Department of Health Policy and Management (GRAD)

This course examines systems for emergency management at federal, state, and local levels. The roles of emergency management, health services, and public health in disaster management are also reviewed. Every other week, evening online sessions required with instructors.

Introduction of analytical tools to assess, evaluate, map, and investigate disasters (including biological outbreaks). These tools will be used to improve planning and evaluation of disaster management programs. Every other week, evening online sessions required with instructors.

Explores issues of preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, and research in disaster management. Students will participate in evacuation decision making, volunteer management, and the development of a disaster exercise. Every other week, evening online sessions required with instructors.

Concepts and methods of the program evaluation paradigm as applied in health administration.

Directed readings or research. Written reports are required.

Coursework will focus on public policy approaches to global health, employing interdisciplinary methodologies to understand selected public health policies, programs, and interventions. For students who have a basic understanding of public health.

Course focuses on rights-based approaches to health, applying a human rights perspective to selected public health policies, programs, and interventions. Students will apply a formalistic human rights framework to critical public health issues, exploring human rights as both a safeguard against harm and a catalyst for health promotion.

This course provides an overview of the United States health care system. Students will explore the system's organization, financing, management, resources, and performance. For each topic, they will analyze relevant legislation and discuss current issues. Students will develop skills in policy research and analysis, health care system evaluation, and basic financial literacy.

Lectures on current topics in health care.

Permission of the program director. Supervised activities in an approved health organization, to include one or more specific projects, approved by HPM faculty member and directed by an approved preceptor/mentor in the organization.

This course is the first of six field-based Journal Practica in which students monitor their learning processes, identify where knowledge and skills learned in courses are helpful and relevant to areas of their professional responsibility, and apply that knowledge and those skills to actual work situations.

This course is the second of six field-based journal practica in which students monitor their learning processes, identify where knowledge and skills learned in courses are helpful and relevant to areas of their professional responsibility, and apply that knowledge and those skills to actual work situations.

This course is the third of six field-based journal practica in which students monitor their learning processes, identify where knowledge and skills learned in courses are helpful and relevant to areas of their professional responsibility, and apply that knowledge and those skills to actual work situations.

This course is the fourth of six field-based journal practica in which students monitor their learning processes, identify where knowledge and skills learned in courses are helpful and relevant to areas of their professional responsibility, and apply that knowledge and those skills to actual work situations.

This course is the fifth of six field-based journal practica in which students monitor their learning processes, identify where knowledge and skills learned in courses are helpful and relevant to areas of their professional responsibility, and apply that knowledge and those skills to actual work situations.

This course is the sixth and final of six field-based journal practica in which students monitor their learning processes, identify where knowledge and skills learned in courses are helpful and relevant to areas of their professional responsibility, and apply that knowledge and those skills to actual work situations.

Focuses on implementing informatics programs and projects in health organizations. Informatics initiatives aim to facilitate effective information use for the purpose of improving the quality of health services and/or efficiency of processes. Therefore, these initiatives have implications for various stakeholder groups, including consumers, practitioners, administrators, and policy makers.

The IHI Certificate demonstrates an investment in further education and a strong knowledge base in quality improvement. Upon completion of this course, students will have met the requirements for the IHI Open School Certificate and participated in two in-person sessions.

Methods of comparing health systems, examinations of related national health systems, and analysis of related high prevalence health issues.

Globalization--its economic, environmental, political, technological, institutional, and sociocultural dimensions--historically and currently contributes to beneficial and adverse effects on population, community, and family and individual health.

Introduction to statistical analysis for healthcare settings using an Excel framework. Topics include variable types, sampling, probability distributions, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, categorical data analysis, ANOVA, and introduction to regression methods. Previously offered as HPM 470.

Special topics course for health policy and management undergraduate students.

Students design a research project, known as the Honors Thesis. Students write a research proposal and complete an IRB application toward partial completion of the thesis. Requires a UNC-approved cumulative GPA by the end of the junior year and permission of the instructor.

Students complete, write up and present the Honors Thesis research project that they designed in HPM 691H. Requires having maintained the UNC-approved cumulative GPA by the end of the senior fall semester and permission of the instructor.

This course is for health policy and management undergraduate or graduate students who wish to pursue applied research or practice opportunities with healthcare organizations under the supervision of a faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Management.

The capstone course serves as a culminating experience for students in the BSPH program in Health Policy and Management. Students integrate and apply the knowledge and skills they have learned across the program. Students work in teams to complete a major project with a local organization -- such as a hospital, health system, governmental health department, non-profit, or global health organization. Restricted to HPM B.S.P.H. students.

