Welcome to the Health Care Management Department

This course provides an overview of the evolution, structure and current issues in the health care system. It examines the unique features of health care as a product, and the changing relationships between patients, physicians, hospitals, insurers, employers, communities, and government. The course examines three broad segments of the health care industry: payors, providers, and suppliers. Within the payor segment, the course examines the sources and destinations of spending, managed care (HMOs, PPOs), employer based health insurance, technology assessment, payor strategy, and efforts to pay for the elderly, the poor, and the medically indigent. Within the provider segment, the course examines the impact of cost containment and competition on hospitals and integrated delivery systems, long term care and disease management, and the important role of epidemiology in assessing population health needs and risks. Within the supplier segment, the course will examine developments in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical devices, genomics and IT industries.

NOTE: This is a required course for Wharton Graduate Health Care Management majors; it counts as an elective course for all other Wharton Graduate students. It is also open to Law School and Nursing School students with a joint Wharton program. Please note that during the Wharton Pre-term program, there are three additional sessions that serve as important background material for this course. The instructor presumes you know this material when the regular course begins.

HCMG 849-001:FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH INSTITUTIONS[TOP]

Mon, Wed 1:30-3:00 pm, CPC Auditorium

Professor Scott Harrington

1 credit

This course focuses on the application of financial analysis to financial and operating decisions in the health care industry. Valuation methods covered include: net present value of free cash flows, decision tree analysis, real options , and multiples. The cases allow students to apply these skills to examine the following types of decisions/situations: estimate the value of a drug that is being developed using both traditional NPV and option pricing; evaluate an R&D limited partnership as an alternative to traditional methods of financing biotech R&D; estimate the value of a pharmaceutical company using publicly available data; identify the best way for a new medical device company to price its products and raise funds; determine why a Medicare HMO is losing money, recommend whether the plan should remain in the market, and recommend changes in benefit design and reimbursement methods if the plan decides to remain in the market; analyze a health system’s profitability by product line and discuss the implications for pure play or carve-out companies.

HCMG 850-002: HEALTH POLICY ANALYSIS [TOP]

Tues 4:30-7:30 pm, CPC Auditorium

Professor Mark Pauly

0.5-1 credit

This course will not be offered in Fall 2007

This course will examine how public policy actions affect costs, quality, access, and profits in the medical care sector. It will describe how policy analysts, legislators and their staffs, and non-governmental organizations determine whether policy interventions are efficient or equitable, and it will also analyze the political process that produces government actions or mandates functions. Since the public sector is so important in medical markets, these public policy actions necessarily affect managers, consumers, and providers in the private sector as well, and the course will focus on their challenges and their interests. It will apply these general ideas to a set of crucial policy issues. Medicare reform, coverage of the uninsured, drug coverage for the elderly, privacy and patient protection rules, the patients’ bill of rights and other health insurance regulation, and provider and drug manufacturer reimbursement will all be discussed. The course will prepare students to undertake policy analysis, to develop or critique advocacy documents, and to predict and interpret policy actions for other public or private managers.

HCMG 854-401: LEGAL ASPECTS OF HEALTH CARE [TOP]

(Cross listed with HCMG 211-401)

Tues, Thurs 1:30-3:00 pm, CPC Auditorium

Professor Arnold Rosoff

Lecturer Robert Field

1 credit

This course offers a current and historical overview of the regulation of health care delivery in the U.S. It examines principles and practical applications of the laws that affect the operational decisions of health care providers, payors and managers and that impact the development of markets for health care products and services. Also considered are the social, moral, and ethical issues encountered in trying to balance the interests, needs and rights of citizens against those of society. For part of the term, the class will divide into two groups so that students can focus on their choice of (a) health care management or (b) selected issues of patients’ rights.

HCMG 855-002: MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH CARE FOR THE ELDERLY [TOP]

Mon 6:00-9:00 pm, CPC Auditorium (10/25/07– 12/7/07)

Professor John Whitman

0.5 - 1 credit

This mini course is designed to provide students with an appreciation of the long-term care industry and its past, current and future role within the overall health care system in the United States. This will be accomplished through an overview of the elderly population with special attention to their health and social needs, a review of what "Long Term Care" really means and a look at selected elderly programs/services with special emphasis on the hospitals’ evolving role in providing these services. Site visits to several local long term care facilities will be incorporated into the course. Other pertinent issues such as sub-acute care, long term care insurance, Medicare Risk Programs, elderly housing, adult day care, and case management will be addressed. The future of health care services for the elderly in an era of managed care and integrated delivery systems, will be discussed along with Medicare D and other new developments. Interested students not in the HCMG major are urged to speak to the instructor before enrolling in the course.

