School of Health Professions 2024 - 2025 Catalog

Graduate Certificate in Health Systems Engineering and Management (CRHE)

Program Description

A Graduate Certificate in Health Systems Engineering and Management (CRHE) is available for working professionals who would like to expand their knowledge and further their education in health systems engineering and management without pursuing a full graduate degree in healthcare administration. It is a flexible, 100% online, 12-semester hour program, provided in an accelerated 8-week format. 

Up to two courses that meet the academic requirements are eligible to transfer into the Master of Science in Healthcare Administration program should you choose to continue towards the MSHA degree. 

Admission to the Program

The CRHE certificate program begins three times a year, in the Summer, Fall and Spring. The application period will open on January 1st for Summer, March 1st for Fall, and August 1st for Spring. The deadline for the receipt of the application, supporting documentation, and application fee is April 1st for Summer, July 1st for Fall and December 1st for Spring.

Application Process

To be considered for admission, applicants must have one of the following qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7.

The following are considered in the admissions process:

  • All official college transcripts
  • Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7

It is in the best interest of the applicant to apply as early as possible. Applicants should understand that fulfillment of the basic requirements does not guarantee admission.

CRHE Curriculum

Students admitted to the CRHE program will be required to complete 12 semester credit hours with passing grades and a cumulative GPA of 2.7 or better to meet the certificate requirements.


REQUIRED COURSES
HPHC 5306      Healthcare Delivery System
HPHC 5321      Healthcare Operations & Supply Chain Management
HPHC 5322      Quality, Patient Safety, and Risk Management
HPHC 5324      Health Systems Engineering

Optional electives for MSHA graduates*
HPHC 5318      Organizational Behavior in Healthcare*
HPHC 5326      Healthcare Decision Sciences and Business Analytics*


Four courses are required for this certificate.

A maximum of two courses (one of which will be 5306) may be transferred from the MSHA program to the certificate program. 

*HPHC 5324 is a required course in this certificate curriculum

**It is preferred that students take courses 5321 and 5322 within the Certificate program. If an MSHA student has taken either or both of those courses are electives within the MSHA program, then they may take an optional elective to make up for each of those courses.

CRHE graduates may enroll in the MSHA program. They may transfer two courses from the Certificate Program into the MSHA program, one of which should be core course 5306.

  • HPHC 5302 Medical Sociology (3:3:0,O)

    This course provides an introduction to central topics in the sociology of medicine, health, and illness. Topics include but are not limited to: epidemiology, history of medicine in the West, public health, the social stratification of illness, the medical profession, and health care provision, access and delivery. In exploring these topics, emphasis will be placed on how socio-economic factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, race, and financial status affect health care.

  • HPHC 5306 Healthcare Delivery System (3:3:0,O)

    This course provides an introduction to healthcare services, offering students an overview of the U.S. healthcare delivery system and the important components of the system. The course will examine the healthcare delivery system broadly and explore contemporary issues affecting the institutions that provide healthcare and are designed to protect the health of the American public. The course will cover the historical development of the U.S. healthcare system, the changing roles of healthcare providers, major health programs, determinants of health, disparities in health, and healthcare finance. The goal of the course is to provide students with the necessary skills to be effective participants in efforts to improve the U.S. healthcare system.

  • HPHC 5318 Organizational Behavior in Healthcare (3:3:0,O)

    The purpose of this course is to help students gain an appreciation of the theory of organizations and how this theory shapes the way healthcare administrators come to think about their administrative responsibilities and the range of options available to them through the literature. Understanding the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and groups in healthcare organizations will also be emphasized. Students will learn about organizational strategy that draws from and integrates a number of disciplines, including organization theory, finance, planning, and marketing. Course concepts will be applied in a series of cases.

  • HPHC 5321 Healthcare Operations and Supply Chain Management (3:3:0,O)

    This course examines operational issues in healthcare management. Healthcare operations topics include systems analysis, forecasting, facility location and design models, decision analysis techniques, inventory control, CQI and statistical quality control. The course also integrates key components of supply chain management, including strategic sourcing and purchasing, acquisition, logistics, inventory management, and point of use applications, providing understanding, knowledge and evaluation models to operate and manage an organization's enterprise resource planning and management system.

  • HPHC 5322 Quality, Patient Safety, & Risk Management (3:3:0,O)

    This course introduces the concepts of health care risk and quality management and how these domains go hand in hand with patient safety. Class work addresses the major elements of risk management program including claims management, risk financing, risk reduction, and emergency preparedness. A "systems" approach to health care quality is provided including performance improvement methodologies, tools and strategic initiatives to address continuous quality improvement. Appropriate standards, laws, and regulatory requirements are covered with special emphasis on compliance with Joint Commission accreditation.

  • HPHC 5324 Health Systems Engineering (3:3:0,O)

    This course examines healthcare operations from a systems perspective. Systems modeling and system design concepts will be considered in the design and operationof healthcare systems. Key healthcare systems that focus on patient flow, patient safety, capacity planning, inventory management and supply chain management, and staffing are considered. In designing and operating healthcare facilities it is also important to consider how different parts of the system interact with one another and to consider how changes made to one part of a system can have unintended consequences on other parts of the system. This course also considers key aspects of change management and challenges of implementing process improvement.

  • HPHC 5326 Healthcare Decision Sciences and Business Analysis (3:3:0,O)

    This course emphasizes data management and analytic skills and knowledge to support healthcare organizations in improving patient safety, quality, population health and business/marketing stratgies. Topics include master data management principles, advanced analytics, electronic clinical quality measures, pay for performance, process control charts and fundamentals of quality improvement science. Students will develop skills in team-based projects to manage and analyze healthcare data to support improvement strategies.