Syllabus
Graduate Programs in Public Health
GPH 725 Public Health Financial Management – Fall 2017
Credits - 3
Description
Course Description
This course is designed to provide public health and health care professionals with the knowledge and understanding of financial management needed to be successful in their daily activities and in dealing with others regarding financial issues. The course provides professionals with a basic level of financial management principles including: understanding financial statements and ratios, using basic tools of financial analysis, understanding public sector budgeting processes, and using financial analysis to help with good public health and health care decision making.
The overall goal of this course is to help public health and health care professionals achieve the core competencies of financial management and to be able to use those skills in making good management decisions.
Course Format
This course is facilitated through Blackboard, UNE’s online learning management system. The course will be delivered in 8 weekly online modules, with each module beginning on Wednesday at 12:01 am ET and ending the following Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, except for the last week (Week 8), which will begin on Wednesday and end on Sunday. Note all times are Eastern Time. Students will watch online lectures produced by the course instructor and field experts, engage in readings and other media provided by instructors, and will learn from one another through the discussion board and written assignments. Each section of this course will be facilitated by an instructor with significant professional and academic expertise in the area of study. Individual meetings with the course instructor will be up to the student to schedule.
Materials
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
| Program Competencies | Course Outcomes | Weekly Outcomes |
| Compare the organization, structure and function of health care, public health and regulatory systems across national and international settings | Evaluate the roles and responsibilities of healthcare organizations relative to their obligations to healthcare policy, financial responsibility and the goals set out in their mission statements. |
Analyze the relationship between fraud & abuse, regulations to prevent fraud & abuse, and the impact of both on the cost of healthcare. Analyze the purpose and function of meaningful use regulations. Develop organizational snapshot Discuss the ethical dimensions of finance and profit as they relate to healthcare organizations. |
| Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management | Analyze the effect of policy on financial management using basic financial and resource management principles. |
Analyze the impact of revenue reimbursement Employ basic financial terminology and concepts. |
| Select methods to evaluate public health programs | Create and deploy a heuristic for evaluating healthcare organizations. |
Develop a heuristic for standardizing analysis of the financial health of healthcare organizations. Evaluate the financial viability, and creditworthiness, of an organization. |
| Apply principles of leadership, governance and management, which include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration and guiding decision making |
Create a vision for improving the financial outlook of a failing rural healthcare organization. Communicate an accurate evaluation of the financial situation of a failing rural healthcare organization. |
Apply understanding of balancing finances with outcomes to propose an intervention for improving an organization’s financial viability. Communicate an accurate analysis of the financial situations at two failing rural healthcare organizations to the CEO of UNM. |
| Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges | Communicate to affected stakeholders a plan for improving the financial outlook of an organization. | Present a proposal for improving the financial situation of two failing rural healthcare organizations, as well as suggestions for communicating the proposal to the organizations themselves. |
| Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels | Analyze the ramifications of the rural healthcare situation upon marginalized populations. |
Discuss the equitable allocation of health services, focusing on rural health care, the organizations serving it and the demographics receiving it. Evaluate the cultural awareness of two failing rural healthcare organizations. |
Assignments
Final Project Document
Full details can be found on the Final Project Document.
For the final project in this course, you will assume the role of the CFO at the University of New Mexico Health Systems (an arm of the UNM Health Sciences Center). UNMHS seeks to fulfill the UNMHS mission of “[improving] health and health care to the populations [it serves] with community-wide solutions” by merging with, and saving, a failing rural health organization. You have been assigned the task of providing analyses of two such failing rural healthcare organizations to the UNMHS CEOs.
The goal: Give the CEOs an accurate assessment of the situation so that they can make an informed decision on which of the organizations to merge with.
This is a large project, and it is comprised of several steps. You will submit each step individually, as laid out below, and the grade you receive for each part should inform revisions leading up to your final presentation, when all the parts will be graded again as a whole.
Step 1: Merger Heuristic – Due Module 1
Develop a heuristic for evaluating the organizations against one another. Your heuristic will be a list of criteria used to guide and standardize the process of your analysis.
Step 2: Organizational Snapshots – Due Week 2
Research and distill succinct, detailed descriptions of the organizations you’ve chosen for this assignment.
Step 3: Financial Report – Due Week 4
Explain the line items and then analyze them for both rural organizations.
