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Course Descriptions – MHSc

Please note, registration in these courses is restricted to students enrolled in the MHSc program.

HAD5010H: Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 1
HAD5020H: Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 2
HAD5711H: Theory and Practice of Strategic Planning and Management in Health Services Organizations
HAD5713H: Introduction to Health Information Systems
HAD5721H: Strategic Management of Quality and Organizational Behaviour in Health Services Organizations
HAD5723H: Health Services Accounting
HAD5724H: Quantitative Methods for Health Services Management and Policy
HAD5725H: Health Economics
HAD5731H: Translating Leadership Into Practice Part 1
HAD5733H: Health Services Finance
HAD5736H: Operations Research: Tools for Quantitative Health Care Decision Making
HAD5741H: Health Law and Ethics
HAD5761H: Introduction to eHealth: Informatics, Innovations and Information Systems
HAD5765H: Case Studies in Health Policy
HAD5767H: Health Services Marketing
HAD5769H: Human Resources Management and Labour Relations in the Health Field
HAD5770H: Program Planning and Evaluation
HAD5775H: Competition, Cooperation and Strategy in Health Care
HAD5777H: Leading and Managing Change: Building Adaptive Capacity
HAD5800H: Creating a Framework for Continuous Leadership Development
HAD6010Y: Field Practicum

HAD5010H

Course Number HAD5010H
Course Name Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 1
Prerequisite n/a (see below)
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 1)
Instructors Sara Allin / Frances Morton-Chang
Description:
Health care remains a top policy priority in Canada and a key defining characteristic of Canadian identity. Under Canada’s universal, publicly‐funded health insurance plan (Medicare), all Canadians have access to medically necessary hospital and doctor care regardless of the ability to pay.Yet, like health systems across the industrialized world, Canada’s faces growing challenges. An aging and increasingly diverse population, global pandemics, emerging and more costly medical technologies and drugs, and rising public expectations about timely access to care, put additional demands on already stretched health care resources. The site of care is shifting as more care moves out of hospitals and into home and community. Individuals and communities are demanding a greater role in decision-making. There are increasing pressures to harmonize domestic health care policies with global “benchmarks.” In spite of billions of new health care dollars, public concerns about wait times for non‐emergency care continue to fuel debate about health system sustainability and the need for private pay care options.HAD5010 (and HAD5011, its counterpart for students in the Msc and PhD research stream) is the first of two courses which develop and apply a policy analysis “tool kit” to critically analyze key issues and trends in Canada’s health care system and health policy. Course sections examine the current state of health care in Canada, the public-private mix, the influence of powerful interest groups, and the determinants of health, paying particular attention to the ideas, interests, and institutions which have shaped the Canadian health care system in the past and which now shape its future.This graduate course is designed for health professionals and students of health policy who need to “make sense” of a rapidly changing and increasingly politicized health care environment in which “evidence” is often only one factor driving the pace and direction of change.
Learner Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Identify major elements of Canada’s health care system
  • Explain current health policy issues and trends in Canada and internationally
  • Apply a conceptual policy analysis toolkit to “make sense” of a volatile health policy environment
  • Write short, concise briefing notes which synthesize academic articles, policy papers and reports as the basis for evaluating and recommending policy options
  •  Value the need for a policy analytic approach
Learner Competencies:
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Comptency Model )

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Communication Skills
  • Information Seeking
  • Initiative
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Self-Confidence
Evaluation:

Participation 10%
Briefing Note 1 10%
Briefing Note 2 20%
Briefing Note 3 20%
One page outline – Summary of Policy Talk 5%
Policy talk 15%
Short paper based on policy talk 20%
Prerequisite:
There are no formal course prerequisites. However, course assignments require:

  • A basic understanding of the major elements of Canada’s health care system
  • An awareness of major health care trends and issues
  • A developed ability to read and use course materials and other sources to research and write graduate-level, analytic assignments
  • Developed English language abilities

Please note: Students who feel they are weak in any of these areas should consult their Program Director about other curriculum options.

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HAD5020H

Course Number HAD5020H
Course Name Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 2
Prerequisite HAD5010H – Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 1 OR equivalent preparation
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Winter (Block 2)
Instructor TBD
Description:
HAD5020H is the second policy course that develops and applies an analytic tool kit to critically assess key issues and trends in health policy in Canada.  It is designed for health professionals and students of health policy who need to make sense of a highly politicized environment in which evidence is often only one, and not even the most important factor, driving change.
Learner Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Apply an analytic tool kit to a health policy environment.
  • Explain current health policy issues and trends in Canada and internationally.
  • Identify policy options and the conditions that make some more feasible than others.
  • Appreciate the usefulness of the policy analytic approach in responding

Learner Competencies:
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Comptency Model) .

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Communication Skills
  • Information Seeking
  • Initiative
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Self-Confidence
Evaluation:

Participation 10%
Commentary 25%
Outline for presentation 5%
Presentation 30%
Final Commentary 30%

