Health Policy, Management and Behavior Courses
Hpm 500 Health Care Organization, Delivery and Financing (3)
This is an introductory course intended to familiarize students with the organization, delivery and financing of the health care system. The course covers historical, societal, political and economic forces influencing the accessibility, cost and quality of personal and public health services. Descriptions of the current structures within the system, as well as changes occuring (the advent of managed care) and their effect are emphasized. Health care concepts and terminology, provider characteristics, methods of financing, government regulations and private sector services will be discussed. The course is designed to provide baseline understanding of the US health care system and its dynamics. But it is also meant to begin training the student on how to apply this understanding to issues in health policy and management.
Hpm 501 (Eco 509, Pad 657) Health Policy Analysis (3)
This course introduces students to policy analysis and management by examining issues in the health sector. It fosters an appreciation of the complexity of policy problems and provides the basic tools used in policy design, implementation and evaluation. Prerequisite: Hpm 500.
Hpm 502 (Pad 523) Central Issues in Health Policy (3)
An examination of some of the major issues confronting health policy makers in the areas of health systems, family and community health, and environmental and occupational health. Provides an overview of the impact of public policy on health status, with a more intensive study of a few specific problems such as the financing and organization of medical care for the elderly, retarded and mentally ill.
Hpm 511 (Eco 511) Economic Analysis for Health Policy and Management I (3)
This course is an introduction to the field of health economics. Health Economics is an active field of microeconomics with a large and growing literature. This course will combine economic theory, recent research, and current health reform and policy problems into a comprehensive overview of the field.
Hpm 514 (Epi 514) Computer Programming for Data Management and Analysis in Public Health (3)
The course covers a major statistical computer program (e.g., SAS) used for the management, analysis and reporting of public health data. Topics include, how to access data stored in a variety of formats; techniques for identifying errors and outliers in data sets; combining data from multiple sources into a single data file; calculating statistical and epidemiologic measures; and report writing.
Hpm 516 (Pad 516) Introduction to Health Policy, Ethics, and Politics (3)
Analysis and description of the health policy processes that stresses both ethical and political factors shaping the emergence of problems, policies and the adaptation and implementation of policy solutions.
Hpm 520 Fundamentals of Research Design (3)
This course introduces students to the steps involved in designing and/or evaluating a research paper. Topics include translating a curiosity into a researchable question and testable hypotheses, the logic of different modes of inquiry, choosing appropriate study designs and samples, measuring phenomena of interest, and interpreting results, as well as principles of research ethics.
Hpm 521 Preventing Disease, Disability & Premature Death (3)
This course discusses the major health behaviors and demographic factors that lead to death, disease & disability throughout the lifespan. It describes policies and programs that address those underlying causes of ill health and provides a framework for developing strategies for promoting health and wellness. Prerequisites: Graduate standing OR senior PH major with GPA>3.0.
Hpm 525 Social and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health (3)
This course provides an introduction to the role of social, cultural, psychological, and behavioral factors in determining the health of populations. Students will: gain understanding of the significance of social, cultural, psychological, and behavioral factors in relation to health status and well-being; learn to analyze public health problems in terms of the social, psychological, cultural, economic, and demographic factors that contribute to or protect from vulnerability to disease, disability, and death; and improve their ability to apply social science theory, research, and principals to the critical analysis of the appropriateness of public health interventions.
Hpm 527 Introduction to Gerontology (3)
This course provides an overview of the field of gerontology and discusses the demography and epidemiology of aging, aging theories, salient perspectives of gerontology, and issues related to older women and long-term care services. In this course students will learn how important concepts, theories, population dynamics, disease prevalence, functional limitation and disability can be used to understand, analyze, organize information and data for making health policy, management, and financing decisions. Public health is an applied discipline. This course focuses on acquiring a basic understanding of the ways in which gerontological factors and issues can have important impacts on health and well-being of the elderly. The goal is to use this understanding to improve the health of the elderly by developing health promotion/intervention strategies and policies. Prerequisite: Hpm 500.
Hpm 528 Managing Long-Term Care Services (3)
This course aims at analyzing the essential components of the long-term care (LTC) continuum, with attention devoted to demographics of aging, roles of financing and evolving marketplace, and programs designed to serve aging populations. A framework for studying LTC continuum is introduced and used to identify opportunities for interventions. Prerequisites: Hpm 500 or permission of instructor.
