Online Doctor of Health Administration

The course provides an introduction to health administration for doctoral students entering the Doctor of Health Administration program who do not have prior academic experience in this area.

In this course students explore their role as a scholar, practitioner, and leader from historical, theoretical, and applications-based content and framework—all within the context of critical reasoning, writing, and research. Students will develop doctoral-level critical analysis, evaluation, and synthesis skills as these apply in leadership practices within their organizations. Competency A: Analyze historical leadership concepts through doctoral-level research. Competency B: Contextualize leadership models through critical thinking. Competency C: Compare and contrast the relationship between leadership theory and the role of a practitioner. Competency D: Evaluate the role of leadership in fostering organizational development. Competency E: Integrate personal experience, scholarly inquiry, and reflexive approaches to learning and development.

This course provides an overview of social science research methodologies and their application in context to the student's degree program. Foundational concepts include the examination and application of theoretical frameworks, critical analysis of scholarly literature and interpretation of data through a theoretical lens. Students also explore quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods and the core elements of an effective research plan. Competencies: Describe how conceptual and theoretical frameworks provide the foundational elements of social science research and inform the interpretation of data and other research findings. Identify the significance of scholarly literature and how gaps in extant literature provide a direction for new research. Summarize the ethical issues of research involving human subjects. Identify and explain quantitative and qualitative research methods and assess their appropriateness for different research problems Assess quantitative and qualitative research studies and discuss the concepts of methodological rigor, credibility, validity and reliability. Evaluate the research topic, research question, and purpose and problem statements for methodological and theoretical alignment. Establish strategies for formulating clear, concise research questions that are methodologically sound, theoretically grounded and researchable.

During this course you will be working on the initial dissertation milestone, the prospectus, which is a formal outline of the research project that outlines information to convey that the research can be completed and will provide meaningful results that contribute to the academic and practitioner communities. The prospectus should be iteratively updated until the beginning of DOC/723 when a Dissertation Chair is assigned to assist with development of the proposal. You may use previous course work when developing Dissertation Phase deliverables.

This class presumes some basic understanding of the foundations and underlying assumptions in the field of qualitative research as well as examples of practice. Building upon this preexisting foundational understanding, the purpose of the class is to enhance students’ understanding and craft through reading, writing, and reflecting on the practice of qualitative inquiry. Specific focus is on the design and development of qualitative research studies. Competency A: Differentiate between the various qualitative designs i.e. phenomenological, case study, ethnographic, grounded theory, and content analysis. Competency B: Evaluate the alignment of the qualitative designs to identified problems. Competency C: Evaluate the components of qualitative data collection and the appropriateness of each approach to an expressed conceptual framework. Competency D: Analyze the limitations of qualitative research and approaches for overcoming research challenges. Competency E: Analyze issues and concerns regarding the concepts of reliability and validity as they relate to qualitative research. Competency F: Address ethical issues that are inherent in qualitative research. Competency G: Develop a research methodology for a study incorporating best practices of the qualitative design chosen.

Doctoral practitioners are resolute in their commitment to identifying, informing, and affecting both individual and organizational change and innovation. Generating actionable interventions requires an extensive investigation of situational factors and a foundational understanding of research methodology. In this course, students explore the foundations of statistics used in quantitative research by actively engaging in processes focused on evaluation, appraisal, and application.

In this course, the scholar-practitioner-leader (SPL) will focus on the administration of complex health care systems using systems thinking, complexity science, and innovation theories, methods, and techniques. Topics covered include the complex adaptive health care system (CAS), systems thinking, innovation in health care, strategic and operational planning in a CAS, and change management. Throughout the course, the SPL will reflect on how to incorporate systems thinking into professional development plans and will gain knowledge and skills to view the health care organization and broader industry from a systems perspective.

The U.S. health care system is both complex and fragmented. It is critical that scholar-practitioner-leaders have a thorough understanding of risk management, as well as how to manage litigation and how to facilitate contractual relationships. Successful leaders will also need to possess a wide range of skills, including a working knowledge of resource, asset, and human resource management. A well-rounded leader will be required to understand concepts from claims administration and information technology to analyze how integrated resource management promotes operational efficiency, ethical leadership, and employee retention.