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HAD5711H

Course Number HAD5711H
Course Name Theory and Practice of Strategic Planning and Management in Health Services Organizations
Prerequisite Registration in HAD5713H – Introduction to Health Information Systems (see below)
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 1)
Instructors Jodeme Goldhar / Anne Wojtak
Description:
Strategic decision makers in today’s health services organizations face considerable challenges, many of which are associated with their dynamic operating environments. This course introduces contemporary strategic management theories and practices that are used to guide health services organizations through strategic planning cycles. Through selected readings, case studies and case presenters, we critically examine the main concepts of strategic planning and management including strategy formulation, implementation/execution and evaluation; strategic “fit” or alignment; the role of governance; and strategic leadership. In-class exercises focus on applying strategic planning tools. Course assignments afford students opportunities to apply these concepts to their workplaces and to the creation of a new health services organization or initiative.
Learner Objectives:
The overall objective of this course is to provide you with the conceptual tools and the practical skills to enable you to formulate, implement and critically evaluate organizational strategy and to contribute to the underlying strategic planning processes in organizations in which you work.Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Differentiate between the various motivations for developing a strategic plan
  • Distinguish among alternative contemporary conceptualizations of strategy
  • Identify and relate critical steps in the strategic planning process
  • Anticipate and mitigate common barriers to strategy implementation and leverage facilitators
  • Critically analyze the fit between organizational design and strategy
  • Explain and integrate the essential elements of successful organizational strategies into your organization’s strategic plan
  • Acknowledge, value and capitalize upon the different perspectives of executive, management and front-line workers during strategic planning processes
  • Analyze the structure and processes of governance in health care organizations
  • Anticipate the future challenges for strategic planners in health care
  • Devise a viable strategic plan based upon knowledge of the strategic planning process and critical elements
  • Critically evaluate the merits and feasibility of strategic plans using an array of contemporary evaluation tools

Learner Competencies
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model)

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Initiative
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Process Management and Organizational Design
  • Strategic Orientation
Evaluation:

Individual assignment – Defining Organizational Strategy 15%
Individual assignment – Analysis of Organizational Design 30%
Group Assignment – Situational Analysis 15%
Group Assignment – Coordination of Health Care Delivery (with HAD5713H) 40%

 
Prerequisite:There are no formal course prerequisites.  However, course assignments require:

  • A basic understanding of the major elements of Canada’s health care system
  • An awareness of major health care trends and issues
  • A developed ability to read and use course materials and other sources to research and write graduate-level, analytic assignments
  • Developed English language abilities

Students will have completed, or will complete concurrently, HAD5010: Canada’s Health Care System and Health Policy 1 or its equivalent.

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HAD5713H

Course Number HAD5713H
Course Name Introduction to Health Information Systems
Prerequisite Registration in
HAD5724H – Quantitative Methods for Health Services Management and Policy AND
HAD5711H – Theory and Practice of Strategic Planning and Management in Health Services Organizations (see below)
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 1)
Instructor Mark Fam
Description:
In health care, information is a resource equal in importance to financial and human resources. Epidemiology offers valuable methods for compiling and analyzing data that is crucial for managing health care programs, organizations and systems. Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases and injuries in populations. Managerial epidemiology, which is the focus of this course, is the application of epidemiological perspectives and methods to health care management.Although health care managers are developers, collectors, transformers, users and disseminators of information, there has been relatively little discussion about how they can enhance their selection and use of information. Many managers feel overwhelmed by massive amounts of data, much of which provides little assistance in meeting the demands of their jobs. This dilemma becomes more pronounced as provinces attempt to increase the coordination and integration of delivery systems necessitating the coordination and integration of information from a variety of sources within institutions and the community.The purpose of this course is to explore how managers can identify what they need to know, how they can access the information they need, and how they can use the information they obtain in order to be more effective decision makers. These issues will be examined in relation to the internal processes of individual organizations, the identification and accommodation of population health service needs, and the formulation of provincial and national health policy.
Learner Objectives:
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Identify relevant health and socio-economic information sources to construct specific community and/or population profiles
  • Describe the relationship between social and environmental characteristics and health needs; how they impact health outcomes; and how this knowledge can be used to inform management and policy decision-making
  • Judge the accessibility, quality, uses and limitations of available health information in supporting effective and efficient management of health care organizations and related government agencies
  • Develop a needs assessment for a specific population and geographic area to identify opportunities for and obstacles to the provision of health services
  • Establish performance criteria for new health or social services programs that impact health outcomes for a specific population
  • Recognize the implications of transmissible diseases and environmental risks for population health planning and decision making using epidemiological methods and tools
  • Explain and interpret epidemiological analysis applied to decision making
  • Display confidence in using health related methods and data for decision making
  • Present and defend the creation of a new cross-health sector enterprise
  • Demonstrate the ability to work in a team environment and hold others accountable for their performance

Learner Competencies
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model)

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Collaboration
  • Communication Skills
  • Community Orientation
  • Information Seeking
  • Initiative
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Performance Measurement
  • Self-confidence
Evaluation:

Individual assignment – Profile of Two Communities 15%
Individual assignment – Case Study in Population Health 30%
Group Assignment – Health Services Needs Assessment 15%
Group Assignment – Coordination of Health Care Delivery (with HAD5711H) 40%

 
Prerequisite:
Information forms a common base for all aspects of health care. Thus, the material in this course complements that in the other Block 1 courses.This is demonstrated in a joint assignment:

  • A group project entitled “Improving the Coordination of Health Care Delivery for Specific Needs,” which is a joint assignment for HAD5713H and HAD5711H

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HAD5721H

Course Number HAD5721H
Course Name Strategic Management of Quality and Organizational Behaviour in Health Services Organizations
Prerequisite HAD5711H – Theory and Practice of Strategic Planning and Management in Health Services Organizations
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Winter (Block 2)
Instructors Marie Pinard / Karen Born
Description:
The course focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary for healthcare organizations to strategically measure and improve quality and patient safety.  Developing better outcomes at the same (or reduced) costs is a crucial strategic objective for all health care organizations.  While most health care organizations have developed quality improvement programs, these often have had limited impact in improving health care.  New skills and ideas have entered healthcare that provide the information, methods and tools for managers and front line staff to improve work, to secure better outcomes for patients, and maintain or reduce the costs of providing services.  These skills and knowledge require that we analyze and improve work processes, and understand and respond to the needs of patients and other customers.  The work in this course will center on understanding the nature of these improvement concepts, developing knowledge about their application in health care organizations, and providing students with an orientation to and experience with basic concepts and principal methods.
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