Restricted to HPM majors. Supervised professional training (fee is $550).

Restricted to HPM majors. Supervised professional training (fee is $500).

Restricted to HPM majors. Supervised professional training (fee is $500).

This course is the first of two workshops for students in the Executive Master's Program. These workshops are designed to provide students exposure to key cross cutting skills that will be used in the program. These skills also are essential for effective healthcare management.

This course is the second of two workshops for students in the Executive Master's Program. These workshops are designed to provide students exposure to key cross cutting skills that will be used in the program. These skills also are essential for effective healthcare management.

An introduction to law and the legal system as it relates to the delivery and financing of health care.

This course provides exposure to the knowledge and skills required to solve the most pressing operational problems found across departments within today's complex health care institutions.

This course focuses on using advanced features of Microsoft Excel to create efficient spreadsheet models of common and complex business problems. It challenges students to use critical thinking and analysis to find effective solutions to real-life situations.

Permission of the instructor for nonmajors. Provides training in the theory of health economics and applies this theory to important issues in health policy and management.

This course is an introduction to mental health services research and policy. Topics include the financing of mental health services, supply of services, quality measures, assessing need, and barriers to care. The course includes seminar presentations by local and nationally recognized experts in mental health services research and discussion sessions.

Emphasis is on clarifying concepts of human resources management and identifying the importance of human resources in health organizations.

This course introduces students to strategic planning and marketing in health services organizations. Students develop practical skills such as assessing the internal and external environment, competitor analysis, and evaluating strategic alternatives in different health care settings. It also explores the role the governing board plays in strategy development and management.

This course introduces students to strategic planning and marketing in health services organizations. Students develop practical skills such as assessing the internal and external environment, competitor analysis, and evaluating strategic alternatives in different health care settings. It also explores the role the governing board plays in strategy development and management.

This course provides an introduction and overview to leadership, management, human resources and organizational behavior, with the goal of aligning these with the organization's strategy and mission. The course integrates theory with practice through readings, lectures, written assignments, and guest presentations from different organizational perspectives. Assessment, practice and development of leadership, managerial and organizational skills will be accomplished through team exercises and small group work.

This course provides an introduction and overview of leadership, management, workforce challenges, and organizational behavior. The course emphasizes the importance of aligning management practices with the organization's mission and goals. The course integrates theory with practice through readings, lectures, written assignments, experiential exercises, and guest presentations. Assessment, practice and development of leadership, managerial and organizational skills are accomplished through team exercises, self and peer assessments, and small group work.

Approaches to Business Plan Development ('Capstone Prep') is a one-credit course to introduce and jumpstart the Spring Semester Capstone business plan process necessary for HPM 735.

Required preparation, completion of master's core (can be concurrent). Restricted to HPM graduate students. Integrating and building upon the HPM master's core, this comprehensive course focuses on organization policymaking and administration from the perspective of the CEO and top management.

This introduces concepts of financial accounting to the non-accountant user of financial information. Basic accounting transactions, financial report preparation, concepts of accrual vs. cash accounting, not-for-profit health care accounting, and the analysis of health care organization financial reports.

Permission of the instructor for non-MHA majors. Covers selected topics in managerial accounting applied to health care.

Basic financial management concepts, including time value analysis, financial risk and required return, long-term debt financing, equity financing and securities markets, capital structure and the cost of capital, the basics of capital budgeting, project risk analysis, revenue cycle and current accounts management, and financial condition analysis.

This online course in health care reimbursement is designed to provide students with relevant and current information about health care reimbursement methods and the complexities around it. After completion of the course, students should have an operational knowledge of health care reimbursement theory and practice.

Focuses on capital allocation, financial condition analysis and forecasting, and other topics. Course is the conclusion to a five-course sequence in healthcare financial management. Each builds on the prior course with the intent of providing a comprehensive foundation in the concepts and practice of healthcare financial management.

This course teaches financial concepts for students seeking leadership roles in the non-profit and government sector, including business planning, budgeting, accounting, performance management, and resource blending and braiding. Students will develop a business plan and learn key strategies and evaluation tools.

Focuses on learning and applying key financial and managerial accounting tools and concepts to healthcare problems. Provides a broad introduction to key concepts, issues, tools, and vocabulary useful for policymakers and administrators. Topics include: reading and analyzing healthcare financial statements, recording transactions, budgeting, full costing, incremental costing, and responsibility accounting.

The course focuses on financial management and analysis. The course includes the healthcare environment, basic financial management concepts, capital acquisition, cost of capital and capital structure, and capital allocation. After completion of the course, students should be able to apply financial management concepts in real world healthcare settings.

