Online Master of Science in Pharmacy Leadership

Communication for Pharmacy Leaders

This course presents students with techniques , methods and concepts to develop effective communication skills as a pharmacy leader. Through the utilization of scenario exercises, online discussion boards, video technology and respective field work, students will develop a comprehensive set of communication skills. Topics include analysis of multiple communication techniques, recognition of cultural differences with respect to communication expectations, developing and spreading a vision, applying the art of both persuasion and feedback, and identifying and framing audiences. Skills learned through this coursework will prepare students to communication their viewpoints, expectations and vision as a leader in the profession of pharmacy.

Medication Use System Management

This course covers the elements of the medication use system and will assist students in developing skills to assume a leadership role in devising and implementing process improvements of use of health care technologies (electronic health record, bar codes, robotics, smart devices) in the medication system along with HIT standards for interface and integration, and mobile health technologies. Students will gain an understanding of personal health records and models of community and regional information networks. Course content will include activities in workflow process mapping and workflow redesign, project management, and processes for documentation and coding.

Human Resources Management in Pharmacy

Course will provide an understanding of Human Resources as it pertains to management in Pharmacy. It will include presentations and discussion on employment laws, discipline, the selection and the placement process as well as, developing and recognizing your employees.

The Healthcare MarketPlace- Pharmacy Economics

This course provides an overview of economics and marketplace topics related to pharmacy, with particular emphasis on topics relevant to the pharmaceutical industry and health benefit payment models. This course will provide an introduction to the fundamentals of Pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research. Pharmacy business aspects of pharmaceutical regulation and pricing, contracts and purchasing models, group purchasing organizations, MTM reimbursement, specialty pharmacy, and value based clinical and financial models for future health care delivery will all be addressed in the course content. Innovation and marketing will also be included with cases and application activities.

Leading Quality Management in Pharmacy

This course present students with a comprehensive overview of quality management principles, concepts and tools used in healthcare with a special emphasis in pharmacy practice. Through an analysis of pharmacy -related cases, students will have the opportunity to evaluate the relationship between leadership principles and quality improvement. Topics include quality performance measurement, culture of quality, techniques for quality leadership, patient engagement in quality and the use of technology in quality improvement.

Accounting and Financial Decision- Making for Pharmacy Leaders

This course covers selected financial and managerial aspects of healthcare financial management, specifically designed for Pharmacists. It provides a broad introduction to key concepts, issues, tools, and vocabulary useful for managers, department heads, and owners. There are three main topic areas covered in the course: financial accounting; finance; and managerial accounting. The focus is on the understanding and application of the accounting information in healthcare with emphasis on addressing use within the pharmacy.

Pharmacy Leadership Capstone I (available every semester)

This course is the first of a three-course sequence (Capstone I, II and III; PHLD 8061, 8062, and 8063) that requires the design, implementation and presentation of results for a Capstone Research Project. In this course, Capstone I (PHLD 8061), students will receive instruction and gain experience in researching a Capstone project topic, including using online information sources, organizing acquired information and references with reference manager software, and using AMA/APHA as proper reference citation formats. In addition, course faculty will provide lectures and individual consulting sessions with each student to guide them in selecting an appropriate Capstone topic and developing a full Capstone project proposal using the template provided.  In addition, students will identify and recommend possible Capstone Advisory Committee members for their project.

See Elective List

Elective courses offered from the College of Allied Health (Health Administration & Health Informatics) and from the Lindner College of Business

Health Systems Management 2: Principles of Leadership

This course provides an introduction and overview to healthcare leadership, human resources management, and organizational behavior in healthcare settings, reflecting the uniqueness of this sector as well as the universal concepts and principles utilized in the development of effective healthcare administrators and leaders. This course integrates theory with practice through readings, written assignments, group projects, and discussion boards from different organizational perspectives. The development of leadership, managerial and organizational skills will be accomplished through a strong emphasis on self-reflection and self-analysis utilizing the tools of the course. This course aims to provide a relevant understanding of organizational dynamics such as performance, organizational culture, teamwork, individual and shared values, and cultural competency. It will examine how healthcare leaders and their organizations relate to each other internally and to their external environments. Topics include values-driven leadership, team effectiveness, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, conflict management, human resources management, employee behavior and appraisal, and assessment and evaluation of leadership performance. This course emphasizes the reflection of the students’ past and current experiences with the integration of current evidence-based leadership and human resources management principles. The students will be required to submit their feedback from self-evaluation assignments, surveys, inventory tools, and group work that is intended to provide insight, awareness, interdisciplinary collaboration, and professional and personal development for ongoing growth in healthcare leadership roles.

