Master of Health Administration Competencies

The Competency Model of the Master in Health Administration at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences consists of twenty-two competencies distributed across five domains. It is the result of an extensive consideration of the competency models used by highly-ranked CAHME-Accredited programs.

Students Beginning Program Spring 2018 to Present

Domain I – Leadership, Professionalism, and Ethics

  • Demonstrate ethics, sound professional practices, social accountability, community stewardship, and a commitment to life-long learning.
  • Assess individual strengths and weaknesses (including the impact that you have on others) and engage in continual professional development and self-reflection.
  • Articulate how leaders energize stakeholders with a compelling vision that fosters and sustains shared commitment to organizational goals.
  • Participate in and lead team activities that demonstrate collaborative group effort and effective group processes, including the ability to hold team members accountable individually and collectively.

Domain 2 – Communications and Relationships

  • Speak and write in a clear, logical, and grammatically correct manner in formal and informal situations and to prepare cogent business presentations.
  • Establish, build, and sustain professional contacts for the purpose of building networks of people with similar goals and that support similar interests.
  • Work effectively and respect the differences in others’ culture, race, gender, age, and experience.
  • Listen effectively and empathetically in order to understand and identify with others’ interests, concern, and needs.

Domain 3 – Management and Strategy

  • Consider the business, demographic, cultural, political, and regulatory implications of decisions and develop strategies that continually improve the long-term success and viability of the organization.
  • Articulate and evaluate best human resource practices.
  • Understand and evaluate the formal and informal decision-making structures and power relationships in an organization; the ability to identify key decision-makers and the individuals who can influence them.
  • Understand and value the potential in and understand the use of administrative and clinical information technology and decision-support tools in process and performance improvement. 
  • Understand the principles of transformational management, and to assess the organizational dynamics of healthcare organizations relative to their commitment to a transformational culture.

Domain 4 – Measurement and Analysis

  • Understand and explain financial and accounting information, prepare and manage budgets, and make sound long-term investment decisions.
  • Assess multiple dimensions of financial performance to measure and improve the long-term financial viability of provider organizations.
  • Evaluate clinical and organization performance using statistical and operations management techniques and procedures.
  • Apply general and health economic concepts to the analysis of pricing, service demand, and risk.
  • Demonstrate analytical thinking and logical approached to problem solving.
  • Understand the process by which the health and disease status of a community, including relevant determinants are gathered, analyzed and interpreted; appreciate the limitations of this process as well as issues of causation; demonstrate the process by which healthcare organizations use such data to shape their strategic vision.

Domain 5 – Knowledge of the Healthcare Environment

  • Interpret and analyze laws and regulations that impact health practitioners, organizations, and the public.
  • Assess the effect of health policy on providers, payers, and populations.
  • Assess the different types of provider organization, the clinical professions, and their influence on the quality and cost of care.

Students Beginning Fall 2015 to Fall 2017

  • Demonstrate ethics, sound professional practices, social accountability, community stewardship, and a commitment to life-long learning.
  • Assess individual strengths and weaknesses (including the impact that you have on others) and engage in continual professional development and self-reflection.
  • Articulate how leaders energize stakeholders with a compelling vision that fosters and sustains shared commitment to organizational goals.
  • Participate in and lead team activities that demonstrate collaborative group effort and effective group processes, including the ability to hold team members accountable individually and collectively.
  • Speak and write in a clear, logical, and grammatically correct manner in formal and informal situations and to prepare cogent business presentations.
  • Establish, build, and sustain professional contacts for the purpose of building networks of people with similar goals and that support similar interests.
  • Work effectively and respect the differences in others’ culture, race, gender, age, and experience.
  • Listen effectively and empathetically in order to understand and identify with others’ interests, concern, and needs.
  • Consider the business, demographic, cultural, political, and regulatory implications of decisions and develop strategies that continually improve the long-term success and viability of the organization.
  • Articulate and evaluate best human resource practices.
  • Understand and evaluate the formal and informal decision-making structures and power relationships in an organization; the ability to identify key decision-makers and the individuals who can influence them.
  • Understand and value the potential in and understand the use of administrative and clinical information technology and decision-support tools in process and performance improvement.
  • Understand the principles of transformational management, and to assess the organizational dynamics of healthcare organizations relative to their commitment to a transformational culture.
  • Understand and explain financial and accounting information, prepare and manage budgets, and make sound long-term investment decisions.
  • Assess multiple dimensions of financial performance to measure and improve the long-term financial viability of provider organizations.
  • Evaluate clinical and organization performance using statistical and operations management techniques and procedures.
  • Apply general and health economic concepts to the analysis of pricing, service demand, and risk.
  • Demonstrate analytical thinking and logical approached to problem-solving.
  • Interpret and analyze laws and regulations that impact health practitioners, organizations, and the public.
  • Assess the effect of health policy on providers, payers, and populations.
  • Assess the different types of provider organization, the clinical professions, and their influence on the quality and cost of care.

