Online Program

325737
Developing a Curriculum in Population Health Management: Challenges and Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Graduate Healthcare Administration Programs


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 1:10 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Summer McGee, PhD, CPH, Department of Health Sciences, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT
Population health is one of the top “buzzwords” in healthcare administration at the moment. Due to its novelty, its rapidly emerging nature, and its interdisciplinarity, the ability for faculty and academic programs to develop relevant and timely curricula in population health management is a huge challenge.

This presentation will describe one program director’s experience with developing a population health management concentration and associated courses in a Masters in Healthcare Administration program.  The use of a course in population health management as a “pilot” to assess student interest and demand for such a concentration will be explained and the results of this pilot described.  The challenges of defining a rapidly evolving subject area with few and competing definitions and no established consensus about content will be discussed along with pedagogical strategies for teaching in a rapidly emerging field.

Ultimately, based on this experience,  program faculty concluded that there was sufficient interest, demand, and need to develop a three-course concentration in population health management.  A successful curriculum in this area must include a wide range of interdisciplinary topics including health informatics, research methods, public health and community health, health economics, and financial management. Such a course of study will depend upon a faculty willing to work in an integrated, interdisciplinary approach and use of expertise from consultants and companies working at the forefront of population health management.

Learning Areas:

Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related education
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Define competing definitions of population health management in health care and health administration Describe the challenges of creating a curriculum for a “buzzword” topic Explain various strategies for teaching population health management courses at the graduate level

Keyword(s): Curricula, Management

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the director of the MS in Healthcare Administration at the University of New Haven. I oversaw the development of our new curriculum in population health management.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.