Hospital Administration

The Hospital Administration (Medical Business) elective is offered at various times of the year depending on preceptor availability. This elective is designed to give students exposure to the complex interdisciplinary skills and knowledge that are needed for physicians in leadership roles to bring about change in the current health care fields. By directly working with an executive preceptor in the DC area, students will attend meetings and activities with hospital administration and leaders of clinical team (sepsis, stroke, etc). Students will learn about High Reliability Organization (HRO) principles, hospital safety, quality, patient experience, and financial sustainability. In discussion with the preceptor, the student may choose to identify a key issue/problem and formulate a written solution. At the end of the elective, students will write a brief 1-2 page reflection paper on this experience as well as create an informal letter (less than one page) to future students detailing their advice on how to best approach the elective.

Course Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Describe aspects of leadership needed to form solutions to healthcare and healthcare system problems.
2. Discuss processes and procedures necessary for running a hospital effectively.
3. Apply a process improvement model (i.e. LEAN, PDSA, ACA, RCA, or other) to a quality or safety issue for a hospital or healthcare system.
4. Recognize the ethical considerations and solutions involved in medical business decision making.
5. Explain inter-professional relationships across a wide variety of clinical and administrative occupations.
6. Recognize the skills necessary to manage and lead multidisciplinary teams.
7. Demonstrate awareness and business acumen regarding the myriad perspectives and complexities surrounding the current healthcare economic climate (e.g. healthcare costs, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement schedules, prescription drug costs, governmental policy, etc).