    • Explain the underlying theoretical framework for continual improvement of health care.
    • Explain why quality improvement strategies are critical for health services organizations.
    • Describe and give examples of the roles and responsibilities of health services managers, health professionals, and staff for quality improvement and patient safety
    • Apply basic improvement methods and tools for analyzing work processes and for assisting groups in developing remedies for improving these processes
    • Explain methods for testing changes and improving work processes
    • Create strategies for developing customer knowledge and assess that knowledge for the design or redesign of healthcare
    • Understand the nature of variation in healthcare and its role in improving quality of care
    • Interpret a control chart and be capable of identifying the uses of a control chart
    • Explain why analyzing and improving work as a system is critical for effective, safe and efficient care
    • Identify how organizations need to create a culture that fosters innovation and continual improvement
    • Analyze how organizational learning contributes to successful organizational performance
    • Understand how organizations need to assess risk and deal with organization failures
    • Understand the challenges related to addressing and improving patient safety and high reliability in health care organizations
    • Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches and methods for improving the quality of care.

 

Learner Competencies
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model)

    • Analytical Thinking
    • Innovative Thinking
    • Interpersonal Understanding
    • Process Management and Organizational Design
 
Evaluation:

Process Analysis and Improvement (Individual paper) 20%
Knowledge of Patients and Clients and it Use for Improvement 30%
Analysis of Clinical Improvement Strategies in Selected Organizations
(20 to 25 pages)		 40%
Presentation of Clinical Improvement Papers in Class 10%

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HAD5723H

Course Number HAD5723H
Course Name Health Services Accounting
Prerequisite HAD5724H – Quantitative Methods for Health Services Management and Policy OR equivalent
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Winter (Block 2)
Instructor Imtiaz Daniel
Description:
HAD5723H is the first in a two-course sequence in health care financial management, intended to impart a foundation of accounting and finance knowledge necessary to manage health care organizations and make informed decisions.  This first course introduces learners to managerial and financial accounting concepts.  The second course, HAD5733: Health Services Finance, focuses on finance topics, such as financing and investment decisions.This course will focus heavily on managerial accounting concepts, to provide learners with the tools necessary to ensure that their organization produces the information that will support their responsibility for decision-making. As a health care manager, it is important to understand what financial reports are prepared by the organization, what information these reports provide and how this information is used.
Objectives:
In this course you will learn:

  • Financial Accounting:
    • The types of financial reports required by organizations and the type of information in those financial statements.
    • The theory and foundation of financial accounting and the ‘rules’ for the accumulation and reporting of financial information.
    • Key financial performance measures and the interpretation of financial performance.
  • Managerial Accounting:
    • The concepts and vocabulary in measuring costs, depending on the needs of the decision maker.
    • The implications and use of management accounting tools and information for short term and long term decision making.
    • Management accounting applications of forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis.
  • Performance Analysis:
    • Perform a performance analysis of a chosen health care organization using financial and managerial information from provincial datasets.
Learner Competencies:

  • Accountability
  • Achievement Orientation
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Communication Skills
  • Financial Skills
  • Performance Management
  • Self-Confidence
Evaluation:

Readiness Assurance Tests (4 @ 3.75% each) 15%
In-class Group Exercise/Assignment – Financial Analysis 20%
In-class Group Exercise/Assignment – Planning & Budgeting 25%
Individual Performance Analysis Project 25%

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HAD5724H

Course Number HAD5724H
Course Name Quantitative Methods for Health Services Management and Policy
Prerequisite Registration in HAD5713H – Introduction to Health Information Systems (see below)
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 1)
Instructors Kristen Pitzul / Kaileah McKellar
Description:
The objective of this course is to introduce students to quantitative managerial skills. Increasingly managers face decisions that require reliable information and a clear understanding of their agency’s profile. Quantitative managerial skills allow for this information and understanding to be provided; it makes possible better decisions in human resources, marketing, operations, finance, accounting, and other functional areas. Objectives of the course are achieved through a combination of Readiness Assessment Tests and critical analysis of evidence based articles and the impact on decision making. Course assignments offer students opportunities to analyze a Patient Satisfaction data set using SPSS and to develop their evidence based decision making skills.
Learner Objectives:
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Value the use of statistical analyses for performance management and evaluation of health care services and programs
  • Display confidence in ability to use quantitative information for management decision making
  • Reconstruct administrative problems into researchable questions
  • Evaluate how the characteristics of descriptive statistics can impact management decision making
  • Select and apply appropriate inferential statistical tests
  • Relate the results of a hypothesis test with nominal data to “real-life” decision making situations
  • Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and hold others accountable for their performance

Learner Competencies:
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model).

  • Accountability
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Collaboration
  • Information Seeking
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Performance Measurement
  • Self-confidence
Evaluation:
The final grade for this course will be determined by scores in two major performance areas: Individual Performance and Group Performance.

Readiness Assessment Tests (individual) 5%
Assignment 1A (individual) – Patient Satisfaction – database 15%
Assignment 1B (individual) – Patient Satisfaction – data analysis 20%
Application Exam (individual) 30%
Readiness Assessment Tests (group) 5%
Assignment 2 (group) – Critical review of a health services article 25%

Prerequisite:

  • All learners are required, prior to the start of classes in September,to have a working knowledge of the following topics:
    Measures of central tendency Normal Distribution
    Measures of dispersion Distribution of Sample Means
    Frequency distributions Confidence Intervals
    Percents/skewness Hypothesis testing for a Single Pop.
    Chi Square test
    Analysis of Variance
    Bivariate linear regression
    Hypothesis testing for differences Between Means
    Hypothesis testing for differences Between Proportions
    Regression analysis
    Regression inference
  • All learners will be required to complete a computer based assignment. Learners will be able to acquire SPSS-PC through a University of Toronto site license. Instruction in SPSS-PC will be provided either during orientation week or during class.