HCMG 858-001: HEALTH CARE MARKETING [TOP]

Thurs 3:00-6:00 pm, CPC Auditorium (10/25/07 – 12/07/07)

Lecturer Hari Mahadevan

0.5 credit

This course examines key marketing issues in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries. The focus is on aspects that distinguish marketing in the pharma-biotech-device industries from general marketing in non-health care industries. After reviewing these differences, the industry evolution and current state of flux, we focus in depth on the following topics: product launch and growth, from a strategic and tactical execution perspective; regulation, direct-to-consumer advertising, and off-label usage; unique features of medical device marketing, including hospital and GPO purchasing, role of sales reps etc.; biotechnology marketing, for both niche and blockbuster products; marketing mix optimization; global brand management. Class format includes lecture, case discussion and presentations by industry experts.

HCMG 859-401: COMPARATIVE HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS [TOP]

(Cross listed with HCMG 204-401)

Mon, Wed 10:30 am-12:00 pm, CPC Auditorium (CANCELLED FOR FALL 07)

Professor Patricia Danzon

1 credit

This course will not be offered in Fall 2007

This course examines the structure of health care systems in different countries, focusing on financing, reimbursement, delivery systems and adoption of new technologies. We study the relative roles of private sector and public sector insurance and providers, and the effect of system design on cost, quality, efficiency and equity of medical services. Some issues we address are normative: Which systems and which public/private sector mixes are better at achieving efficiency and equity? Other issues are positive: How do these different systems deal with the tough choices, such as decisions about new technologies? Our main focus is on the systems in four large OECD countries— Germany, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom—but we also look at other countries with interesting systems- including Italy, Chile, and Singapore. We will draw lessons for the U.S. from foreign experience and vice versa.

HCMG 890-001: ENTREPRENEURIAL MANAGEMENT OF SPECIALTY HEALTH CARE BUSINESSES [TOP]

Tues 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm, CPC Auditorium

Lecturer Doug Present

0.5 credit

This course examines issues related to managing or investing in Health Care Services Businesses. Defined as companies that manage, distribute or provide health care services, the Health Care Services sector touches almost every other portion of the health care system. We will study the key management issues related to a number of different health care services businesses with a focus on common challenges related to reimbursement, regulatory, margin, growth, and competitive issues. We will make extensive use of outside speakers all of whom will be current industry leaders within different sectors of the health care services industry and will address the current management issues they face in running their businesses. Students will then be asked to develop a plan to both buyout and subsequently manage a specific health care services business. Students will then present their plans to a panel of leading Health Care Private Equity investors.

HCMG 899: INDEPENDENT STUDY [TOP]

Offered Fall & Spring

Arranged with members of the Faculty of the Health Care Systems Department. For further information contact the department office, Room 204, Colonial Penn Center, 364l Locust Walk, 898-686l.

SPRING COURSES

HCMG 653-001: HEALTH CARE FIELD APPLICATION COURSE [TOP]

Time TBA, CPC Auditorium

Professor June Kinney

Professor Mark Pauly

1 credit

MBA Health Care Majors Only

This course focuses on leadership and management issues in health care organizations while providing students with a practice setting to examine and develop their own management skills. Each team acts as consultants to a local health care organization which has submitted a project proposal to the course. The teams define the issue and negotiate a contract with the client organization. By the end of the semester, teams present assessments and recommendations for action to their clients and reflect on their experience in double-team meetings.

HCMG 844-401: ECONOMICS OF HEALTH CARE AND POLICY [TOP]

(Cross listed with HCMG 903)

Thurs 3:00-6:00 pm, CPC Auditorium

Professor Guy David

1 credit

This course applies basic economic concepts to analyze the health care market and evaluate health policies. The course begins with an analysis of the demand for health, the derived demand for medical care and the demand for health insurance. The second part of the course examines the supply of medical care by physicians and hospitals, medical technology, and the role of managed care organizations. The implication of adverse selection, moral hazard, externalities, and asymmetric information will be explored. The third part of the course examines the rationale for government intervention in medical markets as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of various health policies, including: Medicare, Medicaid, price regulation of hospitals, physician payment reform, medical malpractice, uncompensated care, and physician manpower planning. Recommended course for Ph.D. students.

HCMG 845-001: MANAGED CARE AND THE INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION OF HEALTH CARE [TOP]

Weds 6:00-9:00 pm, JMHH F70

Professor Lawton Burns

1 credit

This course, co-taught with Brad Fleugel of Wellpoint, Inc., will focus on two interrelated topics: managed care and market structure. The section on managed care will cover strategic planning and marketing of managed care services, operational issues in developing a managed care network, actuarial issues, and the management of physician behavior.

