Healthcare Administration (HCA)

HCA 101:  Medical Terminology    (3 credits)  
This course offers students engagement and interaction with the dynamic language of Healthcare. Though comprehensive discussions and activities, students will have the opportunity to be immersed in the words used in Healthcare including healthcare industry terminology, healthcare delivery systems terminology and body systems – clinical terminology.
HCA 150:  Essentials in U.S. Healthcare    (3 credits)  
This course will give students an overview of the current U.S. healthcare delivery system and its associated costs. It will enable students to accurately define insurance terms and abbreviations and introduces students to the functions and procedures of health insurance programs. The course will familiarize students with requirements, rules, regulations, and laws pertaining to various insurance programs.
HCA 151:  Introduction to Medical Coding    (3 credits)  
This course introduces the concepts and methods of medical coding which provide the foundation for medical billing and reimbursement and the revenue cycle, in the Unites States healthcare system. Definition, correct use, and application of the International Classification of Diseases Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) will be identified and practiced. The relationship between coding and the Electronic Health Record as well as the protection of a patient's protected health information (PHI). Active involvement through readings, lectures, discussion, multimedia, learning activities/assignments is required of each student.
HCA 155:  Diagnosis Coding ICD-10-CM    (3 credits)  
Prerequisite: HCA 151 Introduction to Medical Coding. This course covers the principles and guidelines for using the ICD-10 CM code set and the concept of clinical vocabularies and classifications systems of diagnosis coding. Focused instruction for interpretation of health record documentation for proper assignment of diagnosis codes will be emphasized and put into practice as well as the understanding of ICD-10 CM diagnosis in relation to inpatient and outpatient settings.  
HCA 165:  Procedure Coding ICD-10-PCS    (3 credits)  
Prerequisite: HCA 155 Diagnosis Coding. This course covers the principles and guidelines for using the ICD-10-PCS code set and the concept of clinical vocabularies and classifications systems of procedure coding. Focused instruction for interpretation of health record documentation for proper assignment of procedure codes will be emphasized and put into practice as well as the understanding of ICD-10-PCS procedure in relation to inpatient and outpatient settings.  
HCA 180:  Medical Billing & Reimbursement    (3 credits)  
This course advances students into the world of billing and collections, as well as reimbursement processes such as audits and claims appeals. Emphasis is placed on understanding the varying payer sources that patients utilize, proper billing techniques, general claims management, and overall reimbursement life cycle.
HCA 184:  Medical Insurance Procedures    (3 credits)  
Originally intended to protect against large financial losses, health insurance in the United States has expanded over the last 80 years to take on a more profound social role. This course will give students an introduction to the concept and history of health insurance in the United States. It will explain basic health insurance principles and terminology, and discuss various systems of public and private insurance. A full range of health insurance issues will be discussed, including what is covered and how health insurance works for all segments of the population. The course concludes with a broad discussion on health insurance from the perspective of the consumers and healthcare providers, as well as comparisons with healthcare funding in other countries.
HCA 200:  Electronic Health Information Systems    (3 credits)  
This course provides an overview of information management and information technology for healthcare administrators. Attention is paid to the content and function of the electronic health record (EHR).
HCA 210:  Medical Law and Ethics    (3 credits)  
This course includes an overview of medical law and ethics including types of licenses, medical education, and professional conduct. It also includes orientation of the requirements regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the guidelines of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) which are mandatory in the medical field.
HCA 300:  Healthcare Administration in the 21st Century    (3 credits)  
This course examines global and U.S. management challenges of delivering cost effective quality health care in the 21st century. Student will analyze leadership theories and a range of factors that affect leadership and performance, determining best practices to meet the current demands for improved quality care, access for consumers and reducing the cost of health care. Students will explore the various aspects of healthcare management associated with planning, leading, motivating, organizing, and controlling to develop creative and innovative approaches to meet the changing demands for healthcare in the 21st century.
HCA 330:  Information Technology in Healthcare Administration    (3 credits)  
This course provides an overview of the integration of technology in the health care setting. Students will examine the processes used in the selection, application, and evaluation of computer software and hardware. Methods and processes to make informed business decisions related to the application and use of technology in health care it will be discussed.
HCA 340:  Strategic Human Resource Management for Healthcare Organizations    (3 credits)  
This course examines the complexity and multiple issues involved in human resource management in health care organizations. Students will examine the strategic role of human resource management in response to changes in the health care industry. In addition, issues such as recruitment, retention, performance management, organizational development, and employee relations are examined. Federal, state and professional regulatory requirements specific to health care are emphasized. Student will explore the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in a diverse healthcare environment.
HCA 360:  Healthcare Quality Management    (3 credits)  
HCA 380:  Policy and Law in Health Services    (3 credits)  
This course focuses on the complex legal and regulatory issues involving health care ranging from patient rights to corporate responsibilities. Students will learn about the formulation and implementation of health care policies and laws as they impact consumer care. Public and private health care regulatory agencies are examined as well as their impact on the operation of health care as a business. Legal issues ranging from professional malpractice to corporate wrongdoing are also discusses.