Please note: Due to the accelerated nature of this course, most learners will find it helpful to have worked through as much of the required material as they can prior to the first class period.

 

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HAD5725H

Course Number HAD5725H
Course Name Health Economics
Prerequisite HAD5723H – Health Services Accounting
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 4)
Instructor Allan Detsky
Description:
This course is designed to teach the learner the basic model of microeconomics that underlies much of the thinking and perspective of health economics.   The concepts of utility maximization in a perfectly competitive world with no asymmetry of information will be presented, along with the market imperfections and distortions exhibited by the market for health care to guide the learner in interpreting the work of health economists.  Specifically, the price wedge between consumers and suppliers that exists with health insurance, along with the asymmetry of information, will be discussed in detail and repeatedly. After introducing the theory and noting how the market for health care differs from other markets, the course will move onto review 6 themes:  the impact of public health insurance in Canada, incentives facing physicians, technology and cost effectiveness analysis specifically related to drugs, behavioral economics at play in health, and conflicts of interest.  Prior knowledge of economics will be helpful but is not required.
Learner Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • To understand the basic model of microeconomic theory and utility maximization, the assumptions that underlie that model and what happens when they are violated.
  • To understand how Canadian health care and the people who deliver it have been affected by public insurance and payments over the last 60 years.
  • To understand how incentives work to change behavior of both consumers and suppliers, and the nuances of the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.
  • To understand what cost- effectiveness analysis is, and what it is not.  To understand the uses and limitations in evaluating health care technologies.
  • To be able to identify the parties who are affected by a policy or practice intervention, and the incentives that motivate those parties.
  • To understand how behavior is motivated by risk and framing , as well as some of the cognitive psychological concepts that influence behavior.
  • To understand the impact of conflicts of interest and how self-discipline and personal ethics usually fails to curb that influence in health care.
  • At the end of this course, the learner should be able to apply and defend economic concepts that are incorporated in decision making for health care administrators at the policy, public health and clinical levels.

Learner Competencies:
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model) .

  • Accountability
  • Achievement Orientation
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Collaboration
  • Information Seeking
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Performance Measurement
  • Self-confidence
Evaluation:

Class participation 10%
At home assignment 1 20%
At home assignment 2 20%
Final group assignment 50%

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HAD5731H

Course Number HAD5731H
Course Name Translating Leadership Into Practice Part 1
Prerequisite N/A
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered MHSc – Summer (Block 3)
MHI – Fall Year 2
Instructors Tina Smith / Christine Shea
Description: This course explores what it means to be a leader moving from personal mastery of leadership behaviors to change leadership at the organizational level.  The course uses the four competencies of Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence model as a framework, progressing from a focus on self-assessment and management to one of social awareness and skills.  You cannot lead others until you know who you are, what you believe in, and why someone might want to follow you; and conversely, others will not follow you if do not understand their motivations, values and concerns and are not able to manage your relationships with them. In other words, we must first understand and manage ourselves, before we can understand and successfully manage our relationships with others.
This course is designed to ensure that learners appreciate the vital role leadership plays, at all levels of the organizations, in managing and sustaining change for improved health outcomes and performance. Each course module is designed to provide a set of evidence-based learning experiences that will facilitate the learner’s leadership development through reflection, practice and the formation of action goals.  Topics covered include the five practices of exemplary leadership; styles of conflict management; communication for engagement, collaboration and enhanced team performance; the role of influence in furthering change; and models of change leadership and management.Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Indicate their leadership development needs and construct a set of goals that are challenging but achievable.
  2. Exhibit responsibility for their own performance.
  3. Identify and align actions to shared values.
  4. Describe their image of the future and inspire others to share a common vision.
  5. Recognize opportunities to challenge the status quo and improve performance.
  6. Create a climate in which people are willing to innovate and learn from mistakes.
  7. Identify actions that allow others to excel in their work.
  8. Recognize the accomplishment of others in ways that are meaningful to them.
  9. Build collaboration, teamwork, and trust.
  10. Explain diverse points of view by actively listening to both emotion and content.
  11. Develop critical approaches for constructive negotiation and conflict management strategies.
  12. Diagnose issues and resolve same using influence strategies.
  13. Plan and execute an organizational change
Learner Competencies:

  • Accountability
  • Achievement Orientation
  • Change Leadership
  • Collaboration
  • Impact & Influence
  • Information Seeking
  • Interpersonal Understanding
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Professionalism
  • Self-Development
  • Talent Development
  • Team Leadership

 
Evaluation:

Individual Reflection Paper on Leadership Practices 20%
Individual Reflection Paper on Developing team Performance 20%
Group Charter 20%
Individual Reflection Paper on Leadership Practices 30%
Class Participation 10%

 

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HAD5733H

Course Number HAD5733H
Course Name Health Services Finance
Prerequisite HAD5723H – Health Services Accounting
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Summer (Block 3)
Instructor Brian Chan / Walter Wodchis
Description:
HAD5733H is the second in a two-course sequence intended to impart to generalist administrators a knowledge of finance and accounting necessary to manage health care organizations. The first course, HAD5723H, focuses on managerial accounting topics. This second course, HAD5733H will concentrate on corporate finance topics. In addition, it will integrate corporate finance and accounting theories, institutional knowledge of health care finance, and applications to specific problems.
Objectives:
The course will be taught in three major sections with the following objectives:

  1. Investments (or capital expenditures):
    • Achieving a conceptual understanding of valuation and the effects of project selection, asset acquisition, financing methods and the time value of money;
    • Developing an ability to evaluate the desirability of a project, based on net present value calculations and considerations of non-cash values;
    • Gaining a facility with the use of spreadsheet technology in conducting financial analyses.
  2. Financing:
    • Achieving an ability to estimate the cost of various sources of financing, based on projected cash flow
    • Gaining an ability to evaluate leasing versus buying of an asset.
  3. Other topics:
    • Gaining an understanding of how to develop a strategic long range financial plan
    • Gaining an understanding of capital and operations financial planning for a long-term care facilty;
    • Gaining an understanding of the financial aspects of public-private partnerships.
Learner Competencies:

