Health Care Management Curriculum

General Orientation:

• Assess the current employment outlook for Health Care Management
• Compare the allied health professions and understand their relation to Health Care Management
• Describe reimbursement systems and the role health information management technicians' play in reimbursement
• Describe how technology is used in health information management

Medical Law and Ethics:

• Identify federal and state guidelines when documenting and releasing medical records or information
• Follow established policies when initiating or terminating medical treatment
• Perform risk management procedures
• Comply with federal, state, and local health laws and regulations
• Define living will, health care proxy, DNR orders, and durable power of attorney
• Identify ways to stay informed regarding new laws and regulations so that the facility in which they work remains in compliance

Psychology of Human Relations:

• Define abnormal behavior patterns
• Identify appropriate therapeutic communication skills when working/caring for patients with special needs
• Explain developmental stages of life
• Analyze the effect of hereditary, cultural, and environmental influences

Basic Keyboarding/Computer Concepts:

• Perform basic keyboarding skills including:
  • Locating the keys on a keyboard
  • Typing medical correspondence and basic reports
• Demonstrate the proper use of office machines, computerized systems, and medical software such as:
  • Efficiently maintain and understand different types of medical correspondence and medical reports
• Apply computer application skills using variety of different electronic programs including both practice management software and EMR software

Medical Office Business Procedures/Management:

• Perform basic clerical functions
• Prepare medical records
• Schedule appointments
• Apply concepts for office procedures
• Locate resources and information for patients and employers
• Schedule inpatient and outpatient admissions
• Post entries on a day sheet
• Perform billing and collection procedures
• Perform accounts payable procedure
• Perform accounts receivable procedures
• Post adjustments
• Process credit balance
• Process refunds
• Post non-sufficient funds
• Post collection agency payments
• Apply third-party guidelines
• Obtain managed care referrals and pre-certifications
• Perform diagnostic and procedural coding
• Prepare and submit insurance claims
• Use physician fee schedule
• Use manual or computerized bookkeeping systems
• Maintain medical facility
• Perform routine maintenance of administrative and clinical equipment
• Maintain inventory equipment and supplies
• Recognize effective communication techniques
• Communicate on the recipient's level of comprehension
• Serve as a liaison between physician and others
• Use proper telephone techniques
• Interview effectively
• Use pertinent medical terminology
• Receive, organize, prioritize, and transmit information expediently
• Recognize and respond to verbal and nonverbal communication
• Perform fundamental writing skills including correct grammar, spelling, and formatting techniques when writing prescriptions, documenting medical records, etc
  

Career Development and Professional Communications:

• Perform the essential requirements for employment such as resume writing, effective interviewing, dressing professionally, and following up appropriately
• Demonstrate professionalism by
  • Exhibiting dependability, punctuality, and a positive work ethic
  • Exhibiting a positive attitude and a sense of responsibility
  • Maintaining confidentiality at all times
  • Being cognizant of ethical boundaries
  • Exhibiting initiative
  • Adapting to change
  • Expressing a responsible attitude
  • Being courteous and diplomatic
  • Identify and spell word elements, names of diagnostic procedures, diagnoses, treatment procedures, and abbreviations related to all the body systems
• Discuss the organizational levels of the human body in order of increasing complexity and explain how those levels are related to each other
• Explain how human anatomy and physiology are related
• Identify major psychological theories
• Apply HIPAA regulations
• Compose essays, narratives, and thesis statements that utilize effective writing techniques

Business and Finance:

• Discuss an overview of investments and statistics
• Describe the changing health care environment and its impact on managers
• Discuss and analyze transactions that affect current assets
• Explain the basic balance sheet and the impact of those issues on net income and cash flow
• Describe auditing concepts and implement internal auditing
• Differentiate between physician and hospital billing concepts
• Apply basic statistical principles
• Identify valid and reliable data
• Calculate, analyze, and report routine institutional statistics and institutional health-care quality indicators
• Collect, interpret, prepare, and present research data
• Design reports using database information
• Perform statistical analysis of patient information

Health Care Management and Department Management:

• Explain the fundamentals of management
• Describe the principles of an organization
• Summarize the basic functions of management
• Discuss human resources management
• Describe the principles of supervision
• Explain staff development
• Discuss health information technology supervision functions
• Describe the changing health-care environment and its impact on managers
• Compare the various schools of thought on managerial skills
• Discuss the process of planning and what role the manager plays
• Explain the importance of delegation of authority and mentoring
• Identify different decision-making approaches
• Detail the skills needed to manage an entire department or organization
• Discuss managerial functions
• Discuss the manager's relationship with the labor union
  

Supervision and Leadership:

• Identify and explain major approaches to leadership
• Describe the prominent theories surrounding the process of leadership
• Discuss the topic of women and leadership
• Identify and address moral and ethical issues that arise in the workplace
• Analyze the role of leadership as it relates to culture and globalization

Quality Management Performance Improvement:

• Apply the fundamentals of quality management
• Describe the characteristics of complex systems
• Explain system behavior
• Compare models for health-care managers
• Contrast customer and stakeholder requirements
• Describe the role of policies in promoting system change
• Improve and measure process and performance

Human Resources Management:

• Identify the responsibilities of human resources departments
• Summarize the types of skills needed for effective HRM operations
• Explain the role of supervisors and discuss ethical issues in HRM
• Summarize the elements of work flow analysis
• Discuss the ways technological developments affect HRM strategies
• Explain ways employers can provide for worker safety and health and eliminate sexual harassment
• Describe typical careers in HRM

Objectives:

• Understand how to use your Student Portal, including your My Homepage and My Courses pages.
• Access the Penn Foster Community and use it to find answers.
• Connect with Penn Foster on various social media sites.
• Describe reimbursement systems and the role health information management technicians play in reimbursement.
• Describe how technology is used in health information management.
• Discuss different professional organizations and certifications for health information management technicians.
• Explain the different roles, opportunities, and settings for health information management technicians.

