Department of Health Systems Management

Health Systems Management: Philosophy, Mission, Vision and Values

Philosophy

The Health Systems Management Master’s program, which started in 1979, educates students for highly successful careers in the rapidly growing field of health care management. Graduates become hospital and health systems administrators, health care consultants, manage physician practices, work in international health care development and manage professional associations. The hallmark of the program is its practitioner-teacher model, where graduate students learn from practitioners and practice what they learn. The program has an outstanding faculty-student ratio, which provides many opportunities for mentoring and professional growth. The program, which is ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the elite top 5 in the nation and accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME), links practitioner-focused coursework with real-world management experience. Students study a comprehensive health management curriculum taught by experienced educators who are also top health care administrators.

Mission

Our mission is to prepare individuals for roles of increasing leadership in the field of health care management, with the ultimate goal of transforming health care organizations to deliver the highest-quality patient care and improve the lives of patients, their families and the community. Our practitioner-teacher model integrates classroom learning with health care management practice, benefiting both students and faculty.

Our curriculum is designed to provide the knowledge, skills, abilities and values required to succeed in the field of health care management. An emphasis on competency and professional skills development - and an orientation toward lifelong learning - ensures that new graduates are well prepared for early careerist positions and that our alumni hold positions of increasing responsibility during their careers.

Our practitioner-teacher model provides leadership development opportunities for the faculty, ensuring that they stay abreast of the most recent conceptual frameworks and best practices in the field. Their roles as practitioner faculty provide them with opportunities to teach and mentor the next generation of health care leaders.

Vision

Our Program will be recognized as one of the premier health administration graduate programs in the nation. Our practitioner-teacher model will be recognized as an ideal way to educate and train health administration graduate students. Through participation in the Program’s practitioner-teacher model, our faculty will be known for innovation and excellence in health care management practice, education and scholarship.

Values

Our Program embraces the values of Rush University Medical Center, Rush University and the College of Health Sciences. These values include: innovation, collaboration, accountability, respect, excellence, diversity, inclusion and accommodation.

Health Systems Management: Admission Requirements

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or anticipate completion of that degree prior to the start of the HSM degree program. The two prerequisite courses, which consist of an undergraduate course in accounting and an undergraduate course in statistics, also must be completed prior to enrollment. An undergraduate course in microeconomics is highly recommended. Applicants fill out an online application, provide three letters of recommendation and submit official copies of their college/university transcripts from every college/university previously attended. In addition, they submit scores from either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT). International students also must submit a credentialing evaluation of their international education as well as the results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Qualified applicants are invited to Rush for an admissions visit. The visit typically includes four faculty interviews, lunch with a current student and an appointment with the Office of Student Financial Aid.

Health Systems Management: Academic Policies

Enrollment

While the program is primarily designed for full-time study, students can enroll in the program either on a full- or parttime basis. Full-time students typically attend the program for six quarters over two academic years, with a summer break. Part-time students typically take two courses per quarter. The program must be completed within a five-year time limit unless the student is granted a waiver by program officials.

Academic Progress

All students in the Department of Health Systems Management must achieve a grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) each quarter to maintain satisfactory academic status. A student is placed on academic probation when his or her grades fall below a quarterly or cumulative GPA average of 3.0 or when a student receives a grade of “F” in any course. A student on academic probation remains on probation until he or she has met the requirements established by the program for removal from academic probation.

Academic Advising

All students are assigned an academic advisor from among the core faculty during orientation week. By the end of the first quarter, students are also assigned a career advisor from among Rush practitioner-teacher faculty.

College of Health Sciences/Rush University Academic Policies

Academic policies specific to the College of Health Sciences are located earlier in this catalog. In addition, the Academic Resources and Policies section of this catalog contains Rush University academic policies.

Health Systems Management: Graduation Requirements

To be eligible to graduate, a student must successfully complete all the Department of Health Systems Management’s academic requirements, which include earning a minimum of 87 quarter hours of credit and achieving a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0.

In addition, students must complete a minimum of 440 hours of work in a health care management internship. Most students will complete this by working in a part-time student job during the academic program and registering for HSM-550A, B and C.

Students need to have at least 16 documented contact hours of professional or community service.

Health Systems Management: Faculty Work/Service Activities

Members of the faculty of the Department of Health Systems Management are actively involved in the operation of Rush University Medical Center as hospital administrators and health care planners, university administrators, financial managers, clinicians, attorneys, researchers, and information services managers. They serve as consultants to hospitals, planning bodies and other organizations.

Faculty members hold leadership positions, participate in seminars and engage in other professional activities sponsored by the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Hospital Association, the Chicago Health Executives Forum, the Healthcare Financial Management Association, the Association of University Programs in Health Administration, the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society and the Illinois Hospital and Health Systems Association.

Health Systems Management: Career Services

Health Systems Management students receive ongoing career mentoring, counseling and related services throughout their academic career. During the first academic year, full-time students are placed in part-time jobs throughout Rush University Medical Center. The job sites include Perioperative Services, Nursing Administration Revenue Management, Human Resources, Finance, , Medical Affairs, Enterprise Resource Planning, Capital Projects, Long Term Care, Quality and Accreditation, Women and Children’s Services, Patient Relations, Emergency Management, Rush Health, Emergency Department, Health and Aging, Strategic Outreach, Midwest Orthopaedics and Rush University Medical Group. The jobs provide practical experience, reinforce the coursework, produce a more dynamic classroom experience and offer students a multifaceted perspective on the field of health care management. The student’s manager also functions as a preceptor for the work experience.

Program faculty and staff provide assistance identifying opportunities for summer internships and part-time work during the second academic year and counseling/assistance to secure postgraduate fellowships or jobs.

While students receive individualized input regarding their career goals, the program’s Professional Seminar series provides systematic training, guidance and feedback in professional skills development and career planning.

Health Systems Management: Rush Center for the Advancement of Healthcare Value

The vision of the Rush Center for the Advancement of Healthcare Value is to be recognized globally as an innovator in conducting research that prepares leaders for the future of health care.

Our center is housed within the Department of Health Systems Management at Rush University.

Our center’s work is grounded in interdisciplinary research and focuses on translating research into practice and uses practice as a foundation for research. Our research is differentiated by the following:

Academically based center with close ties to the practice community
Strong focus on leadership development in health care research and practice
Pursuit of objective knowledge
Experts in advanced analytic methods
Proficiency in large multisource database analyses

Our research focuses on evaluating ways to improve the value of care provided by health care organizations. This work addresses important challenges that relate to:

The patient experience: Studies focusing on identifying evidence-based approaches to improving the patient experience, including patient decision making, facilities and throughput, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.

Quality and safety: Studies that focus on testing and evaluating methods and outcomes, ranging from disease surveillance to international patients traveling to the U.S. seeking the highest-quality care.

Efficiency: Studies that are aimed at reducing operational barriers, such as providing clinicians with tools and guidelines to optimize and streamline operations.

For more information about our center, contact Tricia Johnson, PhD, Associate Chair of Research and Education, Associate Professor and Director, at (312) 942-7107 or tricia_j_johnson@rush.edu.