MBA CONCENTRATION

Health Care Management

THE HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT concentration trains students to lead in the changing landscape and infrastructure of health care, a system which is complex in its structure, processes, and outcomes.

This trillion-dollar industry is the largest service industry in the United States and is charged with the task of health promotion and prevention, plus the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The knowledge base and technology in this industry are expanding at an exponential rate. The issues now redefining health care include:

• The increasing concern with racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health.

• The growing uninsured population.

• The continuing evolution of managed care.

• The concentration of provider institutions and insurers into fewer large competitors.

• The growing evidence for and awareness of the impact of behavior and lifestyle on health.

• The search for lower-cost alternatives.

Skilled health care managers who also have training in health policy analysis are in great demand in today's marketplace.

FOCUS OF THE CONCENTRATION

In this concentration, the U.S. health care system is examined from political, social, economic, and technical perspectives. The focus is on causes of disease; the structure and processes of health care organizations and service delivery systems; approaches to financing health care; the delivery of substance abuse and mental health services; racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities; and health care and its role in social change.

THE SCHNEIDER INSTITUTES FOR HEALTH POLICY

The concentration centers on the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy (SIHP), which include the Institute on Healthcare Systems as well as the Institute for Behavioral Health. The Schneider Institutes conduct more than two-thirds of the outside-funded research at the Heller School and are the largest research institutes within Brandeis University, examining the health care system from a variety of perspectives including questions of access, quality of care, health care financing, delivery and utilization, and the cost of such care.

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