Program Mission Statement and Description

Tulane was the first university to establish a joint degree program in business and health systems management leading to award of the joint MBA/MHA degree upon completion of 93 academic credits. The joint degree is offered between the A.B. Freeman School of Business and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. It incorporates MBA and HSM management core courses, including health law, quantitative decision making, health care organization, and health care financial management.

HSM adopted an outcomes or competency-based assessment of student performance. The HSM faculty, in conjunction with an alumni focus group, identified seven competency areas considered necessary for professionals entering the field of health management and policy.

These competencies fall into the following domains: Leadership, Management, Communication, Critical and Analytical Thinking, Health Policy, Health Systems Analysis, and Strategic Management.

Upon completion of the MHA program, graduates will be able to:

• Develop and define a vision and guide individuals and groups toward that vision while maintaining group cohesiveness, motivation, commitment, ethical standards and effectiveness. (Courses that substantially support this competency: HSMG 617; HSMG 619; HSMG 632; HSMG 637; HSMG 650; HSMG 692; HSMG 754; HSMG 791; HSMG 792.
• Participate in planning and decision-making, organizing, leading, and controlling an organization’s human, financial, physical, and information resources to achieve organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner. (Courses that substantially support this competency: HSMG 637; HSMG 684; HSMG 754; HSMG 791; HSMG 792.
• Effectively transfer information in oral, written, and non-verbal form to others, including the ability to judge what needs to be communicated, when it needs to be communicated, to whom, how and how much, and where this communication should take place. (Courses that substantially support this competency: HSMG 632; HSMG 684; HSMG 692; HSMG 766; HSMG 791; HSMG 792.)
• Formulate the right questions, think logically and independently, conceptualize and problem solve in an unstructured environment. (Courses that substantially support this competency: BIOS 603; ENHS 603; EPID 603; SPHL 601; SPHL 603; HSMG 603; HSMG 617; HSMG 637; HSMG 645; HSMG 675; HSMG 684; HSMG 692; HSMG 717; HSMG 754; HSMG 755; HSMG 758; HSMG 771; HSMG 791; HSMG 792.)
• Assess the impact of health policy on major and diverse community and organizational stakeholders and its implications for organizational response, initiatives, and direction. (Courses that substantially support this competency: HSMG 603; HSMG 621; HSMG 637; HSMG 755; HSMG 766.)
• Recognize and analyze health system and sub-system properties, processes, and outputs, and the dynamic interactions within the system and with the external environment. (Courses that substantially support this competency: ENHS 603; EPID 603; HSMG 603; HSMG 637; HSMG 645; HSMG 650; HSMG 717; HSMG 766.)
• Develop, implement, manage, and evaluate economic and financial models to plan and guide the organization to achieve its strategic goals and objectives. (Courses that substantially support this competency: EPID 603; HSMG 645; HSMG 650; HSMG 684; HSMG 754; HSMG 755; HSMG 758; HSMG 771.)

Admission Requirements 
                                                                                                      
Students must meet the School's requirements to be considered for admission to the MHA in Health Systems Management. The ideal educational preparation includes study in the natural, social, and behavioral sciences, mathematics, economics, business and humanities. There are no specific educational prerequisites since no one undergraduate major is preferred above others.

• A baccalaureate degree is required for admission to the Program, and admission is limited to 12-15 positions per entering class;
• GRE score of 1000 or higher per the School's minimum admission requirements;
• 3.0 undergraduate GPA or better;
• Exceptions for outstanding performance either on the GRE or the undergraduate GPA, impressive service or professional experience, or strong recommendations are considered;
• Students with at least one or two years of work experience preferred, although about half of each MHA class comes to Tulane directly from undergraduate degree programs.

Candidates apply and are admitted separately by each of the two schools and by the joint committee that administers the program.  In addition, all applicants must complete an interview with a department faculty member.

Students may enroll in the MHA program in the fall semester. Applications should be submitted by March. 

Program Requirements 
                                                                                                                       
Students complete 60 credit hours towards the MHA portion of their degree. These credit hours are comprised of 18 credit hours of the public health core courses, 15 credit hours of MBA and HSM management core courses, 23 credit hours of HSM program requirement classes and 7 credit hours of electives. The joint curriculum is divided equally between the two schools with the majority of the first year spent in the business school. HSM course work is concentrated in the second and third years. Students complete 93 total credit hours between the two degrees.

Students are required to complete an Administrative Residency during the program. Students also produce a Public Health Analysis for their Culminating Experience.

-Download Sample Course Plan
-Download Curriculum Worksheet      

School Core Courses (18 credits)

HSM Program (MBA) Core  (15 credits)

HSM Management Core (23 credits)

Electives (7 credit hours)

SPHL 795 - Culminating Experience (0 credit hours)
MHA students will develop and present a Public Health Analysis on a pressing, local public health issue. Students conduct research on this problem, write a 10-20 page manuscript, and then present their findings to a panel of faculty and local alumni and practitioners.

SPHL 998 – Practicum (0 credit hours)
The practicum requirements for this program are satisfied by an Administrative Residency that typically begins in the summer following the student's first year of coursework. Students complete a final comprehensive paper, a residency plan, and receive a final evaluation from their site preceptor.

For more information:

Mark Diana, PhD
MHA Program Director
E-mail: mdiana@tulane.edu
Phone: 504-988-5359
Fax: 504-988-3783
Location: Tidewater, Room 1909

A.B. Freeman Contact         
Bill Sandefer
Director
Graduate Admissions & Financial Aid
Phone: 504-865-5410 ext.2485
E-mail: Bill.Sandefer@tulane.edu
Location: Freeman Bldg, Room 401H
Admissions: abfadmit@tulane.edu
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Department of Health Systems Management
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
1440 Canal Street, Suite 1900, New Orleans, La 70112
504.988.5428 phn  504.988.3783
hsm@tulane.edu