This course provides students with an opportunity to investigate topics of healthcare policy and insurance from a finance and economics perspective. The course covers contemporary health policy topics in great depth and with a focus on economic and financial analysis as a tool to evaluate healthcare policies and proposed new legislation.

Introduction to data visualization principles and tools for business professionals. Topics include cognitive processing of visual information, best practices in data visualization, effective data storytelling, data acquisition and preparation, and designing data visualizations using Tableau Desktop software.

Students will evaluate systems of care that impact oral health and will understand the health policy process and engage in policy analysis. Issues to be explored will include: dental care policy and the health policy process; policy analysis; the legislative process; access to care for high risk populations; integrating dental services into public health programs; trends in the demand for dental care; trends expenditures for dental services; and managed dental care. Permission of the instructor.

This core course is designed to provide students with an overview of the structure, systems, and policies of health care delivery in the United States. The goal is to increase students' knowledge and abilities to analyze and address health care issues from both management and policy perspectives.

This core course is designed to provide students with an overview of the structure, systems, and policies of health care delivery in the United States. The goal is to increase students' knowledge and abilities to analyze and address health care issues from both management and policy perspectives.

This course addresses theoretical and applied approaches to measuring health care access in public health and health services research. Drawing principally from health and medical geography, linking foundational concepts and methods addressing access with health economics and health services research more broadly. Students explore spatial approaches to health and healthcare in place. This course will include reading responses, GIS lab exercises, and a research project addressing health care access. Prior exposure to statistical methods preferred.

This course focuses on the political and policy dynamics of health care reform.

This course gives students a greater understanding of programs available to serve underserved populations, and how the ACA (or any replacement) will impact on care provided to underserved populations. The course is designed to help students think critically about the impact of policy changes on different populations.

The course will familiarize students with the history of health reform in the U.S., explore issues in health policy, and analyze the impact of health politics on policymaking.

Integrates essential methods and principles in healthcare quality and information management. Emphasis on use of information to measure and improve quality. Will include presentations, individual/group projects, exercises, and group discussion.

The quality of health care in the US has garnered significant attention. This course will examine 1) the current state of the quality of care in the US, 2) approaches to assess quality of care, and 3) strategies that have been implemented or proposed to improve the quality of care.

Informal or family caregivers support a family member or friend with a serious health problem, disability, or illness. Caregiving is an essential part of our society and infrastructure worldwide. Understanding informal care within the context of both healthcare delivery and the community is critical for future professionals in healthcare, social services, and health policy. This course will provide an overview of caregiving in the U.S. and globally, models of caregiving, research methods, and caregiving policies.

An interdisciplinary overview of cancer prevention and control. Emphasis on projects and activities from perspectives of epidemiology, health behavior and education, and health policy and management. Appropriate research design and methodologies are covered.

This course examines recent work on defining, measuring, and improving health care equity in the contexts of research, policy, and practice. Health care inequities according to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography will especially be highlighted.

This course introduces the concepts, theories, and methods of disseminating and implementing evidence-based health, behavioral health, and social service interventions. The course also examines the methods for conducting rigorous research on dissemination and implementation.

The Cancer Outcomes Research Program (CORP) offers a weekly seminar for faculty, students, and fellows/trainees interested in multidisciplinary cancer outcomes research. Guest speakers' topics include Quality of Care, Patient-reported Outcomes (PROs), Comparative Effectiveness, Health Informatics, Cancer Disparities, Decision Making, Dissemination/Implementation, and Health Economics, as related to cancer outcomes.

Review of the systems analysis process in healthcare systems. Deterministic and random models, mathematical programming, queueing, simulation, forecasting, and measurement. Emphasis on model formulation and computer solution of decision models.

This course provides an investigation of the theory, methods, and application of economic evaluation to health care. Topics include methods used to structure an economic evaluation, measure and summarize health outcomes and estimate their value to patients or to the public, and identify resources used and estimate their costs.

This course is a three-credit hour introduction to program evaluation in public health and health care settings. We discuss key concepts in planning, conducting, reporting, and utilizing evaluations. Through a semester-long project students develop a viable program evaluation design for a real-world program.

The HPM 776/777 and 776/778 course sequences integrate essential methods and principles in healthcare quality and information management, emphasizing use of information to measure and improve quality.

The HPM 776/777 and 776/778 course sequences integrate essential methods and principles in healthcare quality and information management, emphasizing use of information to measure and improve quality.

Healthcare administrators face a range of decisions: some strategic, some financial, others operational. Through your program of study, you are developing analytical and conceptual skills that will help you to make better decisions when the time comes.

