Master of Healthcare Administration

The Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) program is in the School of Business which is housed within the College of Management and is designed for those individuals who are currently, or who aspire to be, leaders in a variety of health settings. Today’s health organizations need administrators who can manage the current components of healthcare, as well as lead the health sector in new directions. The MHA program offers students the opportunity to understand and master the organizational, legal, financial, political and managerial aspects of health systems management. The MHA program offers a unique curriculum that is designed specifically to meet the career needs of future health leaders.

Vision

The Master of Healthcare Administration program is designed to prepare learners for the challenges of a global society, including utilization of innovative approaches to managing and leading, solving complex problems, and adhering to the ethical and professional standards of the healthcare system.

Mission

The Master of Healthcare Administration program provides healthcare administrators the tools to ensure efficient and effective delivery of quality health-related products and services to diverse communities.

Program Goals

The graduates will consistently be able to:

• Formulate a communication strategy that will cultivate professional relationships amongst a diverse group of stakeholders in order to achieve cooperation, promote teamwork, demonstrate respect, and maintain a competitive advantage in the market place.
• Assess the level of professionalism necessary to succeed in the highly dynamic and demanding industry by maintaining personal and professional accountability, engaging in ongoing professional development, and demonstrating a commitment to the welfare of the facility/organization, surrounding community and the profession.
• Demonstrate the ability to function autonomously and take responsibility for managing a diverse group of professionals within a highly complex and changing healthcare environment.
• Develop a clear and achievable organizational vision for the future which promotes the entrepreneurial spirit and contributes to the formation of a culture and climate that embraces change in order to achieve excellence in product and service delivery.
• Assess the healthcare environment and its constructs in order to pinpoint industry risks and opportunities, and then actively contribute to viable strategy formulation that effectively leverages internal competencies to achieve organizational success.
• Synthesize relevant internal and external data in order to position complex organizations for fiscal and operational success, despite existing barriers, in order to maintain a strong competitive advantage within a dynamic and demanding industry.
• Demonstrate advanced problem solving skills in the construction of viable and ethical solutions to complex issues that may negatively impact product and service delivery.

Admission Requirements

Students must meet the minimum admission requirements for Park University’s Master of Healthcare Administration program, which include:

• A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or the equivalent from an international institution.
• A minimum of a 2.75 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale in the bachelor’s degree.
• Submission of official transcripts is required (except for Park University alumni).
• Students with a cumulative grade point average below 2.75 may be considered for conditional admission. Submission of additional documentation may be requested by the Program Director.

Note: The only admission requirements waived for Park University alumni are the application fee and submission of official transcripts.

For more information regarding the Master of Healthcare Administration program, please visit www.park.edu/mha.

Types of Admission

Students will be admitted to the Master of Healthcare Administration program with one of the following admission statuses:

1. Full Admission – Applicants who meet all admission requirements and the Graduate Admissions office has received all necessary documents, are granted full admission.
2. Provisional Admission – Students may be admitted to a program on a provisional basis and their admission status will be classified as “provisional.” The provisional status will be removed when applicants submit test scores or other required documents. Students accepted provisionally must submit complete and satisfactory records before completing 12 credit hours in the graduate program.
3. Conditional Admission – In certain exceptional cases, a student who does not meet the minimum grade point average requirement, but who presents other evidence of ability to succeed in a graduate program, may be granted provisional admission by the director of the graduate program in which the applicant is applying, in concurrence with the dean or designee. The probationary status may be removed after the student has demonstrated academic ability by maintaining a “B” average for the first six credit hours of graduate courses, with no grade lower than a “B”.

Sequential Degree

The MHA program is a participant of the Sequential Degree option. This provides the opportunity to graduate alumni of the College of Management at Park University to receive up to 12 credit hours in course substitutions towards the completion of the MHA degree. Alumni from Park graduate programs that are not aligned under the College of Management are not eligible to participate in the sequential degree options. They may receive up to 9 credit hours of transfer credit.

Graduation Requirements

• Completion of 36 credit hours of approved courses with an overall grade point average of 3.0 or above.
• Satisfaction of all academic standards. See the Academic Policies and Academic Standards section for more information.
• Submit application for graduation within the established deadlines. See the Application for Graduation Deadlines section in the Academic Policies section for more information.

Format and Delivery of Courses

• Online: Courses in the MHA program are predominantly online. Students may meet all course requirements through an online format.
• Blended: All ground courses are offered using a blended delivery format. This means that each weekly class session includes a physical classroom and an online component. In this format, students are expected to complete assigned readings, review supplemental materials, and complete certain assignments prior to the class session. During the class sessions, the instructors will facilitate in-class activities that promote collaborative learning and provide opportunities to apply learned concepts.

Innovation and Quality Management Concentration

The MHA Innovation and Quality Management concentration is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of the concepts and techniques used to assess and improve process outcomes. In other words, the students will be able to isolate processes that are routinely experiencing too much variability in their output, identify natural and assignable causes for the variations, develop tactical strategies to improve process performance, and then establish formal mechanisms for monitoring future outcomes. Students will learn how to appropriately apply qualitative and quantitative approaches to diagnose the nature and scope of process problems and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. The competencies that will be developed in this curriculum will serve students well as they progress in their careers. Defective processes drive up operating costs making it virtually impossible to forecast revenues, as well as contributing to poor quality goods or services. This can lessen a firm’s competitive advantage in the marketplace and jeopardize their long-term financial viability.

Note:

Additional elective coursework is available for selection from the graduate Master of Business Administration, Master of Public Administration, Master of Education and Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership programs, to offer flexibility in content for MHA students’ interests. Use of courses from other programs must be discussed and approved by the MHA Program Director prior to enrollment.

TOTAL 36 CR.