Hpm 530 Introduction to Maternal and Child Health (3)
This course will examine issues relating to women’s health during the childbearing years, children’s health from birth to adolescence and the interrelationship between mothers’ and children’s health. Specific topics that will be covered include: (1) the history and structure of maternal and child health (MCH) in the U.S.; (2) surveillance systems and health disparities; (3) women’s health and perinatal, prenatal and postnatal care; (4) health issues during infancy, childhood, and adolescence; (5) health care needs of children with special needs; and (6) special topics including family violence and international perspectives in MCH.
Hpm 531 Childhood Obesity From a Public Health Perspective (3)
This course will examine the epidemic of obesity, particularly childhood obesity, and how various behavioral and environmental factors place children at risk of becoming overweight. Sources of influence that will be examined include: children’s nutrition and physical activity behaviors, the family environment, the school environment, and community characteristics such as fast food restaurants and access to safe walking and bicycling paths. In addition, this course will examine ethnic and socioeconomic differences in the prevalence of obesity and its predictors among children and adolescents. At its conclusion, this course will examine obesity prevention programs and their effectiveness.
Hpm 533 Adolescent Health (3)
This course will examine the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. adolescent population, highlight the policies and programs designed to improve the health and wellness of this population, and detail the innovative asset-based Positive Youth Development approaches to adolescent health and wellness promotion.
Hpm 535 Community Based Public Health (3)
The goal of this course is to learn a community based perspective of public health and health promotion, stressing an understanding of social determinants of health. The course will include readings about the importance of working with diverse communities, concepts and best strategies for assessing community assets and needs, as well as approaches for community based public health interventions and strategies for collaborating with community members to improve the health of the community. Some topics that will be covered include; coalition building, community assessment approaches, community health workers, social capital, empowerment, and participatory health promotion approaches. The course is geared for students who are interested in working at community based organizations, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and in community based research.
Hpm 550 (Bus 681) Financial Management of Healthcare Institutions (3)
This course covers significant issues in the areas of working capital management, capital financing, cost analysis and rate setting, budgeting, reimbursement, managed care contracting, and cost controls. The course has been developed to maximize student opportunities for independent analysis, development of PC-based problem solving applications, and in-class discussion and evaluation of pertinent financial issues and problems. An emphasis is placed on uses of information generated through accounting and financial management systems to control operations in health care organizations. To promote such understanding, students receive problem oriented assignments and examinations in which they can apply knowledge and reasoning techniques gained from this and other courses to reach logical decisions that would effectively control operations in the simulated exercises. Prerequisites: Hpm 500 or Permission of instructor.
Hpm 560 Public Health Genomics (3)
This course introduces students to the emerging field of public health genomics, which is the application of genetic/genomic science to population-based health issues such as health promotion, disease prevention, surveillance, and quality assurance. Prerequisites: HBms 551 or permission of instructor.
Hpm 561 (Com 560) Health Communication (3)
Students explore the role of communication in the delivery and receipt of health care, especially with respect to physician-patient encounters, organizations in the health care system, and the design and execution of health care campaigns. Hpm 569 (Com 670) Health Literacy: Patients, Organizations, and Societies (3) In a society where the health system has grown increasingly complex and difficult to navigate, and where people may have instant access to information from multiple sources, health literacy has become a major issue. It impacts individuals’ communication with their health providers, communication among health and human service providers that serve diverse ethnic populations, but also the development of public health and health communication campaigns and interventions targeted towards increasingly diverse communities. This course is designed to introduce students to the concept of health literacy, the significance of health literacy as a determinant of health outcomes, the measures developed to assess health literacy, and the multiple factors that shape health literacy.
Hpm 570 International Health Economics (3)
The course starts with basic economic principles as applied to health and health care, and goes on to discuss economic evaluation in health care, the economics of health systems and health care finance. It provides an understanding of the commonalities across countries, as well as the performance of different health care systems, from insurance-based approaches in the U.S., to the government funding that is common in Canada and most countries in Europe, and the mixed systems that operate in most low-income countries.