  • Achievement Orientation
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Financial Skills
  • Initiative
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Self-Confidence
  • Strategic Orientation

 
Evaluation:

Pre-class Readiness Assessment Tests (4@5% each) 20%
Quiz (1) 10%
Individual assignment – Financial Calculation 20%
Group case studies (2 written assignments @20%) 40%
Class participation 10%

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HAD5736H

Course Number HAD5736H
Course Name Operations Research: Tools for Quantitative Health Care Decision Making
Prerequisite see below
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 4)
Instructors Dionne Aleman
Michael Carter
Description:
This course introduces quantitative methods and their applications to health care decision-making. The use of these methods has recently become an active and growing area of practice and research in contexts including wait list management, patient flow, population demand estimates, health human resource management and the coordination of resources for elective and emergency services. This course is designed to provide health care decision makers with an introduction to several useful quantitative methods that can provide insight and support for complex decisions.We will cover the following topics:

  • Mathematical model formulation
  • Linear programming and optimization
  • Forecasting
  • Queuing theory and simulation modeling
  • Project management
  • Introduction to decision analysis.

This class is not intended for learners who have a background in operations research.
Learner Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Reconstruct management problems into mathematical models for optimization
  • Graphically describe the mathematical models to understand the relationship of decision alternatives
  • Develop Excel spreadsheets to solve mathematical optimization problems
  • Appraise and justify the value of resource allocation decisions using sensitivity analysis
  • Interpret retrospective data to predict future states
  • Develop models using simulation and queuing theory that predict wait times, service demands and resource utilization
  • Manage project deadlines using quantitative tools
  • Display confidence in using quantitative methods to make health care decisions and hold people accountable for making high quality recommendations
  • Be willing to face quantitative facts even when they are counter-intuitive
Learner Competencies:

  • Accountability
  • Achievement Orientation
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Initiative
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Performance Measurement
  • Project Management
  • Self-Confidence

 
Evaluation:The final grade for this course will be determined by pre-class readiness assessment tests and in-class quizzes given at the end of each meeting.

Readiness Assessment Tests (individual) 25%
In-class assignments (individual) 30%
In-class assignments (group) 20%
Feasibility Report submission 20%
Feasibility Report presentation 5%
Prerequisite:Learners will be expected to have some background in probability and statistics. All learners are expected to bring laptops to class and have a working knowledge of Microsoft Excel including building equations in Excel.

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HAD5741

Course Number HAD5741H
Course Name Health Law and Ethics
Prerequisite n/a
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 4)
Instructor TBD
Description:
A health administrator needs to understand the legal environment within which management decisions occur. The law is often seen as ambiguous and amorphous.This course will provide you with an overview of key legal and ethical concepts and their application to the health field. Among the topics to be addressed are an overview of the law and legal process, business organizations, both “profit” and “not-for-profit”, litigation, consent and capacity, contracts, medical records, privacy, tenders, product liability and research. Specific ethical concerns and situations will be woven throughout the course. This course is not intended to turn health administrators into lawyers.
Learner Objectives:
The overall objective of this course is to teach health administrators to identify legal and ethical issues and know when to seek legal assistance.On completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Identify legal and ethical issues that impact on health care delivery and know when to resolve those using existing policies and procedures and when to seek legal assistance and/or other organizational resources
  • Develop a conceptual framework for evaluating problems from a legal and ethical perspective
  • Assess the interplay between the law and ethics to ensure good corporate governance and improve accountability at all levels
  • Act and hold people accountable for ethical decision-making
  • Distinguish between terms of contracts that are advantageous and those that are not
  • Establish best practices for ensuring personal and corporate privacy
  • Have confidence in the ability to apply legal and ethical standards to consent based decision-making
  • Interpret litigation risk from a negligence perspective

Learner Competencies:
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model).

  • Accountability
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Information Seeking
  • Initiative
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Process Management and Organizational Design
  • Professionalism
  • Project Management
  • Self-confidence
  • Strategic Orientation
Evaluation:

Initial Assignment (Individual) 25%
In Class Negotiation (Individual) 25%
In Class Presentation (Group) 20%
Written Case Analysis Assignment (Group) 20%
In Class Participation (Individual) 10%

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HAD5761H

Course Number HAD5761H
Course Name Introduction to eHealth: Informatics, Innovations and Information Systems
Prerequisite n/a
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Summer (Block 3)
Instructors Shiran Isaacksz / Alexis Villa
Description:
This course provides students with a basic understanding of Information Systems theory. The primary focus is on the development and management of information systems and computer applications. It should be stressed that this is not a course on computers per se – but rather a course that applies computer technology as a means to an end. This end is, hopefully, the competent management of information and decision support systems.
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Describe the critical success factors that can facilitate the development and implementation of better Information, Information Management Technology and Information Technology systems;
  • Analyze strategies for creating innovative solutions and their successful implementation;
  • Apply basic continual improvement methods and tools for analyzing work processes for improving IS processes;
  • Analyze and describe the strengths and weaknesses of systems and communicate that to the technology community;
  • Compare the efficiency and effectiveness of different information systems or platforms to the point of being able to define optimal strategies in healthcare;
  • Measure the status of information systems in place today.

