Dr Irene Papanicolas COW3.05

In addition, Professor Nancy Kane and Mariam Krikorian (Harvard Business School) will be teaching on the course.

This course is compulsory on the Executive MSc in Health Economics, Policy and Management. This course is not available as an outside option.

This course is intended to provide the student an orientation and overview on managing organizations within health systems. The governance, execution, information management, quality of care, and sustaining human resources will be discussed, including an examination of the uses of accounting and other forms of reporting to manage health services. This is an introductory course, appropriate for students with no formal inpatient health care management experience. The course will cover the following topics: principle responsibilities of a health care system and organizations within the system; issues and strategies for enabling health care organizations to be responsive to their environment; concepts for supporting and implementing governance decisions; strategies for performance measurement and information, and analytical activities related to planning, finance, and information needs; characteristics and development of systems to assure quality of clinical services.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars. 

In-class formative assessments. Students will be given questions to answer to help them learn to think critically about a focal case and then asked to discuss in discussion breakout sessions. 

1. Drucker PF. 1994. “The Theory of the Business.” Harvard Business Review. September- October. HBSP # 94506

2. Hammond, John S.  “Learning by the Case Method.”  Harvard Business School. 9-376-241

3. Heskett, James.  “The Job of the General Manager.”  9-388-035

4. Jick, TD. 1989. “The Vision Thing.”  Harvard Business Review. 9–490-019

5. Porter ME.  1996. “What is Strategy?” Harvard Business Review. November-December. HBR # 96608

6. Porter, ME.  “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy”, Harvard Business Review, January 2008:  25-40.  Reprint R0801

Essay (75%, 3000 words) in August.
Presentation (25%) in June.

The presentation component is an in-class assessment of the presentation of cases prepared in small groups and attendance to all case sessions.