Hpm 580 Health Information Technology (HIT) (3)
This course examines the application of information technology in the health care industry. The course will consider a wide range of technology applications – from clinical application systems like CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry), EMR (Electronic Medical Records); enterprise application systems such as CRM & ERP systems, to current trends in e-health and telemedicine. Prerequisite: Knowledge about the U.S. healthcare system is desirable.
Hpm 586 (Pad 586, Pos 586) Health and Human Rights: an Interdisciplinary Approach (3)
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to health and human rights and the contemporary challenges and solutions associated with them. The course will be taught by physicians and human rights champions with guest lectures from experts in public health, philosophy, social welfare, law, gender studies, public administration the United Nations, among others. Through lectures, discussion and case studies, students will develop a broad theoretical understanding of health as a human right, become familiar with legal and policy frameworks to support public health, and acquire skills in the application of these concepts and the implementation and evaluation of solutions to our modern health challenges.
Hpm 605 Philosophical and Ethical Issues in Public Health (3)
Systematic exploration of the fundamental philosophical and ethical issues in health policy, and the relation of political and ethical theories to policies. Because public health is concerned with the nature and scope of the public, a major focus of the course will be on political philosophy. Course will usually cover one area of public health each time it is given, examining ethical and philosophical issues relevant to that area. May be taken more than once with consent of the instructor Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Hpm 610 Topics in Women's Health (1-4)
This course is designed to provide students with knowledge regarding the health needs of women. It is intended to help students gain insight into the existing policy, institutional, cultural, and interpersonal barriers to women's health, as well as learning about strategies for overcoming barriers and meeting women's health needs. Furthermore, this course is intended to be interdisciplinary, thus exposing students to the perspectives of other disciplines as well as to the advantages of drawing on the strengths of many disciplinary perspectives.
Hpm 611 Addiction and Public Health (3)
Substance abuse disorders are among the most difficult problems that confront public health professionals. This course provides an introduction to the basis of addictive disorders, specific drugs of abuse, at-risk populations, comorbidity of substance abuse and medical/mental health disorders, and public health interventions at multiple ecological levels. Prerequisite: Hpm 525.
Hpm 612 (Eco 512) Applications in Health Policy Analysis and Evaluation (3)
Current issues and research in health policy are analyzed using a political economy framework that builds on tools developed in Hpm 501/Eco 509 and Hpm 511/Eco 511. Policy topics include: Controlling risk and uncertainty in insurance and health care markets, Incentives for profit and non-profit status, Health care quality and cost-continment n fee-for-service and managed care regimes, Rules vs. Incentives for health care delivery, Graduate medical education and malpractice reforms, Industry incentives in technology acquisition, and Equity and ethical dilemmas in efficiency evaluations. Prerequisites: Hpm 501/Eco 509 and Hpm 511/Eco 511.
Hpm 615 (Pad 635) Health, Safety and Environmental Regulation (3)
Presents a political and economic assessment of risk regulation policies as they have developed for air and water pollution, work place risks, auto safety, drug regulation and nuclear power. Prerequisite: Hpm 501 or consent of instructor.
Hpm 618 Decision Analysis for Health Policy and Medicine (3)
Introduction to methods of decision analysis and how these methods may be used as an aid in making clinical and health policy decisions. Topics include quantification of uncertainty by combining objective and subjective information; measurement and evaluation of outcomes; comparison of outcomes with several attributes through utility analysis; assessment of the value of information obtained from single tests, multiple tests, and repeated tests; decision trees; decision making under limited resources, and formal applications of decision analysis. Prerequisite: An introductory course in biostatistics.
Hpm 619 (Com 619) Communication and Public Health (3)
This course is designed to provide an overview of a variety of areas related to communication and public health. The course will review health behavior theories and introduce theories concerning health communication, and provide introductions to topics including interpersonal and organizational health communication, risk communication, media campaigns, and media effects on health. The course will also look at advertising and health, as well as explore the ways that new media (such as the internet) impact health. Cultural differences and ethical issues with respect to communication and health will be covered throughout the semester. Students will develop writing, presentation, and research skills, and will develop science and media literacy skills. Students will learn about developing media campaigns and designing research studies, with a focus on content analysis, through course assignments. Prerequisites: Hpm 525 or permission of instructor.
