According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow 17 percent from 2014 to 2024, significantly faster than the national average for all occupations. This makes a healthcare MBA from George Washington University particularly vital as the gateway to this recent growth.
Outside of the core requirements of the program, electives can be one of the most valuable forms of guidance when deciding where you eventually go with your degree. While a healthcare MBA can prepare you broadly for the world of executive healthcare systems management, by identifying the areas that hold the most interest to you, you can find the focus that will best leverage your skills into professional development. Here are a few key electives that could send you on your path towards healthcare leadership excellence:
1. Healthcare Quality Analysis
The business of healthcare isn't particularly dissimilar to any other business: Namely, healthcare systems have an obligation to deliver a high-quality product or service to customers. This is where healthcare quality analysis – the application of measurement, data management, and statistical analysis principles to assure ongoing quality improvement and address patient safety challenges – comes in.
Running ongoing quality checks is a key component of an esteemed healthcare enterprise. By taking this elective, you will explore how healthcare quality analysts, particularly those armed with an MBA, are in high demand and can help build out ongoing quality assessment infrastructure within systems. Students are taught the importance and design of effective quality control measures and how to select the appropriate analysis tools.
2. Clinical Research and Medicine Development
Not all roles within healthcare are designed around working with patients directly. By taking electives related to clinical research – either focusing on administration, practice or translating findings to direct care – you can play a part in developing the treatments and medications of the future. Focusing on the broader implications of medical research, clinical research associates can make facilities more efficient, while remaining committed to pursuing profitability pathways through savvy business leadership.
3. Healthcare Policy and Compliance
Healthcare operates at the crucial nexus of innovation and regulation. Given that medical science is always advancing, regulators are in a constant struggle with providers over what kinds of medical services are in the best interest of the public. Healthcare leaders and system managers need to stay abreast of any and all regulatory changes, particularly those that could put the system at risk of private litigation or government sanctions. By opting for an elective on healthcare policy and compliance measures, you can learn critical regulatory affairs compliance strategies and guidelines. This includes the Pre and post-marketing compliance of medical products, as well as how to manage oversight, labeling, advertising, and use of medical products and services.
Sources:
The George Washington University, Health Care Quality (HCQ)
The George Washington University, Clinical Research Administration (CRA)
The George Washington University, Professional Studies Health Care Corporate Compliance (PSHC)
BLSs.gov, "Medical and Health Services Managers"