Step 4: Creditworthiness Report – Due Week 5
Explain the value of understanding the creditworthiness of the rural organizations, and then perform a creditworthiness evaluation of them.
Step 5: Presentation – Due Week 7
Present your findings – from your financial and creditworthiness reports and anything notable resulting from the application of your heuristic – to the CEOs at UNMHS.
Discussions
Weekly discussion forums are an essential part of the online course experience. Discussion prompts build on readings, lectures and course content, and allow students to contribute to the learning experience through collaboration with the instructor and peers.
Initial discussion postings to the class website must be submitted by Sunday at 11:59 pm. These postings will generally be a response to a question and will require that you have viewed the lecture and done the reading. You may also have to do some additional research for these postings. Full credit will be given only to those who have developed thoughtful responses that demonstrate they have viewed the lecture and understand the topic. You will be expected to contribute original thought and insight.
Follow-up postings/responses must be completed by Wednesday at 11:59 pm of the week the question is assigned. These postings are intended to be a response to one of your classmates and are essential for exchanging ideas and learning from each other. For full credit, students must develop a thoughtful response, bringing something new to the discussion. Posts that ask questions, extend the breadth of the discussion, or use additional information from the literature or readings to argue a point are encouraged. Short responses that do not add to the discussion will not receive full credit. Students are welcome to respond to more than one classmate, but emphasis should be placed on quality (not quantity) of posts. Note: All assignments/discussions for Week 8 should be posted by Sunday at 11:59 pm.
Grading Policy
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Grade Breakdown
| Assignments | Points |
|---|---|
| 7 Discussions, 3 Points Each | 21 |
| Heuristic | 7 |
| Organizational Snapshots | 7 |
| Basic Financials Quiz | 5 |
| Financial Report | 20 |
| Creditworthiness Report | 20 |
| Presentation | 20 |
| Total | 100 |
Grade Scale
| Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
| A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
| A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
| B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
| B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
| B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
| C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
| C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
| C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
| D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
| F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
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: | Aug 30 – Sep 6 |
| Week 2: | Sep 6 – Sept. 13 |
| Week 3: | Sep 13 – Sep 20 |
| Week 4: | Sep 20 – Sep 27 |
| Week 5: | Sep 27 – Oct 4 |
| Week 6: | Oct 4 – Oct 11 |
| Week 7: | Oct 121- Oct 18 |
| Week 8: | Oct 18 – Oct 22 (Sunday) |
Weekly Schedule:
Week 1 – Understanding Financial Management
Readings and Videos:
- Module 1 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapters 1 and 2
- Other readings as assigned
Assignments
- Discussion: Public Service Organizations and Profits
- Assignment: Merger Heuristic
Week 2 – Strategic Financial Planning
Readings and videos:
- Module 2 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapters 3 and 4
Assignments
- Discussion: Revenue Cycle and Reimbursement
- Assignment: Organizational Snapshots
Week 3 – Revenue Cycle Management
Readings and videos:
- Module 3 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapters 5 and 6
- External Readings as Assigned
Assignments
- Discussion: Meaningful Use Regulations
- Quiz: Basic Financial Principles
Week 4 – Financial Report
Readings and videos:
- Module 4 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapters 7 and 8
- External Readings as Assigned
Assignments
- Discussions: Medicare and Medicaid Fraud
- Assignment: Financial Report
Week 5 – Information Systems
Readings and videos:
- Module 5 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapters 9 and 10
- External resources as listed
Lectures and Spreadsheet:
- Financial Ratios Lecture
- Financial Reports Lecture
- Indirect Allocation (.XLS)
Assignments:
- Discussion: Interventions for Financial Improvement
- Assignment: Creditworthiness Report
Week 6 – Cost Structure
Readings and Videos:
- Module 6 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapter 11
Assignments
- Discussion: The State of Rural Healthcare
Week 7 – Organization’s Cost Structure
Readings and Videos:
- Module 7 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapters 7 through 11 (Reference once more)
Assignment:
- Final Presentation
Week 8 – Future of Healthcare Finance
Readings and videos:
- Module 8 Lecture
- Textbook: Berger Chapter 12
- External Resources Listed
Assignment
- Discussion: Addressing Cultural Inequities in Healthcare
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:
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.
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:
- Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
- Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
- Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
- Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
- 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 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:
- Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
- Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
- Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
- Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
- 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.