Syllabus

Schedule

Course Schedule:

Each week opens on Wednesday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. Each week closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday. 

Week 1:	Sept. 2 – Sept. 9
Week 2:	Sept. 9 – Sept. 16
Week 3:	Sept. 16 – Sept. 23
Week 4:	Sept. 23 – Sept. 30
Week 5:	Sept. 30 – Oct. 7
Week 6:	Oct. 7 – Oct. 14
Week 7:	Oct. 14 – Oct. 21
Week 8:	Oct. 21 – Oct. 25 (Sunday)

Weekly Schedule:

Week 1: Sept 2 – Sept 9
Course Overview; Brief Introduction to the World of Public Health, Health Care Finance, and the Budget Process

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 1, 2, 15 of Health Care Finance

Lecture:

• Introduction to the Budgeting Process

Forum Question: Week One- Final project. You should post a short description of the organization and department you will be creating the budget for. Create or include a mission statement of the department or organization. The post should also include a discussion of the customer, deliverables, possible revenue streams, and grant opportunities available to this department. You are welcome to model your department after a real organization, however you should not use information that would be considered confidential or proprietary including logos without the permission of the organization. You should include a copy of the excel budget sheet you intend to use to create the budget. Your work should be properly formatted in AMA style. 

Forum Question Response: Respond to at least two of your cohort’s posts, you may make suggestions for projects or grants that would fit into the department they are choosing. Your response may also be providing assistance and comments about the excel spreadsheets that will be used. Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm.

 

Week 2: Sept 9 – Sept 16
Staffing, Contracting, Outsourcing, and the Procurement Process

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 9,13,21 of Health Care Finance
• Yallof J, Morgan C. Beyond performance standards: How to get the most from your outsourcing relationship. Benefits Quarterly. 2003(3):17-22.
• Optional: Rand Health. Getting to outcomes 2004: Promoting accountability through methods and tools for planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Lecture:

• Staffing Models Lecture
• Staffing Model (XLS)

Forum Question: Analyze a recent and timely magazine or newspaper article, Ted talk, YouTube video, or other open sourced information that discusses the public health Outsourcing. Using the information that you have learned this week from your readings, lectures, and written assignments. Discuss what you believe to be the barriers and issues that are raised because of outsourcing. Please keep your answers within the 200 word limit. Due Sunday at 11:59 pm.

Forum Question Response: Respond to at least two of your cohort’s posts, add your thoughts about the relevance of the article or media chosen and justify with referenced sources. When responding to your peer’s comments, make sure that your feedback has substance, is in AMA format, and uses proper references Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm.

 

Week 3: Sept 16 – Sept 23
Planning, Evaluating, and Understanding Revenue Streams

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 3, 4,5,6,20 of Health Care Finance
• Hunter P, Pond K, Jagals P, Cameron J. An assessment of the costs and benefits of interventions aimed at improving rural community water supplies in developed countries. Science of the Total Environment. 407 (2009):3681-3685.

Lectures and Spreadsheet:

• Revenue Expenses and Liabilities Lecture

Forum Question: Analyze a recent and timely magazine or newspaper article, Ted talk, YouTube video, or other open sourced information that discusses Revenue Streams and Planning. Using the information that you have learned this week from your readings, lectures, and written assignments. Discuss if you believe the revenue streams mentioned in your article are consistent with the needs of the customers in that organization. Please keep your answers within the 200 word limit. Due Sunday at 11:59 pm

Forum Question Response: Respond to at least two of your cohort’s posts, add your thoughts about the relevance of the article or media chosen and justify with referenced sources. When responding to your peer’s comments, make sure that your feedback has substance, is in AMA format, and uses proper references Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm

Written Assignment 1: Staffing Model with ERE worksheet. Build a staffing model for your department. Consider your revenue streams, grant application, possible contracts, and deliverables. Create and excel spreadsheet that includes a Employee Related Expenses (ERE) sheet and staffing required for your department. This will be included as one sheet of your budget. Due Wednesday at 11:59 PM.

 

Week 4: Sept 23 – Sept 30
Financial Administration, Assets, Liabilities, and Money Management

Reading:

• Baker: Chapters 7,8, 22, 19 of Health Care Finance
• Stulz R. Six ways companies mismanage risk. Harvard Business Review. March 2009:86-94.
• Honore P, Lesneski C, Zelman W. Introducing a set of public health financial indicators. APHA Learning Institute, 2007.

Lecture:

• There is no lecture this week.

Forum Question: There are a number of financial ratios used in health care. Apply one financial ratio of your own design and one financial ratio presented in the reading or in other literature that would help to better evaluate your proposal. Include references as appropriate. You might get some ideas by linking concepts from the Honore presentations with the data presented on the website: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-by-county. Due Sunday at 11:59 pm.