HCA 400:  Medical Ethics and Social Responsibility    (3 credits)  
This courses focuses on ethical issues facing health care in the 21st century. Students will utilize the tools necessary to resolve ethical dilemmas. Emphasis is placed on the interrelated nature of ethics, morality, legal responsibilities and social issues. By examining ethical issues and scenarios which will relate directly to their work environment, students will have a clearer sense of how their health care organization’s code of ethics along with their own ethical values related to operation decisions made on a daily basis.
HCA 420:  Healthcare Finance    (3 credits)  
This course provides an understanding of the general principles of accounting applied in the health care environment focusing on the delivery of cost effective quality care. It includes an overview of third party payers an additional sources of revenue for various health care entities. The fundamentals of financial planning, cost concepts, capital budgeting and management analysis are applied in the health care environment. Issues surrounding the development and management of budgets are also examined.
HCA 460:  Healthcare Marketing: Trends and Strategies    (3 credits)  
In this course students will have the opportunity to conduct market research by examining the traits, trends and needs of today’s health care consumer. Students will develop a marketing plan employing marketing principles and strategies in promoting health care services and programs to prospective consumers and identify a competitive advantage through value-enhanced services.
HCA 480:  Healthcare Administration Senior Seminar    (3 credits)  
The senior seminar proves the student an opportunity to apply all of the knowledge and principles gained from the healthcare administration program. Utilizing creative thinking and innovation the student will design a healthcare facility in a developing nation. Based upon research of the geographic area, identifying healthcare needs of that population available resources and potential funding, students will create a facility utilizing the knowledge learned throughout the entire Healthcare Administration program. The seminar may be accomplished independently or with a team of two women.
HCA 500:  Principles of Healthcare Service Excellence    (3 credits)  
This course discusses ways for healthcare management personnel to provide service in a competitive marketplace. Students will analyze theories, methods, and techniques with regard to strategy, staffing, and systems. Topics discussed will include areas such as building a customer service culture; training, motivating, and empowering staff; measuring service quality; managing service waits; and recovering from a service failure.
HCA 501:  Healthcare Law, Policy, and Ethics    (3 credits)  
This course addresses the legal issues that are most prevalent in the delivery of healthcare. Emphasis will be on the common issues that healthcare professionals encounter. The student will be introduced to various legal terms, policy and statutes and their relationship to the healthcare system process. Additionally, the student will be provided with foundational knowledge regarding healthcare law and ethics and the effect on healthcare policy.
HCA 503:  Strategic Planning in Healthcare    (3 credits)  
This course provides information on the importance and process of strategic planning in response to the rapid transformation in healthcare delivery. Students will examine and formulate strategies to assist in analyzing their organizational factors critical to strategic planning in order to achieve the organization’s mission.
HCA 515:  Organizational Behavior and Leadership in Healthcare    (3 credits)  
Healthcare organizations are ultimately driven by a mission of care and service. They have a distinct culture and approach to meeting the complex and ever-changing needs of the healthcare consumer. Students will examine the culture of healthcare and how it impacts the way organizations and the people working in health care interact. Healthcare organizations will be viewed from the system, community, organization, group, and individual levels. Students will examine and critique organizational behavior and apply theories, frameworks, and concepts to influence behavior in healthcare organizations.
HCA 602:  Managing Healthcare Delivery Systems    (3 credits)  
This course explores the complex organizational dynamics and structures that influence the interactions among the major components of the US. healthcare system. The course also provides opportunities to investigate current and emerging best practices to guide patient safety and excellence in service.
HCA 610:  Six Sigma Lean Methodology in Healthcare    (3 credits)  
As a member of a Six Sigma project team, students will learn how to lead and executive process-level improvement projects. They will develop process flow charts, collect and analyze data, develop hypotheses, and use basic statistical tools to determine optimum ways to reduce cost, improve processes and increase customer/client satisfaction. Where applicable, students will design simple experiments to validate theories. This hands-on class will focus on projects to eliminate waste and defects by applying lean and Six Sigma methodology. In-class case studies will focus on Healthcare issues.
HCA 611:  Continuous Improvement Strategies, Tools, and Techniques    (3 credits)  
To remain competitive, organizations must continuously seek new ways to be efficient and effective in their work processes. The tools and techniques taught in this course can be applied to any type of organization including for-profit organization, nonprofit organization or government agency. In this course, students will learn the following continuous improvement tools: Cause and Effect Diagrams, Flow Charts, Check Lists, Pareto Charts, SWOT Analysis, Brainstorming Techniques, the 5 Ys, Root Cause Analysis, and Corrective Action Techniques.
