Health Systems Management, Full-Time, MS

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

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 , HSM 550B  and HSM 550C .

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.

Health Systems Management: Curriculum

The curriculum is designed to instruct students in the current theory and practice of health services management, including the study of organizational behavior, quantitative and analytical techniques, planning, finance and human resources management. The curriculum structure gives students the opportunity to apply managerial principles in real-world learning environments and to design and conduct applied health services research projects.

The curriculum content focuses on: management and leadership competencies and their application to health services organizations through a study of organizational behavior, quantitative methods, budgeting, finance, information systems, law, strategic planning, governance, health policy, marketing, health insurance and managed care, health economics, and the social and environmental determinants of health and disease.