This course deals with the theoretical and practical aspects of research and dissertation development in a practice doctorate context. In this course, students begin to examine relevant industry and academic literature and move toward creation of a robust, cogent review of scholarship aligned with designing Chapter 2 of an applied doctoral dissertation.

This course focuses on the application of economic theory to the amount, organization, and distribution of health care services in the United States. Students will apply principles such as supply and demand, margin analysis, and cost effectiveness analysis. Students will discuss issues and controversies surrounding the government’s role in financing and regulating health services. Competency A: Analyze the role and applications of economic principles within current health systems. Competency B: Evaluate the application of the tools to address economic issues for health care decision making. Competency C: Assess the impact and evolution of cost containment initiatives within the current health care marketplace and their impact on health care organizations and systems. Competency D: Examine current and future economic challenges in a global health care marketplace.

The scholar-practitioner-leader will focus on the role of health policy and regulations in the administration of health care systems. Students critically assess the complex dynamics of politics, ethics, and policy in the development of health legislation and regulations. The process of developing policy, rules and regulations at federal, state, and local levels is examined. Evidence-based approaches are applied to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented policy with emphasis on access, cost, quality and outcome measures. Major health legislation enacted during the 20th and 21st centuries and their impacts on health care at societal, system, and organization levels are reviewed.

In this course students refine the requisite skills necessary to further their dissertation concept for review and approval. Students expand their work from Second-Year Residency by applying critical analysis to refine the research method, inform the selection of a research design, and to develop a focused literature review. Competencies: Articulate knowledge gaps in a selected field by synthesizing relevant literature in content, theoretical/conceptual framework, and research methodology and design. Define appropriate research methodology and design for a research study. Describe the scope, limitations and delimitations, population, sample, and possible instrument(s) used in a research study. Evaluate the relevance of research studies related to the selected research topic. Synthesize historical and current sources of literature plus theoretical/conceptual and methodological/ design literature relevant to the selected research topic.

The science of epidemiology and population health concepts are essential for addressing and projecting the health needs of communities and the allocation of public and private resources. This course focuses on the utilization of epidemiologic findings and population health data to support and aid health care policy development and administrative decision making. Students will be able to apply these concepts to analyze public health and population health data for epidemics, chronic health conditions, or diseases to guide data supported strategies.

This course is designed to present the major concepts, methods, and issues of evaluating health care programs and services to doctoral students. This course will prepare health care administrators to utilize various evaluation and research methodologies and tools to make decisions regarding program outcomes and effectiveness. Evaluation literature about health programs and services is integrated into the course from a wide variety of sources. Students will incorporate learning to develop a program evaluation plan presentation.

In this course, students will finalize their dissertation proposal. Students receive continued support in assessing and improving their readiness and skill preparation for completion of the dissertation proposal. Additionally, students explore communities of scholarship to engage with scholars in their area of practice and to share their future research.

This seminar focuses on the application of new knowledge in creating new policies and models in the administration of health programs. Learners will explore contemporary issues and their impact on emerging leadership and management theory. Learners will demonstrate integration of knowledge.

This course serves as the second of two online immersive experiences for University of Phoenix doctoral students. The second covers advanced tenets of doctoral socialization and issues in higher education. Students will focus on currency in their respective disciplines.

In this chair-guided course, doctoral candidates finalize their dissertation as a significant contribution to the body of knowledge. The chair and committee members work with the candidate to complete the dissertation in preparation for University approval, followed by the oral defense. Additionally, this course focuses on engagement in communities of scholarship and practice. Competencies: Articulate strategies for effective dissertation completion. Analyze research data to develop dissertation results. Synthesize study results and relevant, current literature to develop recommendations and conclusions that add to the body of knowledge. Employ engagement strategies for continued discourse in scholarly communities. Synthesize all chapters to create a comprehensive dissertation that contributes to the body of knowledge.