HCA 612:  Change Management and Project Management Integration    (3 credits)  
The objective of this course is to provide an understanding of the importance of integrating change management and project management activities. Typically, the study of project management focuses on the tasks and activities needed to accomplish a project: who, what, when and how. It provides project structure and addresses the actions, deliverables and outcomes. However, change management focuses on the people impacted by the change and ways to reduce resistance to change and to elicit behaviors to support change. Although change management is critical to the success of any change intuitive, it is often forgotten and not integrated into project management theory. This course stresses the importance of addressing the “people” aspect of a change project.
HCA 613:  Economics and Finance in Healthcare    (3 credits)  
his course will provide an overview of the key factors affecting the economic and financial management of healthcare organizations in today’s environment and provide the knowledge necessary for health service managers to apply financial management theory and principles to help make decisions to promote the financial well-being of the organization.
HCA 620:  Health Data Management    (3 credits)  
This course introduces data management and database technologies, including relational database systems and the structured query language (SQL). In addition, data warehousing and more analytic databases also are introduced, along with online analytic processing (OLAP) tools to support decision making. Data quality issues, emerging cloud databases and other special topics will round out the coverage. Finally, the course offers a brief introduction to data mining techniques.
HCA 621:  Legal and Regulatory Issues in Health Information Management    (3 credits)  
This course is an introduction to regulatory policies, based on Federal and State Health laws including; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Meaningful Use and Medicare/Medicaid which influence the design and security requirements for an Electronic Health Record (EHR). This course examines ethical principles related to the development, implementation and usage of EHRs such as; patient autonomy, beneficence/ non-maleficence, privacy, confidentiality and justice. Case studies presenting unauthorized disclosure of protected health information will be discussed. Risk analysis, data breach analysis and notification requirements will conclude the course.
HCA 622:  Health Informatics Systems & Data Infrastructure    (3 credits)  
This course discusses the system analysis lifecycle; planning, analysis, design, implementation and evaluation of healthcare software. Database technologies, programming languages (SQL, Java) and how they are used to structure the software will be explored. Development of network principles, design methods as well as system integration tools to exchange data in a secure manner are reviewed. Key concepts of business continuity, technical security, data mining, maintenance, virtual network and disaster recovery will complete the course.
HCA 623:  Health Informatics System Application    (3 credits)  
This course provides students with an understanding of how health informatics systems are implemented and used by clinicians to improve the quality and safety of patient centered care. Methods of how HIM Systems are used to exchange data between a variety of Healthcare organizations will be reviewed. Students will learn about Health Information Exchange (HIE), Population Health, disease mapping, analytics and healthcare trends.
HCA 624:  AI-Powered Healthcare Admin istration Strategies    (3 credits)  
This graduate-level course explores the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare administration, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to leverage AI-driven strategies for operational efficiency, decision-making, and patient care improvement. Topics include AI applications in healthcare management, predictive analytics, workflow automation, ethical considerations, regulatory compliance, and data security. Through case studies and real-world applications, students will analyze how AI enhances administrative processes, optimizes resource allocation, and supports strategic planning in healthcare organizations. By the end of the course, students will be prepared to integrate AI solutions to drive innocation and improve outcomes in healthcare administration.
HCA 630:  Qualifying Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt in HCM Comprehensive Exam    (0 credits)  
The BPU Lean/Six Sigma Lean Green Belt Certification in Health Care requires the student to take and pass, according to a predetermined criterion, a qualifying comprehensive examination. The exam content is aligned with the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt methodology that focuses on improving work performance by systematically removing waste and reducing variation that is embedded within the MS in Organization Excellence program.
HCA 632:  Patient Safety and Quality Improvement    (3 credits)  
Healthcare quality and patient safety are core responsibilities of healthcare leaders within their organizations. This course will offer an in-depth investigation of best practices that promote patient, provider, and community safety in healthcare settings. Students will examine current and emerging strategies to become patient safety leaders and advocates. The course will equip students to use data, expert, and regulatory guidance, and community feedback mechanisms to make informed decisions around continuous quality improvement.
HCA 633:  Risk Management and Health Policy    (3 credits)  
Managing risk is essential for healthcare organizations to fulfill their mission to serve their patients and communities. There are many threats to risk management in our rapidly evolving healthcare system. This course equips students as current and emerging healtcare leaders to identify, analyze, mitigate, and prevent risks in healthcare organizations and the communities they serve. Students will learn strategies to advance healthcare policies in the workplace and beyond that promote compliance excellence, reduce and prevent risks, and improve health equity.
HCA 634:  Data Analytics & Project Manage ment in Healthcare Quality and Sfty    (3 credits)  
This course provides students with a foundation in the strategic use of health data analytics and informatics systems by clinicians and leaders to improve the quality and safety of patient-centered care. This course emphasizes the importance of integrating interdisciplinary collaborations, change management, and project management activities into performance action plans. Students will investigate strategies and resources to integrate social determinants of health into quality and safety improvement planning.