Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA)

Healthcare Administration

Admissions criteria for the Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA)

Graduate Admissions - Masters level

Prospective students are required to submit the following: 

  • Completion of application for admission
  • Official transcripts for bachelor or graduate degree within 5 weeks of the class start date (refer to Conditional Acceptance).  (All credentials earned outside the United States must be evaluated by a NACES or AICE-member credential evaluation service).  Please speak with an admissions representative for more information.

Note: See program notes and specific requirements below for each graduate - masters level degree program

Specific requirements for admission to classified graduate status are: 

  • A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
  • Completion of application for admission.
  • A 2.7 overall grade point average or higher on completed requirements for the baccalaureate degree, or an earned graduate degree from an accredited institution with a CGPA of 3.0 or higher.

Provisional Admission:

Applicants with an undergraduate degree CGPA of less than a 2.7, but not lower than a 2.3, or a graduate degree CGPA of less than 3.0, but not lower than a 2.7, will be considered for provisional admission. Students who do not attain a 3.0 GPA in the first quarter will be dismissed. Students cannot appeal the dismissal from the university as a result of failure to meet the conditions of provisional admission.

For additional admissions information please see the admissions section here

Offered at Online Programs, Savannah, and West Palm Beach.

Note: Not all Online Program offerings are available to residents of all U.S. states. Please contact an admissions representative for further information.

The Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree program at South University is designed to prepare students from a variety of backgrounds to seek employment in healthcare management and leadership upon graduation.  The 12-course (48 credits) program is founded with the philosophy that healthcare leaders require strong competencies in both healthcare and management to be successful.  Specifically, competencies are addressed in contemporary healthcare management and leadership strategies, present healthcare systems and organizations, policy evaluation and planning techniques, financial management, and business operations.  The curriculum is designed to provide students with a sound foundation in solving the problems of today's health systems, a greater understanding of management issues and to prepare them to seek employment in middle and senior management roles in health administration of hospitals and other health services organizations, as well as the private and public health infrastructure.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able to: 

  1. Interpret the knowledge in healthcare management principles and content specific to finance, economics, strategy, human resources, information management, and ethics.
  2. Evaluate the impact of healthcare policy and law on the delivery and services provided by the industry.
  3. Integrate market research with strategic planning in healthcare, evaluating a wide array of business processes and tools in healthcare operations management.
  4. Assess managerial and leadership challenges in healthcare.
  5. Demonstrate the ability to communicate and present information that is concise, clear, organized, supported, and persuasive in a professional manner appropriate to the healthcare industry.

Master of Healthcare Administration: 48 Credits

Course Code
Title
Credits
This course focuses on the understanding and development of management skills for continued effectiveness in healthcare leadership. Students learn to distinguish the differences between management and leadership and to understand the implications of each. Theories and strategies are studied as they relate to best practices in healthcare management, including areas of conflict management, implementing change, and effective collaboration and communication.

Credits : 4

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This course provides an understanding of the organization and delivery of health services, drawing on theory from the social science and business disciplines. Topics include organization of healthcare delivery, accreditation and regulation, organizational theory, integration/continuum of care perspectives, organizational models, adoption of innovations, provider relationships and network structures, and impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on healthcare management.

Credits : 4

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This course covers an introduction to the business enterprise and current business practices applied to the current healthcare economic market. It will provide a critical balance between review, criticism and prescription of important topics in healthcare economics that are affecting the nation today. Economic theory will be critically reviewed as applied to the health sector through economic evaluation tools. The course critically examines economic theory as applied to the health sector and reviews the government role in making the healthcare sector not only more equitable but also more efficient.

Credits : 4

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This course is designed to provide students with knowledge about the concepts and practices of regulation and healthcare policy. Students will learn how policymaking relates to decisions that affect and regulate healthcare providers and patients. They will also gain insight into how they can influence the policymaking process including using healthcare data to formulate plans to improve healthcare service delivery. Students have an opportunity to assess and apply risk management information in situations relative to effective health facility operations in accordance with established laws

Credits : 4

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This course offers a review of recent developments in healthcare liability, negligence theory, formulation of contracts, law of agency, labor law, documentation procedures, evaluation of evidence in litigation, theory of the case, settlement of claims, values clarification, and current ethical issues in the practice of healthcare administration.

Credits : 4

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This course focuses on multi-range strategies in the integrated healthcare industry. Topics covered include historical perspectives of planning, market demographic analysis, strategic decision making, and comparative analysis of planning models. These principles are applied to the specialized theories and methods of marketing and promoting in the healthcare industry. Topics covered include strategic planning and marketing, market research, market performance, marketing health programs, competitor analysis, promotional strategies, provider referrals, and consumer behaviors.

Credits : 4

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This course focuses on elements and qualities of proactive leadership needed in the healthcare industry today. Patterns of behavior that drive success as well as failure will be reviewed to determine the role of both personal and team values in improving behavior, performance, and morale. This course will offer strategies for strengthening leadership competencies and creating a self-development plan for a career in healthcare leadership.

Credits : 4

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This course is a broad overview of Health Care Management Information Systems. Topics include information system design, management and maintenance applied to various healthcare settings. The many components regarding system architecture analysis and design, software evaluation and testing, system life cycle, replacement planning and electronic data interchange and current software applications are reviewed and analyzed. Additional special topics related to IS regulations, standards, and securities are discussed.

Credits : 4

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This course examines the quality assessment of both business practices and health care delivery focusing on outcome measurements, process/outcome relationships, and methods for process improvement. Quality management tools and techniques are reviewed with a focus on patient safety, clinical quality, care outcomes, and cost benefit analysis in patient care.

Credits : 4

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This course is designed to bring together knowledge gained from the previous program courses. The focus of the course is on the application of knowledge in the management of a healthcare organization broadly emphasizing complex healthcare administration concepts covered throughout the program of study. This course is designed to demonstrate the skills needed to perform the management role by making day-to-day and strategic decisions involving human resources, financial, information system, planning, and operational issues.

Credits : 4

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Sub-Total Credits
48
Total Credits
48