 
Learner Competencies:

  • Achievement Orientation
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Change Leadership
  • Communication Skills
  • Impact & Influence
  • Information Seeking
  • Information Technology Management
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Project Management

 
Evaluation:

In-class quizzes (2) 15%
Mini-proposal (3 parts: Description, Business Plan, Change Management Plan) 45%
In-class group project (with HAD5733H) 20%
Group Project (paper & presentation) 20%

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HAD5765H

Course Number HAD5765H
Course Name Case Studies in Health Policy
Prerequisite HAD5010H – Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 1
OR equivalent (see below)
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Winter (Block 5)
Instructor Raisa Deber
Description:
This course analyzes the formation and implementation of public policy through the use of case studies, focused about important theoretical concepts. Students will develop the ability to understand and analyze the processes by which public policies are formed, and the ability to perform comparisons of policy alternatives. Guest lecturers may be used where appropriate to expand upon the process of policy implementation in an informal format.Cases to be analyzed will be selected from the attached list by the class. With the permission of the instructor, new cases may be added.
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • understand and analyze the processes by which public policies are formed and implemented,
  • perform comparisons of policy alternatives,
  • analyze and discuss case studies in class,
  • organize and manage an in-class discussion of a case study, and apply appropriate theoretical concepts to better understand and analyze public policy.
Learner Competencies:

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Collaboration
  • Communication Skills
  • Information Seeking
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Organizational Awareness

 
Evaluation:

Class participation 20%
Presentation of case study in class 30%
Written case analysis (may be group mark) 50%

 
Prerequisite:
Students should be familiar with such basic concepts as:

  • Introduction to Canadian politics
  • Policy formation – including roles of Royal Commissions, task forces, committees, etc.
  • Budgetary system
  • Policy outputs (including distributive, regulatory, redistributive policies)
  • Policy instruments
  • Factors influencing policy formation, especially pressure groups and media
  • Inter-governmental relations
  • Inter-departmental relations; resource allocation within departments
  • Policy/Administration tension
  • Roles of experts vs/ generalists; administrators vs. politicians
  • Role of quasi-independent agencies; regulation.

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HAD5767H

Course Number HAD5767H
Course Name Health Services Marketing
Prerequisite HAD5711H – Theory and Practice of Strategic Planning and Management in Health Services Organizations AND
HAD5723H – Health Services Accounting AND
HAD5731H – Advanced Cases in Health Administration, Management and Strategy OR equivalent
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 4)
Instructors Jim Irving  / Meghan van Zanden
Description:
To dispel a common misunderstanding: Marketing is NOT selling, and it is NOT advertising per se. Rather, Marketing can be best described as: The process by which companies/organizations engage customers, build strong customer relationships, and create customer value in order to capture value from customers in return.  In other words, Marketing does not revolve around “selling” the product or service to a customer but rather causing the customer to “buy” that product or service, thus benefitting both the marketer and the customer.
Every single product/service we choose to buy or use involves the marketing process. We evaluate choices and make our decision based on the best fit possible of the benefits offered.
Now we must explore why Health Services offerings are unique from the perspective of Marketing. Rather than singular customer points of decision, we have multiple stakeholders to the purchase or usage decision – the patient, their family, the physician, the place of service delivery and in the publicly funded sector, the government. All these stakeholders must be carefully considered and uniquely marketed to. Overlay upon this, the evolving nature of healthcare consumers in Canada – they are wiser, more discerning, better educated about their health issues, and far more demanding than ever before. More and more, they are recognizing that they do in fact have choice in terms of health resolution, point of delivery, and physician delivery.
The harsh reality, as well, is the ever-increasing financial burden being placed upon The Canada Health Act, which bears out within provincial budgets and product/service choices. The answer is not so easily stated that more publicly-funded services should be privatized, but rather that healthcare in Canada must be delivered in the future better, more efficiently and safer – with the backbone of this being innovation, engagement, research, sound strategy, positioning, positive mutual impact – i.e. HEALTH SERVICES MARKETING.
Learner Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Understand and create a Marketing Roadmap
    • Company Vision/Mission/Values
    • Current product/service portfolio analysis and assessment
    • New product/service assessment and introduction stages
    • Market research, segmentation, targeting, product/service differentiation, value proposition
    • Product/service market positioning
    • Marketing Plan build, execute, measure and adjust
  • To build a detailed marketing plan based on a real-world new product or service

Learner Competencies:
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Comptency Model).

  • Relationship and Network Development
  • Achievement Orientation
  • Communication Skills
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Initiative
  • Collaboration
  • Impact and Influence
  • Interpersonal Understanding
  • Innovation
  • Information Seeking
Evaluation:

Active Class Participation 10%
Mini-case discussions 10%
Individual assigned case study 30%
Group/Team Marketing Plan 50%

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HAD5769H

Course Number HAD5769H
Course Name Human Resources Management and Labour Relations in the Health Field
Prerequisite n/a
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Fall (Block 4)
Instructor Tyrone A. Perreira
Description:
The overall objective of this course is to increase learners’ appreciation for and skills in managing a diverse workforce in health care. The focus is on creating high quality health care workplaces through strengthening the employment relationship (including union-management relations) taking into account the social, economic and regulatory context within which that relationship is defined. As health care organizations have decentralized decision-making, many of the traditional HRM functions have become the domain of the manager. In some organizations the human resources management processes are well integrated with overall organizational strategy while in others they are limited to the technical component. Students will be introduced to the basic human resources management functions including selection, training, performance management and management of the collective agreement but, it is not the intent that they will become specialists in these areas. The principal strategic issues which will be addressed include what it means to be a high quality workplace, the changing nature of work and workplace organization including employee engagement as a human resource strategy, the concern with productivity and the measurement of that productivity through performance indicators in a rapidly restructuring system, the impact of new working arrangements on the employer-employee relationship and the creation of learning organizations. Cases, course readings, role playing and guest lecturers are the approaches used to give learners an opportunity to critically analyze the complexity of the employment relationship.
Learner Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Analyze strategies to link human resources practices to the overall formation and implementation of strategies in health service organizations
  • Based on the evidence, demonstrate how managers can create healthy workplaces
  • Apply the regulatory framework which affects human resources management practices to a number of cases
  • Understand the relationship of work design to the changing skill mix of the health care workforce
  • Determine the manager’s role in human resources management and the role of the HR specialist in advising management
  • Demonstrate how health care managers can work within a Collective Agreement
  • Compare the differing perspectives managers and employees have of the employment relationship
  • Increase own understanding of the different perspectives individuals have about diversity
  • Develop strategies for addressing the challenges faced by health care managers in managing the performance of a diverse workforce
  • Examine one’s perspective related to the concept of justice (fairness) and how it can be reflected in HRM practices
  • Differentiate different approaches to compensation practices and their challenges
  • Describe the relationship of competency development to job analysis, recruitment, selection and retention
  • Evaluate effectiveness of different approaches in the management of employee performance
  • Conduct effective performance management interviews
  • Distinguish between different approaches to the management of knowledge within the organization
  • Become more familiar with the types of employee health related problems in the healthcare workplace and management practices used to address these issues
  • Present research findings before an audience of experienced administrators and scientists