Overview of the pharmaceutical industry including organization, financing, major regulations, drug development, and ethical considerations. Topics will give a real-world perspective from professionals in the pharmaceutical industry. Students will debate and discuss some controversial topics related to pharmaceuticals and public health including patient safety, data integrity, financial conflicts of interest, and pricing. These topics will introduce students to careers in the pharmaceutical industry and provide a relevant background for careers in public policy or research.

This course covers advanced decision modeling methods in health care, including probabilistic sensitivity and value of information analysis, economic evaluation using clinical trial data, and discrete event simulation and agent-based/system dynamics modeling techniques. The course teaches analytical techniques and interpretation as well as state-of-the-art best practices.

Second-year M.S.P.H. students in HPM only. Course supports the year-long master's paper process. Broad topics related to the development and management of a research project are covered. The Master's Paper Proposal Defense at the end of the Fall Semester, and the Final Master's Paper, as approved by the student's First and Second Readers at the end of the Spring Semester, are critical steps to meet the UNC Graduate School's requirements for graduation. M.S.P.H. students only.

This class will provide students with an opportunity to learn about the health policy analysis and advocacy processes in the United States. Students will gain an understanding of the different ways in which health policies are made at the legislative, regulatory, and judicial systems. Students will also learn how to identify and analyze different policy options to address health problems, conduct a stakeholders' analysis, and design an advocacy campaign.

This course will cover value based models in health care, including accountable care organizations, bundled payments, patient centered medical home models, risk-based contracts, and other related programs. We will cover the goals of these models, what we mean by "value" in health care, how payment arrangements work practically, evidence on the effectiveness of these models for improving quality and efficiency in health care, and the policies addressing value-based payment.

This course seeks to expose students to an array of topics around health care clinical transformation through presentations and discussion with guest speakers from a range of stakeholders, including frontline providers, leaders at health care organizations, and state policymakers.

Restricted to HPM majors. Supervised field experience in approved health agencies. (Internship fee: $450.)

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) include measures of health status, quality of life, and satisfaction with healthcare. This course provides an overview of the PRO measurement and research field, and discusses how to design and evaluate a PRO measure and best practices for integrating PRO in clinical research and healthcare settings.

This course is designed to help you become familiar with and thoughtfully apply a variety of practical, structured, systems thinking approaches to improve population health by changing aspects of care, service delivery systems, policy, and/or environments in which we live and work. We'll use these methods to both understand individuals' experiences as the foundation for driving change as well as to "zoom out" and see the broader system around a population health challenge.

Course is designed to provide learners with an introduction and overview of critical issues relating to law, ethics, and public health. DrPH students only.

Permission of the instructor. Discussion of recent papers in health economics. Students must have solid knowledge of graduate microeconomics theory and econometrics.

Focus is on the behavioral, power-influence, trait, and situational approaches to leadership. Addresses core leadership principles plus leadership-followership theory, transformational and strategic leadership, and creating change. DrPH students only.

This course analyzes health systems in global perspective. Although health systems vary in structure, they face similar issues. This course includes discussion about the U.S. health system as well as health systems of developing, low-income, and middle-income countries. This course will assess WHO health systems building blocks, and will identify system elements from different countries that could be used to improve access, quality or health outcomes in the student's home or work country. DrPH students.

This course will focus on the concepts, principles, methods, and applications of health disparities science, practice, and policy. It will integrate principles and practice of community engagement. Experts from diverse disciplines will give lectures on health disparities research, practice, and policy. Student teams will work on real life case studies.

This course examines historical and contemporary population health and public health perspectives. These perspectives shape the politics and policy making that affect global health. The practical goal is to help the entering DrPH student develop a grounding for further exploration of topics that may evolve into a dissertation.

Problems and processes of teaching health policy and management, including supervised practicum experience.

Seminar on policy issues in health policy and management.

This seminar will develop core competencies through a: (1) journal club to develop competencies in research design and expose students to diverse content and methodologies; and (2) professional development series.

First course in the department's sequence in empirical analysis. Covers principles of statistical inference, univariate and bivariate analysis, statistical software applications, and mathematical concepts necessary for linear regression and further topics.

Equivalent background in probability theory/statistics for student lacking the prerequisite. Required preparation, matrix algebra, derivatives, logs/exponentials, and Stata. This course is an introduction to linear regression models. Topics include least squares regression, multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and hypothesis testing.

This course is an introduction to linear regression models. Topics include linear algebra, least squares regression, multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and hypothesis testing.

This course is an introduction to the analysis of categorical data using maximum likelihood and other non-linear techniques and specification tests. Topics include models in which the dependent variable is not continuous, including logit, probit, censored data, two-part, and count models.

