California State University, Long Beach
Health Care Administration Program
HCA 535, Quantitative Methods for Health Administration
SYLLABUS
Spring 2013
Instructor: Grace L. Reynolds, D.P.A.
Email (work):
Office hours: Tuesday, 1:45 to 3:45 p.m.
Office location: HHS005
Meeting Time: Tuesday, 4-6:45 p.m. ET-105
HCA Program Administrative Coordinator: Deby McGill,
Tel. 562/985-5694; fax 562/985-5886
Course Description
This course is designed to help students identify and apply appropriate quantitative and operations research techniques to problems in health care settings. Students will receive intensive exposure to decision theory, probability, decision trees, break-even analysis, transportation and assignment models, waiting lines and queuing theory. Acquiring and using data to make decisions in complex problems is a key component of this class. A basic proficiency in MS Excel is required as it will be used in the class assignments. Prerequisites: Statistics (3 Units) and one course in Economics. Letter grade only (A-F).
Learning Objective / Domain / Competency / Assessment MethodUnderstand the basics of project management including GANTT and PERT applications / Business Knowledge and Skills / Project management / Lecture, homework assignment, mid-term/final exam
Understand the concepts of decision making in health care facilities / Business Knowledge and Skills / Systems thinking / Lecture, discussion
Demonstrate an understanding of comparative analysis strategies, including the use of charts, graphs and forecasting techniques / Business Knowledge and Skills / Comparative analysis strategies and the use of indicators, benchmarks, systems, performance / Lecture, discussion, homework assignment, mid-term/final exam
Analyze management functions and forecast future demand using applied techniques / Business Knowledge and Skills / Management functions such as planning, organizing, directing & controlling / Lecture, discussion
Apply productivity measures used in health care and calculate the productivity of various types of health care units / Business Knowledge and Skills / Fundamental productivity measures such as hours per patient day, cost per patient day, units of service per man hour / Lecture, homework problem, mid-term/final exam
Demonstrate an understanding of various staffing methods used in health care and calculate productivity ratios under various staffing scenarios / Business Knowledge and Skills / Staffing methodologies and productivity management, acuity-based staffing, flexible staffing, fixed staffing / Lecture, homework problem, mid-term/final exam
Apply principles of facilities layout, facilities location and reengineering with respect to clinical capacity in health care / Business Knowledge and Skills / Characteristics of clinical systems/programs such as electronic medical records, medical decision support, & diagnostic information systems / Lecture, discussion, quizzes and homework assignments
Calculate a wide range of measures of inventory control and scheduling personnel / Business Knowledge and Skills / Characteristics of administrative systems/programs with respect to financial, scheduling, on-line purchasing, productivity and human resources / Lecture, discussion, quizzes and homework assignments
Create input into SPSS and excel, including variables in numeric and categorical formats / Business Knowledge and Skills / Principles of database and file management / Computer laboratory exercises
Analyze data using basic statistical techniques and software such as SPSS and excel / Business Knowledge and Skills / Data analysis, including manipulation, understanding of, and ability to explain data / Computer laboratory exercises
Understand the underlying statistical theories of quality improvement / Business Knowledge and Skills / Quality improvement theories and frameworks / Lecture, discussion
Calculate control limits and produce a variety of control charts (p-charts, c-charts, range and mean charts) / Business Knowledge and Skills / Quality planning and management / Lectures, homework problems, quizzes
Required text
Required: Quantitative Methods in Health Care Management: Techniques and Applications, 2nd Edition by Yasar A. Ozcan, Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Calculator capable of basic functions (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, square root).
Effective use of quantitative analysis in management decisions is essential for anyone involved in the study or practice of health services administration. For quantitative analysis to decision making in management, this text is an ideal general reference manual for healthcare professionals.
Course Requirements and Grading Criteria
Students receive a letter grade for this course based on the percentage of total points earned—please note I do NOT round grades/percentages up.
90% to 100% A
80% to 89% B
70% to 79% C
60% to 69% D
0% to 59% F
Policy on late assignments: No late assignments will be accepted. You may fax or e-mail your assignments if you are unable to come to class as long as the assignment is received by the posted due date.