Forum Question Response: Your responses should assess the appropriateness of the ratio used. In addition, you should suggest two additional ratios which would help them determine the value of their project. Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm.

 

Week 5: Sept 30 – Oct 7
Strategic Management

Readings:

• Baker: Chapters 10, 11, 12,14, 17,18 of Health Care Finance
• Knowledge@Wharton. What’s A Human Life Worth in Dollars and Cents? Forbes.com.
  May 2, 2008. Accessed August 24, 2012: http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/02/health-care-reform-ent-law- cx_kw_0501whartonlifeworth.html

Lectures and Spreadsheet:

• Financial Ratios Lecture
• Financial Reports Lecture
• Indirect Allocation (.XLS)

Forum Question: There are a number of financial ratios used in health care. Apply one financial ratio of your own design and one financial ratio presented in the reading or in other literature that would help to better evaluate your proposal. Include references as appropriate. Due Sunday by 11:59 pm.

Forum Question Response: Your responses should assess the appropriateness of the ratio used. In addition, you should suggest two additional ratios which would help them determine the value of their project. Due Wednesday by 11:59 pm.

Written Assignment 2: Completed Grant Application and Justifications. You should locate and complete the grant application for a grant for your organization. Please download the grant and attach it to your work. Please answer these questions about the grant application:

• What essential health services does this grant allow your department to provide
• What significance does this grant have on the community you serve?
• What are the financial implications of this grant on your overall budget? Address the major components of your budget this grant effects, i.e.: personnel or capital expenditures.

Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm.

 

Week 6: Oct 7 – Oct 14
Capital Budgets

Readings:

• Baker; Chapter 16

Lecture and Spreadsheet:

• Capital Budgets Lecture
• Capital Budget (.XLS)

Forum Question: Analyze a recent and timely magazine or newspaper article, Ted talk, YouTube video, or other open sourced information that discusses any public health financial issue you have identified for your chosen department. Introduce it to the class and share how your chosen media addressed the issue. Using the information you have learned this week from your readings, lectures, and written assignments. Please keep your answers within the 200 word limit. Due Sunday at 11:59 pm.

Forum Question Response: Respond to at least two of your cohort’s posts, add your thoughts about the relevance of the article or media chosen and justify with referenced sources. When responding to your peer’s comments, make sure that your feedback has substance, is in AMA format, and uses proper references Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm.

Written Assignment 3: Completed Capital Expenditures Worksheet. Based on the information you have gathered over the last 5 weeks for your chosen department. Create a capital expenditure worksheet that provides cost and justification for the expense. Keep in mind the revenue stream that will fund the expenditure and the possible legal and ethical implications of your expenditures. Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm.

 

Week 7: Oct 14 – Oct 21
Strategic Planning – Putting It all together

Reading:

• Baker: Chapter 23, 24, 25, 26, of Health Care Finance
• Honore P, Lesneski C, Zelman W. Strategic use of financial indicators: Performance measurement and strategy. APHA Learning Institute, 2007.
• Kaissi A,Begun J. Strategic planning processes and hospital financial performance. Journal of Healthcare Management. 2008;53(3):197-209. http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-by-county

Lecture:

• Strategic Planning Lecture

Forum Question: Analyze a recent and timely magazine or newspaper article, Ted talk, YouTube video, or other open sourced information that discusses any public health topic of your choosing. Using the information that you have learned this week from your readings, lectures, and written assignments post an analysis of this article or media used. Please keep your answers within the 200 word limit. Due Sunday at 11:59 pm.

Forum Question Response: Respond to at least two of your cohort’s posts, add your thoughts about the relevance of the article or media chosen and justify with referenced sources. When responding to your peer’s comments, make sure that your feedback has substance, is in AMA format, and uses proper references. Due Wednesday at 11:59 pm.

Written Assignment 4: Final Budget. Complete and submit your final budget worksheet. Ensure that it includes your Staffing and Ere Model information and your Capital expenditure information. Show the grant you applied for as a revenue stream. You should include a cover sheet and an executive summary to your budget that describes your department, the deliverables that you expect to complete, metrics for success, and an explanation of your budget numbers. Due Sunday at 11:59 pm.

 

Week 8: Oct. 21 – Oct. 25 (Sunday)
Budget Approvals, Accounting and Final Exam

Readings and Lecture:

• There are no readings or lectures this week.

Final Exam. The final exam contains 20 questions drawn from readings from the textbook.

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
• Public Health Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/public-health/
• Library Tutorial: Find an article
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

Information Technology Services (ITS)

• ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.

Attendance Policy

Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.

Late Policy

Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.