Course Overview

BUS-421: Business and Management Strategies in Healthcare (3 Credits)
Program(s): CMR

COURSE CONSULTANTS

THIRD AND FOURTH EDITIONS:

Philip P. Gerbino, PharmD
President, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tom McWhinnie, MHA, MAT
Deputy Director, CED
Center for Education and Development, VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
Seattle, Washington

Graduate Supplement
BUS-5421
To earn graduate-level credit, BUS-421 and an additional supplement must be successfully completed.

Click here for more information about graduate-level credit.

Who Should Take This Course:
• Managers who interact with healthcare administrators, including quality assurance managers, disease management specialists, and chief medical officers, and who would benefit from a knowledge of management strategies that are being applied within healthcare organizations today.

• Those who interact with physicians and other healthcare professionals who have a need to learn about the business aspects of today’s healthcare environment.

Career Applications/Benefits:
The American healthcare industry continues to evolve toward a business-oriented, consumer-driven style of providing medical care. The demands of an increasingly competitive marketplace are focusing attention on the business aspect of healthcare. As the needs of the healthcare industry have shifted, pharmaceutical managers have adapted to the opportunities offered within the new healthcare environment. The marketing and selling of pharmaceuticals has changed, with less emphasis on product features and benefits and more emphasis on a package of value-added services provided by the pharmaceutical company. This course will benefit managers, healthcare representatives, and others who work for pharmaceutical companies by making them aware of the issues influencing drug purchasing and utilization. Information provided in this course will help individuals to be effective in selling pharmaceuticals, because they will be able to consider management of the provider’s medical practice from both a business and a healthcare perspective. In addition, as the lines of authority and levels of management begin to change within healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations, many individuals will be asked to take on new responsibilities and functions within their specific companies.

Course Description:
This course provides an overview of the management strategies that are being applied throughout the healthcare industry. It describes how the healthcare industry came to adopt many of the management strategies employed in business to control costs and improve quality. The course also discusses many of the challenges currently facing managed care organizations that may benefit from a strategic management approach. In addition, the course describes how management strategies impact the ability of company representatives to gain access to decision makers and how to appeal to their interests.

Related Courses:

• Business Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry
• The Evolving Healthcare Community
• The Formulary Process—Managing the Pharmacy Benefit
• The Managed Healthcare Market
• The Pharmaceutical Industry
• Principles of Pharmaceutical Management

Chapter Content:
Chapter 1: The Evolution of Business in Healthcare
	Crisis in Healthcare Costs and Quality Introduction of Managed Care Current Issues in Managing Healthcare
Chapter 2: Current Management Strategies
	Reengineering and Consolidation Integrated Delivery Systems, Alliances and Outsourcing Quality Improvement Strategies Broadening the Organization
Chapter 3: Role of the Healthcare Representative
	Responding to Streamlining Strategies Selling in a Quality-Conscious Environment Adjusting Selling Strategies

Learning Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to discuss the management restructuring and change of focus toward business that have occurred in the healthcare industry; describe the business and management strategies and theories being applied in the healthcare industry today; and discuss the reorganization of the pharmaceutical industry and its effect on healthcare representatives, including new roles as team members and consultants to healthcare providers.