Pharmacy Leadership Capstone II (available every semester)

This course is the second of a three-course sequence (Capstone I, II and III; PHLD 8061, 8062, and 8063) that requires the design, implementation, and presentation of results for a Capstone Research Project. In this course, Capstone II (PHLD 8062), students will receive instruction and gain experience in the implementation of a research project, including IRB submission, basic statistical analysis, scientific writing, and manuscript preparation. In addition, course faculty will provide lectures and individual consulting sessions with each student to guide them in continuing their research according to project timelines. Students will also provide regular progress reports to Capstone Committee members and submit them as assignments. At the conclusion of Capstone II, the student will have IRB approval for their research, most of their data collected, and an initial draft of their research manuscript.

See Elective List

Elective courses offered from the College of Allied Health (Health Administration & Health Informatics) and from the Lindner College of Business

Pharmacy Leadership Capstone III

This course is the third of a three-course sequence (Capstone I, II and III; PHLD 8061, 8062, and 8063) that requires the design, implementation and presentation of results for a Capstone Research Project. Capstone III (PHLD 8063) should be taken in the last semester before graduation. In this course, students will conclude their research projects under the guidance of their Capstone Advisory Committee; complete a final manuscript, acceptable for submission to a chosen publication; and deliver a final oral presentation of their research to their Capstone Advisory Committee, Program Director, and invited guests of the program. The final research project and presentation should demonstrate the students’ conceptual, analytical, research, and practical skills acquired and developed throughout the courses in the program.

Health Systems Management 1: Organization & Delivery

The course is intended to provide the student with a systems perspective of U.S. health and health care structure and function. As the MHA Program’s introductory course, it provides a basis for all subsequent courses including leadership, systems analysis, finance and economics, quality improvement, policy and law, and others. Topics include an overview of the social, political, economic and structural dynamics which shape health care in the United States as well as current and likely future imperatives health care managers will face. Evaluation is competency-based; students will be expected to demonstrate proficiency at seeking and applying evidence to managerial decision-making, the effective communication of ideas, and a number of different types of analyses relevant to cases and issues affecting U.S. healthcare today.

Health Policy 1: Health Policy & Regulation

This course is designed to provide students with an overview of how policy is developed and how policies can affect health care in the United States. The course prepares students to understand the steps in the policy creation process and then apply concepts in policy analysis and advocacy. There are five focus areas: need and demand, healthcare finance, ethics & law, preparedness, and policy evaluation. Within the five focus areas, we will examine topics using Bardach’s Eightfold Path: problem definition, agenda setting, implementation, evaluation, and modification. The course will present case studies and readings about real-world problems that health professionals face.

Health Policy 2: Legal & Ethical Issues

This course presents an introduction to the legal and ethical issues that arise in the management of health services organizations. Topics include ethics in business and clinical decision-making, tools for understanding ethics and ethical analysis, professional and organizational guidelines in making ethical decisions, including codes of ethics and mission statements, organizational responses to ethical issues, including ethics processes, such as institutional ethics committees and institutional review boards, conflicts of commitment and conflicts of interest, patient and community concerns, and end-of-life decisions. Additionally, the course will review legal principles development, application and assessment, and resource allocation and social responsibility. Other topics covered include liability, health care institutions as corporations, the nature, and scope of the public health authority, antitrust, fraud and abuse, privacy and confidentiality, tax implications, regulatory oversight, legal requirements for access to health care, nondiscrimination, conflicts of interest and constitutional constraints on public health initiatives.

