Business Health Care (BUHC)

This course reviews the development, organization, management, delivery, resource production, and financing of health care in the United States. Healthcare policy development, legislation, and regulation will be discussed. Comparisons to, and contrasts between, other health system models are used to help understand current problems related to health care delivery in the United States, the rationales for changing the health care system, and the potential for improved health care for the US population.

Analysis and evaluation of classical and modern economic theory, principles, and procedures applicable to the health care delivery system, and their implications for public policy.

This course is a graduate seminar in healthcare financial management, with emphasis on applying the principles of financial and managerial accounting to healthcare organizations. Financial reporting and managerial cost analysis principles are applied to for-profit and nonprofit healthcare organizations within the context of strategic decision-making for health service operations, financing, and investment. Special attention is given to the financial implications of third-party payment systems and management accounting analyses for hospitals and physician/provider practices. Thus, the emphasis is on gaining a broad understanding of the role management accounting, cost analysis, and the management accountant, in supporting informed executive-level business decisions, as well as developing the technical skills required to understand, identify, and evaluate real-life decision scenarios.

This course presents an overview of the legal and ethical issues facing the health care industry. It provides students with a basic working knowledge of health law and ethics. It is a comprehensive and inclusive review of a wide variety of health care legal and ethical issues. Students are provided with a realistic knowledge of health law and its application to the real world.