MNG 451 - Health Care Industry Analysis

The course introduces students to the historical development, structure, operation, current and future directions of the major components of the American health care delivery system. It examines the ways in which health care services are organized and delivered, the influences that impact health care public policy decisions, factors that determine the allocation of health care resources and the establishment of priorities, and the relationship of health care costs to measurable benefits.

The United States has a unique system of health care delivery compared with other developed countries around the world. Almost all other developed countries have universal health insurance programs in which government plays a dominant role. Almost all of the citizens of other developed nations are entitled to receive health care services that include routine and basic health care. In the United States, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has expanded health insurance, but it still falls short of achieving universal coverage. Besides insurance, adequate access to health care services and health care costs at both the individual and national levels continue to confound academics, policy makers, and politicians alike. While access has increased it remains far short of universal coverage, and the cost of health care continue to rise.

Course materials are drawn largely from the required text, supplemented y articles from the current literature. As appropriate, factual information is presented in its social, political and economic contexts to enhance understanding of he forces that shape the system and the evolving mandates for change.
Lecture
Credits: 3
Offered in the Fall Semester