Hpm 620 Health Disparities and Vulnerable Populations (3)
The goal of this course is to understand what contributes to health disparities in the United States. The course will discuss underlying assumptions of group definitions, why particular groups may experience disparities and individual versus ecological approaches to health in our current health system. This course will also cover theoretical frameworks for understanding and addressing health disparities in health promotion. The course is geared for students to critically think about and discuss health disparities and use the knowledge gained through the class in their work as public health professionals and researchers. Readings will be multidisciplinary; from the fields of public health, psychology, political science, disability studies, and gender studies.
Hpm 621 Health Writing and Communications (3)
Writing and communication skills are essential for all professionals, but especially those in the health field. This course will address writing skills and expose students to a wide range of health communication techniques used in the public health profession. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Hpm 623 Stress, Social Support Systems, and Health (3)
This course examines the epidemiology of stress and health, and addresses the roles that networks of personal social relationships can play in coping with stressful life experiences. The course will address the effects of a wide variety of life stressors – such as chronic illness, the death of a loved one, childhood trauma, and financial hardship – on health problems such as substance abuse, mental disorders, and physical illness. Likewise, a variety of social support structures for coping with these life stressors will be discussed, including peer groups, family support, and community-level social networks. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Hpm 625 Introduction to Public Health in Aging (3)
This course will provide an overview of the demography, epidemiology and examples of successful aging in our society. Areas to be covered also include: chronic disease, health promotion/wellness programs, health services needs and programs for older persons and their caregivers and ethical issues.
Hpm 626 Social and Behavioral Aspects of Chronic Illness (3)
This course examines social and behavioral factors in chronic illness. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks for viewing chronic illness in the context of individual and family development across the life course will be discussed. The course will focus on the impact of chronic illness on families, psychosocial factors influencing adaptation to chronic illness, and interventions to promote self-management of chronic illness. Prerequisite: Hpm 525 or permission of instructor.
Hpm 627 Program Development in Heath Promotion (3)
This course focuses on the development of theory- and evidence-based health promotion interventions. Students are introduced to the major steps of program planning, and apply these steps to design their own health promotion intervention. Using an ecological perspective, the course also gives students the opportunity to critically evaluate a variety of health promotion interventions targeting change at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, community and policy levels, and to examine how behavioral science theories have been applied to the design of these interventions. Prerequisite: Hpm 525.
Hpm 635 Economic Evaluation in Health Care (3)
This course introduces students to the methods, objectives, and applications of economic evaluations in the health care sector. In this course, students will also participate in a lab to learn decision analysis software such that they can perform analyses themselves as a class project.
Hpm 641 Principles of Health Organization Management (3)
This course is designed to cover the major aspects of managing both public and private health care organizations. These aspects include managing external relationships with key stakeholders like patients and providers, understanding the individual and group dynamics that occur within health care delivery settings, and applying the business and emerging tools used in managing on an everyday basis in health care delivery settings. Topics that would be covered in this course include the strategic management process in health care (overview), forming organizational alliances, human resources issues in managing health care professionals, organizational behavior and culture, business essentials in the areas of marketing, accounting, and finance as they apply to specific health management needs, and emerging management tools like quality management and health information systems. Prerequisites: Hpm 500, Hpm 501, advanced standing or permission of Instructor.
This course examines the legal setting of public health and the role of courts and legal reasoning in public health policy, as well as a wide range of current legal issues, from HIV and tuberculosis prevention to malpractice and provider liability. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Hpm 643 Long-Term Care Administration (3)
This course provides an overview of long-term care policy, financing, and management with concentration on nursing home administration. Discussion will focus on nursing home organization, resident care, personnel, financial, environmental, and regulatory management. Effective management, measured by indicators such as quality of care and quality of life of nursing home residents, will be presented. Student evaluations are based on class participation, two in-class exams, and a paper. Prerequisite: Hpm 500 or consent of instructor.
This course explores international public health issues and various health care systems are identified; measures of health outcomes in populations are evaluated. Specific issues to be explored include infectious disease; reproductive health; nutrition; chronic disease; mental health; unintentional injuries and violence; and health and the economy. International health programs and projects as well as the globalization and practice of international health will also be discussed. Each student will select a national public health system for an in-depth study which will identify major population-based health issues and make recommendations for improved outcomes. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Hpm 647 Program Evaluation (3)
Provide students with a basic understanding of and skills in the uses and principles of evaluation models and methodologies. The course will provide an overview of evaluation, evaluation models, evaluation design methodology, principles of sampling, principles of measurement and data collection, the application of qualitative and quantitative analysis tools to evaluation data, as well as methods for enhancing the likelihood that evaluation results are utilized. Both quantitative and qualitative models and methods will be discussed. Prerequisites: Epi 501, Sta 552, or equivalent.