Learner Competencies:
(Competencies refer to the National Centre for Healthcare Leadership Competency Model).

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Communication Skills
  • Human Resources Management
  • Impact and Influence
  • Information Seeking
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Process Management and Organizational Design
  • Performance Management
  • Self-development
Evaluation:

Individual Paper – Workplace Assessment 20%
Individual Paper – Organizational Culture 30%
Group Presentation – Problem Solving Strategy
 30%
Group Case Analysis 20%

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HAD5770H

Course Number HAD5770H
Course Name Program Planning and Evaluation
Prerequisite n/a
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Winter (Block 2)
Instructors Val Rac / Aleksandra Stanimirovic
Description:
This course will provide an overview of the current status of program planning and evaluation. Its purpose is to give participants an understanding of the planning and evaluation process, to familiarize them with current program planning and evaluation techniques and to have them develop the skills to apply these techniques to the health and social services sector.
Objectives:
The objectives of the course include:

  • Reviewing the role of program planning and evaluation within broader management and policy processes, and discussing the characteristics and nature of these activities,
  • Discussing the different types of evaluation, including needs assessments, process and outcome evaluations, from the perspectives of different stakeholders, and
  • Developing the skills to apply planning and evaluation concepts to the health and social services sector.

A secondary objective of the course is to provide an opportunity for students to develop expertise in working in groups in an on-line environment.
Learner Competencies:

  • Accountability
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Change Leadership
  • Collaboration
  • Impact & Influence
  • Information Seeking
  • Initiative
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Process Management and Organizational Design

 
Evaluation:

Individual Assignment 1 – Logic Model 30%
Individual Assignment 2 – Evaluation Design 40%
Individual Assignment 3 – Knowledge Translation 30%

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HAD5775H

Course Number HAD5775H
Course Name Competition, Cooperation and Strategy in Health Care
Prerequisite None
Delivery Format Five 5-hour lectures
Semester Offered Winter (Block 5)
Instructors Adalsteinn Brown, David Klein
Description:
Current changes in the Canadian health system, including most prominently changes in the accountability requirements on health system organizations have renewed interest in strategic planning techniques more common to private sector organizations.  A number of strategic planning tools such as balanced scorecards and scenario planning are used in Canada, but there is varied understanding of how they can be adapted to a Canadian context that has different characteristics from the competitive marketplace that stimulated their uptake elsewhere and how these concepts affect institutions within the Canadian health system.This course endeavours to show how these tools can be used to understand and respond to critical issues in Canadian health system management.  Students taking this course explore a number of issues around the application of strategy and performance measurement frameworks to cases from the for-profit, government, and broader public sectors in health care.  This is a survey course that touches on a number of issues and examples in the management of health system organizations.Objectives:1.  To increase students’ ability to synthesize different pieces of information on competitive forces in the environment to support the development and evaluation of strategy2.  Enable students to apply industry and corporate strategic analysis and performance measurement techniques to address common health policy topics through organizing disparate sources of information on an organization’s competitive environment.
Learner Competencies:

  • Achievement Orientation
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Communication Skills
  • Financial Skills
  • Initiative
  • Innovative Thinking
  • Organizational Awareness
  • Performance Measurement
  • Self-Confidence
  • Strategic Orientation

 
Evaluation:

Assignment 1 – Competitive Forces Individual 30%
Assignment 2 – Strategy Frameworks Group 10%
Assignment 3 – Integrating Financial Information Group 10%
Group Presentation less than 30 minutes 30%
Active Participation 4% per session 20%

