Syllabus

Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy

Colorado School of Public Health

HSMP 6670

University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus

Ambulatory Healthcare Management

2 Credit Hours

Spring, 2012

Instructor Information:

Name: William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE

Sr. Vice President / Sr. Advisor

Integrated Healthcare Strategies, and

Clinical Professor of Health Systems, Management and Policy

Colorado School of Public Health, Denver

Office Hours: By arrangement

Phone/email: 303-883-6807;

Course Description:

This elective course will overview the variety of ambulatory settings in which healthcare services are delivered, and provide students with basic knowledge and skills needed to manage care delivery in those settings. The content domains to be addressed will include: business operations, financial management, human resources management, information management, organizational governance, patient care systems, quality and safety management and risk management. Practical examples will be used to illustrate the application of management methods to specific issues encountered in a variety of ambulatory care settings

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students will be expected to have attained the following competencies:

  1. Describe and discuss alternative organizational forms for delivery of ambulatory healthcare services
  2. Develop a budget and describe methods for overseeing financial performance in ambulatory care organizations
  3. Describe basic concepts for billing and collection for insured services, including disease and procedure coding
  4. Discuss key laws affecting management of human resources in ambulatory care organizations
  5. Discuss principles for assuring safe, high quality care for patients in ambulatory care organizations, and for managing adverse results
  6. Describe basic approaches for managing financial risks in ambulatory care
  7. Discuss alternative structures for governance of ambulatory care organizations and describe the role of the manager in governance
  8. Describe alternative approaches to managing business and clinical information needs in ambulatory care

Instructional Methods and Course Contact Hours:

The course will be taught through a blend of face-to-face and on-line activities. Face-to-face classes (primarily lecture and discussion) will be held for two hours (4:00pm – 6:00 pm) every other Tuesday, totaling 16 hours of face to face instruction during the 16 week semester. In alternate weeks, students will complete on-line exercises and required readings, which will require an additional total of 16 hours of instruction. Some of the on-line exercises will be team activities. Total contact hours will be 32.

Classroom:

The eight on campus sessions are scheduled for Ed 2 South L28-1307.

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Required textbook:

Wolper, L.F. Physician Practice Management ( 2005), Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 695pp.

Additional readings will be assigned from time to time and made available via e-mail or as handouts in the face-to-face sessions.

Grading Criteria:

Written exercises (3 will be assigned) – 10 points each30 points total

Participation in on-campus discussions and presentations,

with demonstration of competence in required readings30 points

Final exam40 points

Total possible points100

Grading Scale:

A = 90-100

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

F = below 70

Course outline and calendar:

Week 1. January 24 On campusAlternative Ambulatory Care Settings

  • Wolper – Chapters 1 and 2

Week 2. January 31 DistanceGovernance and Leadership Issues

  • Wolper – Chapters 3 and 4
  • Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be distributed at the January 24 session and will also be e-mailed to each student. Discussion questions will be addressed during the February 7 face-to-face class.

Week 3. February 7 On campusHuman Resources Issues

  • Wolper – Chapters 5, 6 and 19

Week 4. February 14 DistancePlanning and Marketing

  • Wolper – Chapter 7
  • Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be distributed at the February 7 session and will also be e-mailed to each student. Discussion questions will be addressed during the February 21 face-to-face class.

Week 5. February 21 On campusAccounting and Budgeting

  • Wolper – Chapter 9

Week 6. February 28 DistanceFinancial Management I

  • Wolper – Chapter 10
  • Written Exercise #1. Each student will develop an operating budget for a medical practice, based on assumptions in the Assignment Sheet. The budgetary assumptions will be distributed at the February 21 session and will also be e-mailed to each student. Students will present and defend their budgets at the March 6 face-to-face class. (10 points)

Week 7. March 6 On campusFinancial Management II

  • Wolper – Chapter 12

Week 8. March 13 DistancePerformance Benchmarking

  • Wolper – Chapter 11
  • Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be distributed at the March 6 session and will also be e-mailed to each student. Discussion questions will be addressed during the March 27 face-to-face class.

Week 9. SPRING BREAK – No class or assignments

Week 10. March 27 On campusInformation Management

  • Wolper – Chapter 13

Week 11. April 3 DistanceCompliance and Risk Management

  • Wolper – Chapters 15 and 16
  • Written Exercise #2. Each student will describe their approach to handling a delicate human resources and compliance issue, involving both staff and physicians, as outlined in the Assignment Sheet. Papers should be no longer than 5 pages, and each student will present their approach to the problem for class discussion during the face-to-face class on April 10. (10 points)

Week 12. April 10 On campusLegal Issues

  • Wolper – Chapter 18

Week 13. April 17 DistancePhysician Compensation

  • Wolper – Chapter 20
  • Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be distributed at the April 10 session and will also be e-mailed to each student. Discussion questions will be addressed during the April 24 face-to-face class.

Week 14. April 24 On campusSafety and Quality

  • Wolper – Chapter 22

Week 15. May 1 DistanceInnovations in Ambulatory Care

  • Christensen, C.C., Grossman, J.H., and Hwang, J., Disrupting the Business Model of the Physician’s Practice, Chapter 4 in The Innovator’s Prescription, New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing, 2009.
  • MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation, Reducing Care Fragmentation: A Toolkit for Coordinating Care, pp. 1-29, 2011. (See for full text)
  • Written Exercise #3. In a paper no longer than 5 pages, each student should describe the three most significant challenges that you believe face the US healthcare system in the delivery of safe, high quality, cost-effective ambulatory care over the next decade. Use your best “crystal ball technique” to predict how those challenges may be resolved. (10 points)

Week 16. May 8 On campusFacility Design

  • Wolper – Chapter 23

Week 17. May 15 On campusFINAL EXAM (40 points)

Policies:

Attendance

Attendance is required at all on-campus sessions. Due to the blended format of this course, one or more absences may result in the student’s inability to complete the course during the current term.

Misconduct

Students are required to comply with the Student Academic Honor and Conduct Code of the Colorado School of Public Health. This document covers such issues as plagiarism and professional misconduct. View the link below for additional information:

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