Professional Development > Course Descriptions
Course Descriptions
Gain new insights and practice applying them in professional development courses in health policy, behavioral economics, operations management, and health care innovation. Courses are taught by internationally recognized leaders at the University of Pennsylvania, including the Perelman School of Medicine, the Wharton School,the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, and the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation.
Courses run throughout the year, so you can match your studies to your schedule and interests in improving health care. Courses are online and 4 weeks long, with specific start and end dates. A combination of self-directed and interactive learning activities allows for both flexibility and the opportunity to engage with fellow innovative health professionals.
Please note that the course schedule is subject to change.
Course Listing
This course explores social determinants of health and strategies for achieving more equitable health and access across all populations in the United States. Prepare to influence policy in order to improve lives and communities.
Gain an informed perspective on health care costs by defining value and measuring quality. This course sharpens your analytical skills, demonstrates how to assess value, and gives you tools to delineate change in real-life situations.
This course examines practices that can transform health care delivery. Through brief interview and lecture videos, gain insights from leading industry examples in community health, complex patient cases, behavioral health, and electronic medical records. Designed for you to apply what you learn.
Strategies for Health Insurance and Benefit Design
November 17, 2020 to December 14, 2020
Learn from experts about benefit design, insurance-provider negotiations, and integrated health plan–health care delivery systems, as you study the complexities of the health care industry. Then identify opportunities for innovation and analyze potential solutions.
This course helps professionals better understand how the American health care system has evolved into its current structure and policies, and where it may go next. Apply your new knowledge to help patients, clients, and organizations navigate the changing, challenging health care landscape.
This course explores strategies for using technology to build connected customer relationships, with cases from various industries that demonstrate impact and provide models for health care. Prepare to advocate for change in order to improve patient care.
Examine the building blocks of research design and evaluation, and apply them to studies in health insurance, food policy, and hospital operations. This course will give you the foundation and practice to measure the impact of proposed programs and policy changes.
Explore how behavioral economics concepts can help you nudge patients, providers, colleagues, and others in an effort to increase adherence, reduce costs, and shape wellness behaviors. You do not need a background in economics to take this project-oriented course.
The Wharton School’s Mike Useem brings business insight to health care as he introduces a leadership checklist during brief lecture and interview videos. Synthesize lessons from cases as you develop your own leadership tools to lead health care organizations.
This course provides health care professionals with strategies and tools for improving the way health care is delivered. Sharpen your skills in analyzing existing processes, calculating potential changes, and measuring results.
This course examines the health care industry from an economic perspective. Be an informed contributor to conversations and decisions about the factors that drive cost in health care today.
Acquire tools and strategies to sharpen innovative thinking in order to improve the way health care is delivered. Class exercises serve as a springboard for developing an innovation project at work.
What will I learn and do?
Health Care Innovation courses are designed to help you address questions such as:
- How do we advocate for increasing access, improving quality, and lowering cost?
- What tools do I use to analyze and improve operations in a medical setting?
- How do I manage and advise on the evaluation of real-world health policies and programs?
- What are the key financial and organizational challenges that health care delivery is currently facing?
- How can I improve outcomes for my clients using behavioral economics concepts?
- How can we rethink health care operations and patient outcomes to improve how we deliver care?
- What existing technologies provide connected patient experiences and relationships?
If you want to dive deeper into studying and applying these areas, with more networking and faculty interaction, consider the online Master of Health Care Innovation degree.
Contact
If you have additional questions, please contact Caitlin O'Neill, Program Manager for Online Educational Initiatives, at 215-746-3971 or MEHPonline@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.