Concentration
Health Policy and Management
Request Information
Learn more about the Health Policy and Management concentration.
What is Health Policy and Management?
Health administrators manage an array of human, capital, and material resources and provide leadership within a guiding framework of established organizational goals to achieve positive outcomes related to health. Learn the technical and interpersonal skills you need to lead population-based program management through our Health Policy and Management (HPM) concentration.
The HPM program prepares graduates to manage and coordinate resources in the complex and political arena of public health and healthcare, with new challenges frequently arising. The aspiring health administrator develops expansive skills in team leadership, financial management, human resources management, communications, program planning and administration, and the facilitation of change.
Apply NowPathways in Public Health: Health Policy and Management
Is health policy and management your calling?
Our HPM concentration is a great option for strategic problem-solvers, system-level thinkers, and leaders who are:
- Organized and efficient
- Detail-oriented
- Skilled in setting objectives and coordinating activities to achieve goals
- Comfortable with the dynamics of a changing field
- Capable of facilitating the work performance of others
Health Policy and Management students should have a background in the following undergraduate courses:
- Business
- Statistics
Graduates often work in a range of roles and organizations, including:
- Federal, state, and local public health or government agencies
- Voluntary health agencies
- Social services organizations
- Healthcare facilities
Concentration Competencies
As an HPM student in the online Master of Public Health program, you will cultivate and acquire the values, knowledge, and skills associated with the practice of health administration. Our University of Tennessee, Knoxville Health Policy and Management students learn to:
- Appreciate and understand the policy-making process to improve population health.
- Apply the principles of evidence-based public health to drive positive outcomes.
- Implement appropriate strategic planning methodologies and other decision support tools for organizational management.
- Integrate quality improvement and performance management concepts with organizational planning and management.
- Evaluate macro-economic effects, including ROI of existing and proposed policies and services.
Concentration Coursework
HPM students complete a combination of required Health Policy and Management coursework, foundational MPH courses, and a maximum of six credit hours of elective courses.
Financial management concepts and practices applied to health services programs. Fundamentals of budgeting, costing, financing, and reimbursement mechanisms for health and healthcare. Opportunities to apply techniques.
Prereq: PUBH 520 or consent from instructor
3 credits
Development of effective managers and leaders through understanding the interaction across individuals and groups within health and public health organizations. We will employ system-level thinking for problem-solving and strategic planning. Students will complete a service-learning component providing experience in a health-based organization and focused on planning or change management.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate or permission from instructor.
4 credits
An examination of the role of policy, systems, and environmental change strategies (PSE) for achieving population health and health equity from a public health perspective. PSE across settings (e.g., schools, worksites, community, etc.) and within local, state, and national jurisdictions. Role of advocacy, public health leadership, coalition development, and cross-sectoral collaboration for achieving regional and multijurisdictional systems change. Application of tools and approaches such as health impact assessment, health equity assessment, and health in all policies.
3 credits
Applied Practice Experience in an approved organization under supervision of a designated preceptor. Students must complete a total of six credit hours.
Grading Restriction: Satisfactory/No Credit grading only. Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum six hours. Comments: One semester advance notice required. Registration Permission: Consent from major advisor.
3 – 6 credits
Health Policy and Management in Action
Yoonwon “Yoonie” Jung
Concentration:
Health Policy and Management
Location:
Knoxville, TN
Agency Name:
University of Tennessee Medical Center
Agency Type:
Non-profit
Semester:
Summer 2014
Meet Yoonwon “Yoonie” Jung, a former UTK MPH and Health Policy and Management student. As part of her Applied Practice Experience, Yoonie worked to increase diversity awareness among team members at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Yoonie’s major projects included:
- Identifying key diversity-related questions that need to be addressed during new team member orientation.
- Developing diversity training materials based on the key questions identified for new team member orientation.
- Developing an evaluation survey form for one of the diversity training modules.