By Alli Benjamin, College of Nursing
SPOKANE, Wash. – Enhanced graduate education and collaboration in nursing and health management will result now that the Department of Health Policy & Administration (HPA) at Washington State University is part of the WSU College of Nursing.
The accredited master in health policy administration (MHPA) degree program complements the master of nursing program, which prepares nurses for hospital leadership, higher education and community-based health settings.
Partnering with the college provides HPA with a permanent academic home, enhancing graduate education for both programs through shared courses and collaborative research opportunities for faculty and students.
The MHPA degree and online certificates are ideal for working health care professionals who want to enhance their management skills or advance to management positions.
“Public polls consistently show that nursing is the most trusted profession in the U.S., and I can’t imagine a better group to work with,” said Jae Kennedy, chair of HPA. “If we are going to transform the health care system to focus on service quality, affordability and population health, nurses will have to lead this effort.”
“I am excited for this program to join the College of Nursing, as it will provide students with an opportunity for growth and leadership in health care. It’s critical that we have systems’ thinkers in health management to deliver sound, quality patient care,” said Patricia Butterfield, dean of the college.
The MHPA degree prepares students for leadership in health care management. Graduates work in a range of career fields including hospital management, public health, managed care, group practice management and financial management. In addition to the MHPA degree, the department offers online professional certificates:
• Lean Six Sigma methods focus on improving efficiency, eliminating waste and producing a culture of continuous improvement and problem solving.
• Rapid Process Improvement is a simple but powerful method for accelerating improvement to create reliable, efficient and customer-driven processes.
• Project Management develops understanding of the concepts, tools and techniques utilized when completing organizational projects/initiatives.
• Health Payment Reform
teaches students to use a range of health care finance and accounting tools and techniques to advance their computational, analytic and financial decision-making skills in the context of recent health payment reforms.
Learn more about the College of Nursing at http://nursing.wsu.edu/About-Us/index.html. Learn more about the HPA at http://spokane.wsu.edu/admissions/HPA/.
Contact:
Allison Benjamin, WSU College of Nursing communications, 509-324-7340, text/cell 509-230-3520, alli.benjamin@wsu.edu