The section on health care market structure will analyze strategies of vertical integration and horizontal integration (M&As), and their attempt to alter the balance of power in local healthcare markets. The section will also analyze the operational issues in managing cost and quality in an integrated system, integration along the supply chain, and the performance of these systems.

HCMG 852-001: HEALTH SERVICES DELIVERY: A MANAGERIAL ECONOMIC APPROACH [TOP]

Tues, Thurs. 10:30 am-12:00 pm, CPC Auditorium

Professor Guy David

1 credit

This course is designed to equip students with tools to understand and analyze problems in the rapidly changing health care delivery environment. It focuses on organizational and strategic issues in the delivery of health care in the hospital context. The course is divided into eight topic areas: 1.) Shortages, substitutability and efficiency in hospitals’ production, 2.) The role of nonprofit health care providers, 3.) The economics of hospitals and physicians’ specialization, 4.) Inpatient vs. outpatient care delivery, 5.) Antitrust laws, regulation and its effect on hospital competition, 6.) Marketing health services, 7.) Defining and improving medical performance, and 8.) Evidence-based medicine and the diffusion of technologies. The course will feature a number of guest speakers.

HCMG 863-001: MANAGEMENT & ECONOMICS OF PHARMACEUTICAL & BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY [TOP]

Mon, Wed 3:00-4:30 pm, JMHH 340

Prof. John Vernon

1 credit

This course provides an overview of the management, economic and policy issues facing the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. The course perspective is global, with emphasis on the U.S. as the largest and most profitable market. Critical issues we will examine include: R&D intensive cost structure and rapid technological change; biotechnology and genomics startups and alliances with the pharma industry; a complex global marketplace in which prices are regulated in most countries and customers include governments and insurers, as well as physicians, pharmacists and consumers now reachable through DTC; intense and evolving M&A, including mergers, joint ventures, and complex alliances; government regulation of every business function: R&D, pricing, manufacturing, and promotion; and global products and multinational firms. We use industry and Wharton experts from various disciplines to address these issues.

HCMG 866-001: E-HEALTH: BUSINESS MODELS AND IMPACT [TOP]

Tues 3:00-6:00 pm, CPC Auditorium

Lecturer Spyros Stavrakas

1 credit

This course will introduce students to the main components of Health Information Technology (HIT). Although it will not prepare students for primary technology management positions, it will help them understand the role of information in the success of the delivery system and other important healthcare processes. It will provide a foundation that will prepare them as managers and consultants to rely upon or manage information technology to accomplish their objectives. The course will give special attention to four key health care processes: HIT and the drive for quality and cost improvements, the value of patient-centric and other databases for pharmaceutical marketing and product development, the growth of new information technologies for consumer directed healthcare and HIT enterprises, their strategies and economics. The course relies heavily on industry leaders to share their ideas and experiences with students.

HCMG 867-001: HEALTH CARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP [TOP]
MW 4:30-6:00 pm, JMHH 240

Lecturer Gary Kurtzman

Lecturer Jeff Libson

0.5 credit (full semester)

The course focuses on the creation, funding and management of biotechnology and health services enterprises. The course is designed to supplement other offerings in the Health Care Systems and Management Departments for those students with entrepreneurial interest in such ventures, and will focus on special issues surrounding the conceptualization, planning, diligence and capitalization, launch, compensation and management of these ventures. In addition, the course offers methods for self-assessment and development of business models and plans, techniques for technology assessment and strategy, develops a foundation for capitalization and partnering strategies, and creates a basis for best practices in company launch and plan execution.

HCMG 868-001: ADVANCED STUDY PROJECT: INTERNATIONAL HEALTH [TOP]

M 4:30–6:00 pm, JMHH F45

Professor Stephen Sammut
0.5 credit (full semester)

This ASP will seek managerial solutions to international health issues and health issues within developing countries using private enterprise or other private initiatives, or public-private partnership approaches to issues of health services, development of products such as therapeutics, vaccines or devices, or other mechanisms or businesses that advance health.

The course goal is not to duplicate a conventional international public health course, but to build upon what is conventionally known and taught in such courses from a managerial solutions-oriented perspective. Discussion and reading will address a range of means of managing medical services and related businesses—public and private—in underserved areas for populations in emerging markets, developing countries, and underserved areas in developed nations.

For additional information, contact:Steve Sammut, Senior Fellow, Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs (smsammut@wharton.upenn.edu) Office: 424 Vance Hall.

HCMG 899: INDEPENDENT STUDY [TOP]
0.5-1 credit

Arranged with members of the Faculty of the Health Care Management Department. For further information contact the department office, Room 204, Colonial Penn Center, 364l Locust Walk, 898-686l.

FALL COURSES

SPRING COURSES