Students Beginning Spring 2012 to Summer 2015

  • Create a health status profile of a population in a market area using available data sources.
  • Create a profile of health disparities for a population in a market service area.
  • Analyze interactions between the subsystems of a health system using a systems framework.
  • Use epidemiological principles to assess the disease burden in a population.
  • Describe the impact of health knowledge, risk behaviors and lifestyle on health status.
  • Describe the formulation, implementation and evaluation components of the policy development process.
  • Analyze the influence of major internal and external stakeholders of a healthcare organization.
  • Evaluate strategies to achieve strategic collaborations with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Assess the social, economic, political and ethical impact of a health policy.
  • Discuss key organizational behavior theories, challenges and strategies in a healthcare organization.
  • Formulate a motivation strategy for a healthcare organization.
  • Describe the basic management functions and processes in a health care organization.
  • Describe the various types of healthcare organizations involved in the delivery, financing and regulation of healthcare services.
  • Discuss key management issues and approaches to designing and restructuring a healthcare organization.
  • Assess the performance of a healthcare organization.
  • Use qualitative and quantitative tools to define clinical and administrative operational problems.
  • Apply decision tools to implement solutions to clinical and administrative operational problems.
  • Discuss the major human resources legal, regulatory and ethical issues associated with hiring, employing and terminating employees.
  • Create a human resource audit, including job analysis, recruitment, selection, compensation and benefits, labor relations, and training and development with recommendations for improving a healthcare organization.
  • Describe the components of an information system for a healthcare organization.
  • Describe the features and benefits of an electronic health records system.
  • Discuss the security and confidentiality of a health information system.
  • Plan the purchase and implementation of an IT system for a healthcare organization.
  • Discuss the requirements and impact of regulations such as HIPAA, Stark and antitrust laws on the operation of a healthcare organization.
  • Discuss the legal issues of negligence, liability, tort, malpractice and contracts applied to the management of a healthcare organization.
  • Discuss the fiduciary and compliance responsibilities of a governing board.
  • Describe the structure and roles of governing boards in health care organizations.
  • Describe the roles of a CEO in a healthcare organization.
  • Analyze the executive structure of a healthcare organization in the context of its mission, vision and strategies.
  • Articulate a personal philosophy and approach to leadership.
  • Assess the performance of a leader of a health care organization or system.
  • Construct a mission, vision and set of goals for a healthcare organization.
  • Assess methods to achieve effective organizational change in a healthcare organization.
  • Explain the effective composition, development and performance of teams in a healthcare organization.
  • Demonstrate the ability to construct a well written paper defining a management or policy approach.
  • Demonstrate the ability to construct and present an electronic media supported oral presentation on a health related topic.
  • Apply effective listening skills.
  • Demonstrate cultural sensitivity in all communications.
  • Describe a process to achieve a win-win negotiation.
  • Use basic statistical methods to evaluate patterns and trends in a data set for a healthcare organization.
  • Use computer based statistical packages to analyze a data set for a healthcare organization.
  • Demonstrate the application of appropriate statistical tools and interpretation of results.
  • Constructing and managing databases.
  • Describe applications of economic concepts such as supply, demand, elasticity, efficiency, productivity and economies of scale to the management of healthcare organizations.
  • Describe the economic interactions between cost, access and quality in a healthcare delivery system.
  • Describe the impact of health insurance on demand for health services.
  • Apply cost benefit analysis.
  • Construct a market assessment of competitive market share and strategic positions using available data sources.
  • Develop a marketing plan.
  • Analyze the financial performance of a healthcare organization based on an assessment of their financial statements.
  • Utilize strategic financial planning methodologies for a healthcare organization.
  • Understand the time value of money, how it impacts the risk-return tradeoff, and its role in investment decisions and capital budgeting.
  • Understand the budgeting process, develop an operating budget and evaluate variances.
  • Understand ethical principles in the management of a healthcare organization.
  • Apply ethical principles to an ethical dilemma in a healthcare organization.
  • Analyze the relevant health and medical environment for a health care organization including competitor analysis and internal organizational analysis.
  • Discuss business strategies and methods to select alternatives.
  • Develop a business plan.
  • Assess the clinical and service performance of a health care organization using a common set of publicly collected and reported indicators.
  • Discuss a quality improvement strategy using available quality improvement tools.
  • Understand the components of a career and skills development plan.
  • Understand the ethical requirements of a healthcare professional association.
  • Assess interactions and relationships creating a problem or opportunity.
  • Ask targeted questions about the problem or opportunity.
  • Create and evaluate alternative strategies to solve a problem or achieve an opportunity.
  • Create a business plan for a new product or service for a healthcare organization.
  • Participate in a summer residency or Healthcare Management experience.
  • Assess the roles and functions of team members.
  • Assess the performance of team members.
  • Apply team improvement strategies.