Economics and Care Systems for Today’s Healthcare Leader

Goals & Objectives:

Course Overview

Today’s healthcare leader is expected to work in a rapidly changing, competitive, complex healthcare arena. The expectation within the healthcare climate is to provide efficient, quality, safe, patient- and family-centered care. The way in which hospitals operate has undergone many changes. Multiple factors have contributed to the need for change: the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA), an acceleration of mergers and acquisitions, increasing costs, improving healthcare outcomes, and more discerning clients, to name a few (Li & Carayon, 2021). Healthcare leaders need to be prepared for addressing changes in delivery systems and economic challenges while building a culture of collaboration with their teams. This course addresses healthcare delivery systems, economic competencies, and fostering a culture of collaboration. The course provides detailed explanations, tools, examples, and resources to help the learner appreciate, develop, and apply these concepts and skills in their own practice.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing this course, the learner should be able to:

• Analyze contemporary economic, social, and demographic challenges in healthcare and their impact on quality, safety, patient- and family-centered care, and financial stability.
• Demonstrate the importance of leadership competencies, including financial management, planning, coordination, and communication, in achieving organizational goals and maintaining financial stability.
• Evaluate the role of healthcare leaders in budgeting, monitoring progress, and assessing performance to ensure effective resource allocation and operational efficiency.
• Apply mathematical and analytical tools, such as nursing hours per patient day, to optimize staffing and improve patient care delivery.
• Differentiate between healthcare reimbursement sources and organizational structures, including vertical and horizontal models, and assess their influence on service delivery and financial outcomes.
• Classify healthcare organizations by type and analyze the forces driving their development, while identifying opportunities for leadership and innovation in evolving healthcare systems.
• Integrate principles of patient- and family-centered care, teamwork, collaboration, and shared decision-making into leadership practices to enhance care quality and organizational effectiveness.