Objectives:

• Search the Internet more effectively.
• Get tips about search engines and reliable websites.
• Learn how to search libraries and other information centers for important, useful information.

Objectives:

• Describe civil and criminal law, sources of law, and the steps of litigation.
• Distinguish between liability, negligence, and malpractice and explain how they relate to medical assistants.
• Explain defenses against medical malpractice and against criminal charges.
• Identify the various ethical issues that health-care professionals face.
• Explain the uses and content of medical records.
• Describe the legal significance of confidentiality obligations.
• Explain the core concepts of HIPAA’s final Privacy Rule.
• Summarize the role of peer review in confidentiality issues.
• Describe confidentiality and security issues related to electronic medical records.
• Describe the public duties of health-care professionals and workplace legalities.
• Define and differentiate living will, health-care proxy, DNR orders, and durable power of attorney.
• Discuss legal and ethical issues at the beginning of life and childhood and those related to death and dying.
• Describe health-care trends and the future of health-care delivery.

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: Law & Ethics for Medical Careers

Objectives:

• Effectively use free writing and brainstorming.
• Perfect your ability to edit and revise your writing.
• Apply techniques for getting the reader’s attention.
• Write descriptive essays, first-person narratives, reflective essays, persuasive essays, and effective thesis statements.

Additional Course Materials:

• Textbook: Successful College Writing
• Supplement: The Little, Brown Essential Handbook

Objectives:

• Use percentages, discounts, and interest formulas.
• Analyze present worth and sinking funds.
• Understand how to buy in installments and price merchandise.
• Explain depreciation, insurance, equations, and formulas.
• Discuss an overview of investments and statistics.

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: Practical Business Math Procedures

Objectives:

• Define word elements, roots, prefixes, suffixes, combining vowels, and combining forms.
• Describe the basic rules for building a medical word.
• Describe the uses and effects of drugs on the body.
• Distinguish among generic drug names, official drug names, trade names, and chemical names.
• Identify and spell word elements, names of diagnostic procedures, diagnoses, treatment procedures, and abbreviations related to the integumentary and musculoskeletal systems; cardiovascular system; the blood and lymph system; the respiratory system; the digestive and urinary systems; the reproductive system; the endocrine system; and the nervous system.
• Define terms related to the psychology and psychiatry fields.
• Identify and define terms associated with conditions of the eyes and ears.
• Identify and define terms commonly used on operative reports.

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: Medical Terminology, A Living Language

Objectives:

• Create, edit, and illustrate Microsoft® Word™ documents.
• Apply formulas and functions to large data sets in Microsoft® Excel.®
• Incorporate useful charts and graphs to summarize data.
• Add, delete, sort, and lay out table data.
• Create presentations in Microsoft® PowerPoint® using advanced tools, tables, and charts.

Objectives:

• Recognize the scope of the law for health-care providers as well as the insurance industry.
• Understand the reasons for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
• Discuss the importance of protected health information.
• Differentiate between privacy, confidentiality, and security.
• Describe the Security Rule and its impact, safeguards, and challenges.
• Review HIPAA transactions and code sets.
• Define the role of the Office of HIPAA Standards (OHS) and Office of the E-Health Standards and Services (OESS).

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: HIPAA for Health Care Professionals

Objectives:

• Describe the changing health-care environment and its impact on managers.
• Compare the various schools of thought on managerial skills.
• Discuss the process of planning and what role the manager plays.
• Explain the importance of delegation of authority and mentoring.
• Identify different decision-making approaches.
• Detail the skills needed to manage an entire department or organization.
• Discuss managerial functions.
• Discuss the manager’s relationship with the labor union.

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: Healthcare Management

Objectives:

• Define terms referring to location, position, direction, body planes, and sections.
• Identify and describe the basic anatomical structures and major cavities of the human body.
• Discuss the process and mechanics of homeostasis.
• Explain how human anatomy and physiology are related.
• List and discuss the organizational levels of the human body in order of increasing complexity and explain how these levels are related to each other.
• Explain the structures, functions, and diseases of the skeletal, muscular, nervous, and endocrine systems in humans.

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: Body Structures and Functions (with accompanying CD-ROM)

Objectives:

• Identify and describe the components, functions, and disorders of blood, the circulatory system, the lymphatic system, the respiratory system, the digestive system, the urinary system, the reproductive system, and genetics.
• Describe the processes of inflammation and coagulation.
• Explain the disease mechanisms involved in the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
• Describe different types of microorganisms.
• Discuss the body’s defense mechanisms against infection.
• Identify and describe the functions of water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, trace elements, and vitamins.
• Explain the principles of healthy nutrition and describe nutritional disorders.
• Identify and explain the functions of the reproductive system.
• Describe the disorders of both male and female reproductive systems.
• Define genetics, mutation, and lethal genes.
• Describe selected genetic disorders.
• Explain the potential of genetic engineering.

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: Body Structures and Functions (with accompanying CD-ROM)

Objectives:

• Understand and explain the components of communication, both verbal and nonverbal.
• Develop effective listening and observation skills.
• Recognize prejudice in interpersonal relations.
• Describe personal traits essential for successful interpersonal relations.

Objectives:

• Define accounting and identify and describe its different classifications.
• Discuss and analyze transactions that affect current assets.
• Discuss the significance of inventories and cost-flow assumptions.
• Explain, integrate, and interpret the basic balance sheet and the impact of those issues of net income and cash flow.

Additional Course Material:

• Textbook: Accounting:What the Numbers Mean