Hpm 648 (Pad 644) Health Care Finance (4)
Examines major policy and implementation issues in the financing of health care, particularly the poor. Among the topics addressed are health cost containment, Medicaid, long term care, AIDS, and the provision of care to the uninsured. Prerequisites: Pad 503 and Pad 505 (or equivalent).
Hpm 650 Strategy & Leadership Applications in Health Management (3)
This course deals with the application of strategic management principles, organization theory, and leadership skills to a variety of “real world” management issues in both private and public sector health organizations. Primary focus is placed on using a strategic framework for identifying, thinking about, and addressing these issues as a health care manager. The course emphasized group decision making processes and case-based learning. In addition, leadership and an understanding of organizational dynamics in health care are included as critical factors determining how well the strategic planning process will work. In this course, it is expected that students will bring knowledge learned in other courses to bear in making strategic assessments and decisions for various cases. Thus, it is strongly recommended that students take this course toward the end of their program of study.
Hpm 652 Quantitative Methods in Health Policy (3)
Students are introduced to a variety of statistical methods and problems encountered by health policy analysts, planners and administrators. Quantitative methods for solving these problems and journal articles provide real-world examples for students. Methods include: nonparametric statistical methods; medical and health policy decision analysis; quantitative methods for health policy analysis. Prerequisites: Sta 552 and Sta 553, Epi/Hpm 514 or Permission of Instructor.
Hpm 653 Public Health and the Challenge of HIV/AIDS (3)
This course is an overview of the public health response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The content focuses on varying geopolitical levels from the U.S. to individual communities within New York State. A matrix framework is utilized to examine policy, program design, evaluation and financing of prevention, health care and social support services affecting different HIV-infected populations.
Hpm 655 International Health Economics (3)
This course is designed to introduce basic economic theories, concepts, and tools and apply them specifically to the health care sector under a variety of contexts in the international economy. This analysis focuses on a variety of health care systems and how the governmental role in these systems varies in the corrections in the market and in the provision and consumption of health care services.
Hpm 656 Comparative Health Systems: A Global Perspective (3)
Every country is confronted with choices about how to organize and deliver health care for its people. This course explores the diversity of models that have been established in response to particular forces and circumstances including those related to political and economic factors and demographics. Students will have the opportunity to analyze the various approaches to managing and delivering health care in several countries, both those of wealthy nations and those of fewer resources. The issues of access, cost, and quality will be emphasized as well as current and emerging issues and challenges.
Hpm 669 Topics in Health Policy and Management (1-3)
Seminar format to study selected health policy issues. Possible topics include assessing the regulation of the medical care industry in New York; public policy for trauma prevention and care; learning about quality of care implications for public policy; improving the health of people in poverty; setting priorities in environmental and occupational health, theory and practice of health systems planning, nutrition programs and policy, international health, topics in women's health. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Hpm 690 HPM Field Placement (3)
A field experience in which the student works closely with a mentor on a project in health policy, management, or social behavior and community health. The field placement will often provide the basis for the master's paper. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Hpm 695 Master's Project in Health Policy, Management and Behavior (3)
Selected project in Health Policy, Management and Behavior for each student. A report representing the entire semester of study is written on the subject studied.
Hpm 697 Independent Study and Research in Health Policy and Management (2-6)
Supervised independent study or research of selected topics and problems of health policy and management. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Hpm 698 Master’s Research (1)
This course is for students who have completed all coursework, but are still working on the completion of their field placement or Master’s Project to maintain continuous enrollment.
Hpm 699 Master's Thesis in Health Policy, Management and Behavior (3)
Hpm 753 (Psy 753) Psychometric Theory and Research (3)
This course familiarizes the student with theories and practices relevant to the development and use of psychosocial measures in basic and applied research. Rationale for the utilization of different strategies in the development and analysis of particular measures will be discussed. Prerequisites: Sta 552, Sta 553, Epi 501, Hpm 647.
