility, and analyze problem with recommendations for management decision action. Analysis provides the context in which theoretical concepts and management skills are applied to conduct the project. Practicum seminar uses case study analyses to explore problem-solving approaches in a variety of situations and healthcare or service organizations.
    *All coursework in the major must be completed. Arrangements must be made with the instructor a semester in advance. Permission of instructor required.
• Assisted Living/Senior Housing Administration Concentration (15)
  • HAP 702 (3:3:0)
    Managerial Accounting in Health Care Organizations
    Practical examination of the controllership function in healthcare organizations and systems (profit and not for profit), with emphasis on policy formulation and evaluation of performance, including cost methods and systems; measurement criteria; and managerial planning, methods, and techniques.
  • HAP 703 (3:3:0)
    Financial Management of Health Systems
    Prerequisites: admittance to graduate program and working knowledge of health care industry. Examines tools and methods of financial management in health care organizations and systems, with emphasis on allocation and use of funds. Analyzes costs and constraints of alternative source of funds, and applies financial decision instruments and effect on operational management and market value of entity.
  • HAP 650 (3:3:0)
    Assisted Living Management and Operations
    Issues, trends, and practices related to administration of assisted living and senior housing communities. Emphasis on budgeting, staffing, hospitality services, resident care and risk management indicators. Evaluation of demographic, cultural, and regulatory environments affecting industry.
  • HAP 705 (3:3:0)
    Healthcare Strategic Management and Marketing
    This course develops executive skills for strategic decision making through the use of marketing-based tools. The course covers the development of business plans through Situation Analysis, Strategy Formulation, Strategy Implementation, and Strategic Control. Tools applied include SWOT analysis, Mission statement testing, Adaptive, Market Entry, and Positioning stratgies, Productive Lifecycle management, Value Chain application, and management of both evolutionary and revolutionary change for healthcare organizations.
    
  • Elective (3)
    Choose an elective from the following list or an equivalent elective from outside Health Science:
    GCH 585 (3:3:0)
    Care and Management of Persons with Alzheimer's Disease
    Focuses on caring for people with dementing illnesses in acute, community and long term care settings. Discusses strategies for managing and evaluating care provided by family caregivers and allied health personnel.
    - OR -
    NURS 659 (3:3:0)
    Healthcare of Aging Persons with Chronic Illness
• Total = 39-42 credits

Explanation of Credit Hours
Course titles are followed by numbers in parentheses (0:0:0), separated by colons. The numbers have the following significance:

• First Number: credits for the course
• Second Number: hours of lecture or seminar per week for the course
• Third Number: hours of laboratory for the course

For independent study, readings, topics, or similar courses, individual instructors set hours.