This course is the introductory course for the Master of Health Management program. It will provide students with an understanding how the Canadian health care system is organized as well as how services are financed and delivered. This will be done through an assessment of the Canada Health Act and various pieces of related provincial healthcare legislation. Discussions will include an exploration of the for-profit and not-for-profit mix of services within Canada. In addition, students will be exposed to the principles of evidence-based decision-making and various health policy analysis tools. Current issues and trends in health policy (both within Canada and internationally) will serve as cases to which students apply those tools.

This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to understand and critically evaluate sources of evidence used to support decision making within a healthcare environment. Students will develop knowledge about the principles of evidence-based decision-making, searching the literature, and critically reviewing research methods and analyses. The course emphasizes the development of skills to apprise, synthesize and communicate evidence in order to use it within management decision-making.

This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills to understand strategic management principles, theoretical perspectives and practices, and to apply them in the health care industry, in both for-profit and not-for profit organizations in the delivery of health care services, tangible products and social marketing programs. Students will become familiar with the strategic management process in the development, implementation and evaluation of strategic plans, programs and activities for: human resources management, marketing to various segments and target markets, and, communications tools and strategies.

Through this course, students will gain knowledge about the fundamental concepts and practical issues related to accounting and finance and their uses in planning, decision making and control in the management of health care organizations. Skills in the basics of financial management and managerial accounting, budgeting and forecasting, including statistical applications, will be developed through discussion, case studies and course assignments.

This course explores principles, practices, trends and issues of leadership in health organizations. Current theories of leadership with attention to styles, practices, tasks and models will be covered. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on and analyze their own leadership experiences in light of theories studied. Through the interplay of theory and practical application, participants will gain a deeper appreciation for the requirements, responsibilities, and consequences of effective leadership. The course encourages professional and personal development through action learning that is relevant and transferable to organizations.

This full course is designed as an opportunity for Master of Health Management students to demonstrate, in writing, their ability to integrate ideas that reflect current knowledge in areas of health management practice, education, research, and/or policy. The scholarly paper is to demonstrate integrative thinking at a general and abstract level. A student will identify a topic, and in consultation with a faculty advisor with expertise in the area, develop a proposal that is individualized to the students area of interest. The student will then develop the paper under the guidance of the faculty advisor. The paper must be 25 to 30 pages, excluding references and appendices. The paper does not typically involve the collection or analysis of primary data or research with subjects. It is a scholarly essay, not a thesis.

Economic evaluation of healthcare strategies is becoming more pervasive in our current healthcare environment, but how do we know if the analyses have been undertaken properly. This course is designed to introduce basic economic theory and methods for economic evaluation and expose healthcare managers to real life applications of these methods (e.g. for drugs, devices, surgical procedures and public health initiatives).

With advanced writing skills healthcare managers can inform and influence readers for specific purposes that ultimately advance the strategic plans of their organizations. Through this course, students will learn to write proficiently and produce reader-focused documents that are well organized, accurate, clear, unambiguous and defensible. By developing processes for creating, revising and evaluating documents, students will become more fluent and efficient in their writing.

This course is designed for healthcare practitioners and managers who want to acquire an understanding of knowledge translation (KT) and be able to apply KT principles to practice and health management. The course emphasizes understanding what KT is, the relationship between KT and evidence-based practice, the dominant theories, models and frameworks that are used in KT, how knowledge synthesis is achieved, and various tools and resources useful for knowledge translation.

Improving quality and enhancing patient safety has become a preoccupation within most healthcare systems around the world. Despite this, there continues to be high levels of healthcare errors and inadequate understanding of the fundamentals of quality management and patient safety. This course is designed to expose healthcare managers to the major principles, theories and approaches to quality management by analyzing practical real-life examples.

This seminar course will expand upon some of the selected concepts around health management and leadership introduced in MHM program. This is an opportunity for those students interested in exploring topics in more detail through the use of small group problem-based learning and facilitated by subject matter experts for each topic.