Pre-doctoral standing or permission of the instructor. This course provides an overview of the field of health services research and health policy. It introduces basic components of the research process, including literature synthesis, development of a research question and hypothesis, and use of conceptual models to guide research questions.

This course explores how to develop answerable, policy-relevant, ethical research questions; operationalize questions with actionable specific aims' and identify optimal research design for answering a particular question. It introduces primary data collection methods (e.g., interviews, focus groups, surveys) and secondary data sources (e.g., administrative claims, medical, records).

This course focuses on applications of research methods that are relevant to health services and health policy researchers. Skills and topics covered in HPM 884 and HPM 885.

Course reserved for special topics in HPM for graduate-level students only.

Course will help students: conduct research, develop public health informatics tools/projects, and further develop professional skills and knowledge essential in the public health informatics field. Students will participate in weekly (2 hr) informatics discussions with practicum preceptors and have an opportunity to meet and interact with successful health informatics professionals.

This one credit hour course introduces health leaders to the field of health informatics. Topics include overviews of various informatics interventions and implementation considerations for using information to improve the delivery of health services in diverse settings. DrPH students only.

Part of a sequence to guide students in planning, development, and implementation of Dr.P.H. dissertations. Designed to prepare students to identify appropriate research topics, plan the approach, organize, and write.

The purpose of this course is to build on students' progress on work initiated in HPM 946 and continue to guide students through the steps necessary to complete a dissertation proposal. In collaboration with faculty, learners will assess the current state of their proposals and complete revisions and additional refinements, culminating in dissertations that are ready to be defended by fall of the third year in the program.

This course is the second in a sequence of courses in research design and methods in the executive Dr.P.H. program. The course explores the nature and process of scientific inquiry in the field of public health, establishing a foundation for methodological exploration, and focusing on the process of developing researchable questions.

Designed to provide Dr.P.H. students with grounding in basic quantitative and qualitative research techniques used in health services research. Topics include types of research designs, measurement scales and coding nomenclatures, analytical techniques for quantitative data, research techniques for primary data collection, research opportunities with secondary data, and qualitative research methods.

This course will provide students with "hands-on" experience in qualitative, quantitative, and policy analytical techniques. DrPH students only.

Offered exclusively to students in the Executive DrPH program, this course exposes students to the theoretical and practical aspects of organizational crises and prepares them to lead effectively in the midst of crisis situations.

Dr.P.H. students only. Understand the major concepts of financial oversight, including budgeting, financial statement analysis, internal controls, governance, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and be able to apply them to all organizations, whether public, private, non-profit, or governmental. Utilizing both individual and team-based learning.

The purpose of this class is to enhance participants' competence in leading within complex and dynamic systems. DrPH students only.

This course is one of a series of leadership courses in the executive Dr.P.H. Its main purpose is to help students understand public health from the perspective of external audiences.

This course is one of a series of research courses in the executive Dr.P.H. Its main purpose is to help students understand the purposes of evaluation.

This class will provide students with an opportunity to learn about implementation science and to understand the complementarity of implementation science and intervention science in improving population outcomes. Students will gain an understanding of the importance of implementation science for addressing public health concerns and the role implementation science can play in bringing public health practice and research closer together. Students will develop an understanding of implementation science frameworks and approaches.

We will examine the ways in which culture and cultural humility intersects with health, and how public health efforts (domestic-global) can benefit by understanding relationships between culture and health. Class sessions will be a combination of presentations by the instructor, class discussions, and student presentations. Two papers are required. DrPH students only.

This course has two parts, both focused on applying practical, structured systems thinking approaches to improve care, service delivery systems, policy, and/or environments in which we live. The first part of the course is person-centered applying systems thinking tools to understand individuals' experiences as the foundation for driving change. DrPH students only.

Provides an introduction and overview of quality improvement efforts in health care. Explores the evidence for why quality improvements are needed, measurements of how health care quality is determined as well as how to implement and manage successful quality improvement techniques. DrPH students only.

Workforce issues play a central role in virtually all organizational problems and challenges. At times, workforce issues may be the primary cause of a problem, while in other cases, they may be one of several underlying causes. Similarly, it is difficult to identify a solution to an organizational problem that does not involve some aspect of workforce management. DrPH students only.

The course focuses on approaches to plan programs that promote individual and community health. The course is anchored in the Intervention Mapping approach. Students will develop an understanding of the essential steps in the program planning process: needs assessments, establishing program goals and objectives, and selecting and developing program strategies. DrPH students only.

In this class you will learn how to apply best pedagogical practices to develop effective educational experiences that meet learning needs of audiences in academic, organizational, and community settings. DrPH students only.