Disabled students who qualify for alternative testing arrangements, please advise the instructor and make arrangements well in advance of the exams.
Student Assignments and Grading:
Because this course covers many topics, by necessity few will be covered in depth. Students who are interested in more in-depth work in quantitative analysis are encouraged to take additional statistics or methods courses. Readings, problems, discussions, and student reports will provide opportunities for the student to understand the foundations of quantitative methods. Active participation by all students is necessary.
COURSE FORMAT
Lecture/discussion; in- and out-of-class exercises; quizzes, exams and computer labs.
REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION
As in any graduate class, you start with an assumed grade of B. Completion of all assignments on time and adequately will maintain that B. Provision of brilliant creative insights and impeccably presented assignments on all materials turned in may, if consistent for the entire semester, earn you an A. Poorly presented work, late assignments, and indications that you are not doing the work or do not understand it, if consistent for the entire semester, will earn you a C or F.
Please see section on excused and unexcused absences; this class will follow the University policy.
CSULB policy on attendance (PS 01-01L http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/grad_undergrad/senate/documents/policy/2001/01/).
Grading will be based on the following:
1. Homework Problems—there will be a total of 5 homework assignments, each worth 5 points for a total of 25 points
2. Computer lab assignments—there will be 3 computer lab assignments, each one worth 5 points for a total of 15 points
3. Short research paper, 10 points
4. Mid-term exam, worth 100 points
5. Final examination, worth 100 points
There is a total of 250 points possible for the entire course.
EXPLANATION OF REQUIREMENTS
1. In class discussion and exercises on assigned material for each week noted in syllabus. Students are expected to attend class on time, to complete all assigned readings, and to participate in class activities. In order for the class to function well as a group, your active participation is necessary. The diversity of backgrounds, knowledge levels, and experiences of students in this class brings with it a richness from which we can all benefit and learn. Active participation includes preparation (readings completed by the specified date), questions, personal insights, active listening, commenting, and full engagement in in-class activities.
2.Exercises. There will be 7 homework exercises applying quantitative analysis techniques to health management issues. Each of these exercises is worth 5 points. NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS ACCEPTED.
3.Short research paper. Students will write a 5-page paper, complete with appropriate peer-reviewed journal references on using quantitative methods in either Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) or the state insurance exchanges mandated under the Affordable Care Act. The majority of the points will be given on the basis of correctly using American Psychological Association format, 6th edition. This is worth 10 points.
4.Computer laboratory exercises. There will be 3 computer laboratory exercises using SPSS software for a variety of data analytic purposes. Completion of each computer lab is worth 5 points each.
5. Mid-term exam and the final exam will all take place in class. You may use the book, calculators and notes from class during the mid-term and final exams.
Powerpoint slides used for lectures will be available on Beachboard. It is required that you have the ability to access this material. In order to do so, you will need to establish a CSULB email account.
Communicating With the Instructor
Please sign any emails sent to the instructor with your full name. Instructor will not respond to unsigned emails. Please allow from 48-36 hours for instructor to respond, especially during the first and last months of the semester.
Schedule—Subject to Change
Date / Topic / What is DueJanuary 22 / Introduction, review syllabus, expectations, and attendance policy. Introduction to Quantitative Methods;
Decision Making
Chapter 3; homework #1 handed out
January 29 / Chapter 3 continued; statistics review
February 5 / Chapter 11 Supply Chain and Inventory Management homework / Homework #1 due
February 12 / Chapter 6 Reengineering
Chapter 7 Staffing
February 19 / Chapter 8 Scheduling
Chapter 9 Productivity
Homework #2 handed out
February 26 / Chapter 4 Facility Location
Chapter 5 Facility layout / Homework #2 due
In-class exercise
March 5 / Chapter 14 Waiting Lines and Queuing Theory
More statistics review
Homework #3 handed out / In class exercises
March 12 / Chapter 13 Project Management / In class exercise
March 19 / Mid-Term Exam / Homework #3 due
March 26 / No class—Library Day to work on paper
April 2 / Spring Break no class
April 9 / Chapter 12 Statistical Process Control homework #4 handed out / Computer lab #1
April 16 / Chapter 2 Forecasting / Computer lab #2
Homework #4 due
April 23 / Chapter 2 continued / Computer lab #3
April 30 / Chapter 2 Regression
Homework #5 handed out
May 7 / Review for exam / Homework #5 due
Final paper due
May 14 / Final Exam
CHECK MyCSULB for correct day/time of final exam
CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM
The following is excerpted from the California State University, Long Beach Policy Statement 85-19, dated December 13, 1985.
