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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Connie Evashwick, ScD¹, Janice Frates, PhD¹, and Daniel Fahey, PhD². (1) Health Care Administration Program, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Etec 101, Long Beach, CA 90840, 562-985-5881, cevashwi@slu.edu, (2) Health Services Administration, Califorani State University San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92347

This paper examines the education that healthcare managers receive about chronic illness and suggests changes that will ultimately enhance managers' ability to shape healthcare delivery systems to optimize chronic care. Chronic conditions dominate the United States, reflected in leading causes of death, leading causes of hospital admissions, and leading causes of morbidity, particularly among the older population. However, healthcare executives, who are ultimately responsible for shaping the healthcare delivery system to be responsive to patients' needs, lack education about chronic illness and how the delivery system should be tailored to maximize resource utilization and patient and provider satisfaction with the delivery of chronic care. This paper examines the “core competencies” recommended by three national healthcare management education organizations and the extent to which they include issues pertaining to chronic care. It then analyzes the content in gerontology, disability, and long-term care of 106 undergraduate and graduate programs recognized by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) and/or accredited by the Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). Programs are categorized by degree and offerings in long-term care as courses, certificate, minor or degree. Best practice syllabi are identified as well as a rationale for including chronic care information in core courses for all healthcare administration students based on the dominance of chronicity in illness prevalence, healthcare spending, and resource utilization. The paper concludes that universities training healthcare administration students for careers in management or policy should incorporate greater emphasis on chronic care into the curriculum.

Learning Objectives: As a result of this session, audience members will be able to

• Articulate the core competencies expected of healthcare managers and policy-makers by the three leading national healthcare management education organizations (AUPHA, CAHME, NCHL), noting the emphasis placed on understanding of chronic care
• Cite evidence of the dominance of chronic care in measurers pertaining to healthcare delivery system utilization, expenditures, and satisfaction
• Juxtapose the need for healthcare managers and policy-makers to understand chronic care with current educational curricula and courses
• Recommend changes for educational programs to increase chronic care content in undergraduate and graduate education

Keywords: Long-Term Care, Health Care Delivery

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation