Master of Public Health

Health Services Concentration

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Health Services Concentration

Focuses on organizational characteristics of health care delivery systems, providers, and economic forces that shape consumer and provider behavior

The Health Services Concentration seeks to develop scientists experienced in the use of state of the art experimental and non-experimental research methods for the purpose of advancing fundamental knowledge of issues central to the improvement of population health by focusing on organizational characteristics of health care delivery systems, providers, and economic forces that shape consumer and provider behavior, as well as the policy environment in which these relationships exist.

The concentration explicitly seeks to train scientists to optimally contribute as part of multidisciplinary teams in academic posts, government agencies at the state, national and international levels, and in research arms of private sectors of health services delivery organizations. The concentration explicitly seeks to develop scientists skilled in the communication of scientific knowledge, equipped with leadership skills for the purpose of improving services and influencing health policy at the organizational, state, national, and international levels such that those policies lead to more equitable use of resources thus improving health outcomes. The competency-based curriculum provides students with a strong analytic foundation and general health services research orientation.

Studying the Impact of Medicaid Expansion

With their study that found fewer patients with end-stage kidney disease died within a year of starting dialysis in states that expanded Medicaid coverage, researchers in the School of Public Health are the first to find an association between Medicaid expansion under the ACA, and lower death rates in adults.

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Program Snapshot

Competencies

MPH candidates in this concentration will develop core competencies prior to graduation. Required skills and topics include:

  • Organize and present information drawn from multiple sources that characterize the economic, political and financial forces that shape the way in which the health care system interacts.
  • Critically evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of evidence and research regarding the performance of components of the health care system.
  • Design a primary data gathering instrument/protocol.
  • Collect primary data to address a public health issue.
  • Evaluate the strengths and limitations of primary data collection methods.
  • Develop a performance measure.
  • Develop a hypothetical run chart to assess whether an intervention to improve performance was successful.
  • Develop a pay-for-performance scheme to enhance a quality improvement effort.

Information for students who matriculated in Fall 2018 or Fall 2019

Courses

Select one of the following primary data gathering courses

Primary data gathering courses only for those following the quantitative analytic core course sequence (PHP2507/2508 or PHP2510/2511)

Select one of the following:

  • PHP2040, Survey Research Methods
  • PHP2060, Qualitative Research Methods

Primary data gathering courses for those following the qualitative analytic core course sequence (PHP2506/PHP2060/PHP2061):

Students following the qualitative analytic sequence must take PHP2061, Qualitative Analysis in Public Health Research, and it will count as the primary data gathering course.

Complete the following health systems course

  • PHP2400, The U.S. Health Care System: Case Studies in Financing, Delivery, Regulation and Public Health (Spring)

Complete the following quality course

  • PHP2450, Measuring and Improving the Quality of Health Care (Fall)

Health Services methods design course

 Select one of the following:

  • PHP2030, Clinical Trials Methods
  • PHP2415, Introduction to Evidence-based Medicine
  • PHP2465A, Intro to Health Decision Analysis

Health services methods analysis course

Select one of the following:

  • PHP1480, Intro to PH Economics
  • PHP1560/2560, Statistical Programming with R
  • PHP2015, Foundations in Spatial Analysis in Public Health
  • PHP2061, Qualitative Analysis in Public Health Research (If not counted for the Primary Data Gathering requirement)
  • PHP2260, Applied Epidemiologic Analysis Using SAS
  • PHP2410E, Medicare:  A Data-Based Policy Examination
  • PHP2440, Introduction to Pharmacoepidemiology
  • PHP2455A, Health Services Research Methods I
  • SOC2612, Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis for the Social Sciences (every other year-next taught in Spring 2024)
  • SOC2960G, Spatial Data Analysis Techniques in the Social Sciences

Thesis

All in-person students are required to complete a thesis. Students work with faculty advisors to design a thesis project appropriate to their interests and career path in health services.

Faculty

Health Services Concentration Lead