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HAD5777H

Course Number HAD5777H
Course Name Leading and Managing Change: Building Adaptive Capacity
Prerequisite None
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Winter (Block 5)
Instructors Tina Smith / Christine Shea
Description:
Continuous change is the norm for healthcare professionals. Whether it is in technological advances, process improvement, patient expectations or redefining roles and structures, change is prevalent in every aspect of every working day.  In this course, learners are presented with a leadership framework that focuses on building the capacity within themselves, their teams and their organizations to respond adaptively to the depth, pace and scope of change that is creating unprecedented conditions in healthcare systems today (S. Dalzo-Parks, 2005).Based on the work of Ronald Heifetz, the framework requires a paradigm shift from viewing leadership as a role or person to seeing it as an activity – the activity of making progress on adaptive challenges; and from viewing the organization as a static entity to seeing it as an organism capable of adapting to its environment. It requires those exercising leadership to understand the dynamics of social systems, and to trust in their own and others creativity and intuition (S. Dalzo-Parks, 2005). Finally, it addresses the ethical challenges associated with leadership as critical choices must take into account the diversity of perspectives surrounding the issue, and the moral courage and resilience required to challenge assumed values i.e. the notion of a good death.The second, in a two-part series on Leading and Managing Change, the overall goal of this course is to facilitate the building of adaptive capacity within healthcare systems by deepening the practice of developing both ourselves and others intentionally, mindfully and creatively. Through in-class discussion and small group consultation labs, participants will learn to mobilize constructive change through the development of a new and enhanced capacity to see, effectively analyze, and strategically intervene.
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Distinguish between adaptive and technical work and explain what each requires to make progress (C4 – Analysis)
  • Indicate the difference between the role of authority and the exercise of leadership (C6 – Evaluation)
  • Perceive that there is a productive range of tension to make progress on leadership challenges (C5- Synthesis)
  • Identify the sources of resistance and develop strategies to manage them (C4- Analysis)
  • Identify the polarities within adaptive work and generate a process for managing them (C5 – Synthesis)
  • Display an ability to continually reflect in action (A5 – Characterization by a Value or Value Complex)
  • Relate the practices to current healthcare challenges (C6 – Evaluate)
  • Value the need to thrive while leading adaptive change (A3 – Valuing)
Evaluation:

Case Outline Individual 20%
Reflection Questionnaires (4 X 15%) Individual 60%
Group Oral Presentation Group 20%

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HAD5800H

Course Number HAD5800H
Course Name Creating a Framework for Continuous Leadership Development
Prerequisite None
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Winter (Block 5)
Instructors Tina Smith / Christine Shea
Description: The overall objective of this course is to provide you with the conceptual tools and the practical skills to enable you to reflect, self-assess, and critically evaluate your continuous development as a healthcare leader.  Learning Portfolios (LPs) are used in a variety of professional education programs as a mechanism for demonstrating growth and mastery across a representative breadth of competencies for professional success. The process involves reflection on personal progress towards attaining competency mastery; feedback to stimulate a diversity of ideas and perspectives on current and future learning goals; and self-assessment of strengths and gaps in leadership development.  Leadership competency portfolios are an assessment tool that go beyond the graded assignments that have accompanied your competency development to date. Designed as a capstone project, the development of a Best Work Leadership Competency Portfolio will provide insights into how you learn, and how your accomplishments fit into a framework of continuous leadership development, so that completion of the program is seen as the beginning or waypoint on your leadership development journey not the end. Finally, a portfolio will provide you with tangible evidence of the attainment of the 26 NCHL Leadership competencies that can be shared with both current and future employers.
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Reflect on your leadership development across the program and have confidence in your ability to make sense of the experience as a coherent unified process. (A5 – Characterization by Value)
  • Identify and describe artifacts that demonstrate mastery of the 26 NCHL leadership competency levels at the targeted program levels in a Best Work Leadership Portfolio. (C6 – Evaluate)
  • Connect the depth, breadth and growth of your learning throughout the program to your future leadership development as you describe what, why and how you learn and the impact of that learning on your continuous leadership development. (C6 – Evaluate)
  • Assess current leadership competency strengths and gaps, identify future learning goals and methods to achieve them through the development of a Personal Learning Action Plan (C6- Evaluate)
  • Support colleagues in the development of their Best Work Portfolio and Learning Action Plans and generate diverse thinking through peer coaching, advising and feedback. (C5- Synthesis)
Evaluation:

Learning Artifact – Identification and Reflection Individual 10%
Peer Review of Partner’s Artifact Individual 10%
Learning Action Plan Individual (in-class) 10%
Book Club Participation Individual 10%
Book Club: Oral Presentation Group (in-class) 20%
Leadership Portfolio Individual 40%

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HAD6010Y

Course Number HAD6010Y
Course Name Field Practicum
Prerequisite HAD5010H – Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 1 AND
HAD5020H – Canada’s Health System and Health Policy – Part 2 AND
HAD5711H – Theory and Practice of Strategic Planning and Management in Health Services Organizations AND
HAD5713H – Introduction to Health Information Systems AND
HAD5721H – Strategic Management of Quality and Organizational Behaviour in Health Services Organizations AND
HAD5723H – Health Services Accounting AND
HAD5724H – Quantitative Methods for Health Services Management and Policy AND
HAD5761H – Decision Support Systems in Health Care
Delivery Format Modular
Semester Offered Summer (Block 3), Fall (Block 4), or Winter (Block 5)
Practicum Director Raju Bains
Description:
The overall objective of the practicum is to broaden the student’s appreciation for and skills in managing health services organizations by allowing students to evaluate, test and further develop their managerial/policy competencies in a practical setting. Practicum placements are specifically tailored to individual student needs given their past work experience and their specific learning and career objectives. While the student is expected to synthesize and apply the academic knowledge gained in the first two blocks of the Program, the focus of the practicum is on what the student identifies as his/her learning needs. The fieldwork is seen as incremental and developmental, being adaptable to the individual student’s needs, and building on their work experience.
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Identify their own learning needs and design a learning contract that will address those needs.
  • Complete the activities outlined in the learning contract, as negotiated with their preceptor and faculty advisor.
  • Optimize their learning opportunities by regular reflection, both through their learning journal and their discussions with their preceptor and faculty advisor.
  • Evaluate their professional strengths and development needs for successful career progression through self-reflection.
  • Organize and develop a business plan for a healthcare organization.
  • Understand the key components of successful career planning in a healthcare environment.
  • Further enhance their organization and delivery of oral presentations.
Evaluation:
Student evaluation of the practicum is based on four components. Each of these is graded on a pass/fail basis.

Learning Contract/Project Charter Preceptor and Practicum Director Sign-off
Interim Performance Evaluation Individual: preceptor graded
Final Evaluation Individual: preceptor graded
Journal Summary Paper Individual: Practicum Director review

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