It is the policy of the faculty and administration to deal effectively with the student who practices cheating or plagiarism. These acts are fundamentally destructive of the process of education and the confident evaluation of a student's mastery over a subject. A University maintains respect and functions successfully within the larger community when its reputation is built on honesty. By the same token, each student benefits in helping to maintain the integrity of the University. This policy, therefore, provides for a variety of faculty actions including those which may lead to the assignment of a failing grade for a course and for administrative actions which may lead to dismissal from the University. It is the intent to support the traditional values that students are on their honor to perform their academic duties in an ethical manner.
GENERAL:
The following definitions of cheating and plagiarism shall apply to all work submitted by a student.
DEFINITION OF PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the ideas or work of another person or persons as if they were one's own, without giving credit to the source. Such an act is not plagiarism if it is ascertained that the ideas were arrived at through independent reasoning or logic or where the thought or idea is common knowledge.
Acknowledgement of an original author or source must be made through appropriate references, i.e., quotation marks, footnotes, or commentary. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following: the submission of a work, either in part or in whole, completed by another; failure to give credit for ideas, statements, facts or conclusions with rightfully belong to another; in written work, failure to use quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, a sentence, or even a part thereof. If you are doing close and lengthy paraphrasing of another writing or paraphrasing, you should consult the instructor.
Students are cautioned that, in conducting their research, they should prepare their notes by (a) either quoting material exactly (using quotation marks) at the time they take notes from a source; or (b) departing completely from the language used in the source, putting the material into their own words. In this way, when the material is used in the paper or project, the student can avoid plagiarism resulting from verbatim use of notes. Both quoted and paraphrased materials must be given proper citations.
DEFINITION OF CHEATING:
Cheating is defined as the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain or aiding another to obtain academic credit for work by the use of any dishonest, deceptive or fraudulent means. Examples of cheating during an examination would include, but not be limited to the following: copying, either in part or in wholes, from another test or examination; discussion of answers or ideas relating to the answers on an examination or test unless such discussion is specifically authorized by the instructor; giving or receiving copies of an exam without the permission of the instructor; using or displaying notes; "cheat sheets," or other information or devices inappropriate to the prescribed test conditions, as when the test of competence includes a test of unassisted recall of information, skill, or procedure; allowing someone other than the officially enrolled student to represent the same. Also included is plagiarism as defined and altering or interfering with the grading procedures.
It is often appropriate for students to study together or to work in teams on projects. However, such students should be careful to avoid use of unauthorized assistance, and to avoid any implication of cheating, by such means as sitting apart from one another in examinations, presenting the work in a manner which clearly indicates the effort of each individual, or such other method as is appropriate to the particular course.
ACADEMIC ACTION:
One or more of the following academic actions are available to the faculty member who finds a student has been cheating or plagiarizing.
(a) Review -- no action.
(b) An oral reprimand with emphasis on counseling toward prevention of further occurrences;
(c) A requirement that the work be repeated;
(d) Assignment of a score of zero (0) for the specific demonstration of competence, resulting in the proportional reduction of final course grade;
(e) Assignment of a failing final grade;
(f) Referral to the Office of Judicial Affairs for possible probation, suspension, or expulsion.
Although the University catalog does not cover this aspect of plagiarism, please be aware that it is NOT acceptable to submit the same paper for two courses. If you want to write a paper on the same topic area for two different courses, you must submit two different papers. If the faculty discovers that you have submitted the same paper for another course, you will receive a failing grade for your paper in this course.