Global Health Systems

This foundational course uses the subject matter of global health to teach students the critical management skill of how to analyze the structure and functions of healthcare systems. Once mastered, these skills can be applied to the assessment of systems at any level and in any type of community or setting. As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated to all, American healthcare managers working in a world where global health issues are of immediate and critical relevance to strategic and day-to-day operations. The building blocks of health care systems, their impacts on intermediary and outcome variables, and key stakeholder and other analytical tools will be applied to various national systems from high and low-resource nations around the world. Cultural, social, environmental, and other variables impacting understanding of health and illness, and the policies and systems built to address them, will be examined. In addition to institutional health care systems, the roles played by the marketplace, transnational organizations, private entities, and others in global health care will be explored.

Health Quality 1: Evidence-Based Decision Making for Managers

This course includes both theoretical models for health care quality work, as well as practical strategies for application and implementation of improvement initiatives in a health care setting. The course will review the Institute of Medicine’s Aims to drive safe, effective, efficient, timely, patient-centered and equitable care. Students will learn various sources and categories of data that have proved useful in driving outcomes through quality improvement. It delineates the qualitative and quantitative quality improvement strategies employed by managers to engage in effective decision-making.

Health Informatics, Information Systems and Technology

This course introduces the discipline of health informatics and covers emerging trends. Various information systems, technologies and applications utilized in the context of health and healthcare are introduced. Their characteristics, strengths, challenges, purpose and impact are taught. Impact on patients, populations and healthcare providers is emphasized. Factors influencing adoption and use of various clinical and health information systems and technologies are taught. Key information technologies and systems such as electronic health records, health information exchanges, personal health records, public health information systems and mobile health technologies are introduced in this course. Topics such as telemedicine, interoperability and technical concepts are taught, and evaluation framework is introduced.

Leveraging Analytics and Business Intelligence Tools for Healthcare

This course will introduce students to a variety of cutting edge analytics and business intelligence tools applicable to health or healthcare data. Both structured and unstructured data will be introduced in this course. The coursewill also address topics related to data governance and data quality and various other topics relevant to health data management. This course is predominately hands-on and students willcomplete a project to demonstrate skills acquired.Students will learn how other industries have applied similar or the same tools.

Health Care Marketplace 1: Health Economics

The goal of this course is use economic analysis to introduce and to understand the basic elements and dynamics of the US healthcare system with a particular emphasis on policy implications. Over the past 50 years, the size and scope of the US healthcare economy has grown considerably. In 1960, the US spent about 5% of its gross national product on health. We now spend $3.2 Trillion, or 18%+ of the gross national product on healthcare. This is not only double what it was twenty years ago, but is a per capita level far higher than other industrialized countries. The greater spending, however, does not seem to have purchased much better health. Why does the United States spend so remarkably on medical care for results that are not so remarkable? In seeking explanations and solutions, we will study the healthcare system in the United States and understand the factors that drive our appetite for healthcare goods and services. We will then examine alternatives to our current system, paying special attention to the ongoing legislative reform efforts coming from Washington DC.

Health Care Marketplace 2: Strategic Success

This course follows ECON 7021 and introduces the principles, methods and concepts of three different aspects of strategic management as it relates to health care organizations: 1) strategic planning and management, 2) competitive positioning and 3) alliances, mergers and acquisitions. Methods of evaluating and analyzing the external environment will include discussions of regulatory control, consolidation of industries, disruptive technologies and crisis/prevention management. The interaction of forces inside the organization such as structure, governance, resource management and culture will be analyzed for their impact on the organization’s competitive position and strategic direction.

Health Quality 2: Total Quality Management

The quality of health care in the United States has garnered significant attention among health care professionals and the public. Health care quality is driven fundamentally by the leadership and management practices of health care organizations. This course will review approaches to building and sustaining a culture of performance excellence in health care organizations. It emphasizes the use of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework for designing, implementing, and improving organizational practices that influence health care quality. Topics include understanding patient and stakeholder needs, strategic and operations planning, workforce practices, measurement and analysis, leadership, organization assessment, and change management.