Healthcare MBA

Curriculum

The health care MBA (HCMBA) is designed to help early careerists and prospective students with little to no health care background complete an MBA with a health care focus. Through active learning and scholarly exploration, the HCMBA prepares students for careers in health care and if desired, qualifies them to apply for executive residency programs with hospital systems across the country. Executive residency programs are structured to create a pipeline of talent for progression to the C-suite within health care facilities.

The HCMBA curriculum is a balanced blend of MBA courses (e.g., management of interpersonal relationships, marketing relationships, and crafting and implementing strategy) and health care management-specific courses (e.g., health care operations and quality management, health care human resource management, and information technology for health care managers). The entire program focuses on the application of health care business best practices, including courses with hands-on learning projects with area health care companies.

See All Program Requirements

Courses You'll Take

ACC 6490. health care Accounting and Financial Management
Principles of financial management and accounting with specific applications and modifications for health care organizations. Topics from finance include reimbursement issues, the health care revenue cycle, recognizing sources of risk in reimbursement options and the institutional characteristics of capital markets for health care firms. Accounting topics include management use of financial information, measuring costs, budgeting, financial statement analysis and incentive systems.

BSA 6210. Information Technology for health care Managers
This course prepares graduate health care management students to interact with providers and IT personnel to manage information and information systems for integrated health care delivery. Topics include characteristics of health care data including standards; health care workflows as they relate to health care IT; major types of information systems in health care; the health care IT legislative environment; issues in health care interoperability including Health Information Exchanges; E-health and E-business in health care; the link between financial arrangements and HIT capabilities; issues of privacy, security and disaster recovery in health care, implementation and change management in health care settings including aspects of project management; and IT in the health care strategic planning process.

ECO 6250. Economics of health care 
This course provides an overview of microeconomic theory as it applies to the health care industry. Topics include the unique nature of health care as a commodity, medical inflation, market failure, the role of the public sector, the market for pharmaceuticals, forms of objective economic analysis, and managerial decision-making. Special emphasis is given to the implications of behavioral economics on individual decision-making. The course presents an economic analysis of the incentives facing the various stakeholders in the market for health care (patients, providers, and payers).

MGT 6000. Graduate Internships
The course consists of supervised work in a health administration setting that allows the student to integrate and apply concepts and competencies from didactic studies. Requirements to satisfy the course, which vary depending on the specific internship, include assessments of the experience by the intern and preceptor.

MGT 6100. Managing health care, Communities, and Populations 
This course delivers essential skills, tools, and techniques for managing health care organizations, communities, and populations effectively. As participants delve into the course, they will uncover the cornerstones of health care management, including strategic planning, marketing, human resource management, and performance evaluation. These core principles hold the key to success in the ever-evolving health care environment, where the efficient management of patient populations' health is a top priority. Beyond these principles, participants will gain expertise in crafting plans for health needs assessments and health risk appraisals. With a focus on outlining precise implementation steps and comprehensive evaluation protocols, the course aims to provide a solid foundation for assessing and improving expected health outcomes. By mastering these skills, participants will be well-positioned to excel as health care managers in a rapidly changing health care landscape.

MGT 6150. Management of Interpersonal Relationships
With an ever-changing virtual business landscape and in the face of disruptive technologies, successful relationship management is crucial in remaining flexible and viable in today’s competitive workforce. MGT 6150 provides a foundation and understanding for developing managerial, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills within organizational settings including effectively leading and working within groups and teams. Through the theoretical lens of organizational behavior and global human resource management, this interactive course analyzes a broad range of topics to ensure individuals facing workplace challenges are apt in communication, decision-making and managing oneself and others. Further, the exploration of self-awareness provides a personal narrative to develop individual skill sets necessary for productive professional growth.

MGT 6220. health care Human Resource Management and Leadership Principles 
This course deals with human resource issues in the health care organization. Particular attention is directed to the specific functions of human resources, not limited to but including job analysis, recruitment and retention, selection, placement, training and education, performance evaluation, compensation and rewards, safety and benefits, management employee relations and legal ramifications of these functions. The relationships between the administrative, legal and technical structures (related to the appropriate communication protocol and policy guidelines) and the professional relationships & staffing within the health care organizational structure (regarding credentialing & privileging of physicians, nurses, allied professions, and administrative personnel) will be studied in depth. Current and contemporary human resource management issues within the fields of health care management and operational activities will also be addressed. Additionally, this course explores the various applications of management and leadership principles and techniques to specific health care settings and venues. The course will include current topics within the field of health care leadership and issues that health care executives face throughout their careers.

MGT 6250. Health Insurance and Managed Care 
This course will consider insurance payment mechanisms and alternatives as well as risk management, patient-provider relationships, antitrust and health legislation. The section on managed care will cover organizational models, operational issues in developing a managed care network, implications of ownership (for profit vs. non-profit plans), actuarial issues, and the management of physician behavior. An overview of the characteristics of the market for medical services with emphasis on factors underlying medical inflation, and regulatory and market strategies for health care reform will be explored. The course illustrates both microeconomic and macroeconomic theories and concepts as applied to health care institutions, health care delivery systems, and the interrelationships of these health care delivery systems with other social, legal, political and economic organizations and systems. Concepts of efficiency, production, distribution, demand, and supply are examined in light of their relationships to health insurance, federal programs, health care personnel, health services organizations, and health policies. The student is prepared to explore at a greater depth the application of these theories and concepts to health care institutions and delivery systems in subsequent classes of study.

MGT 6410. Health Law and Ethics
This course covers selected legal principles and their application to the health field: Legal aspects of corporate liability, medical malpractice, admission and discharge processes, medical staff bylaws, informed consent, nursing, patient's rights, medical records, and governmental regulation of personnel and health facilities. The course also provides health care managers with guidance in preventing and dealing with managerial and biomedical ethical problems, suggests substantive ethical principles and procedural methodologies by which managers can understand, analyze, and resolve ethical problems, encourages and aids managers to develop a personal ethic to guide their practice, and suggests ways to build ethically responsible health care organizations.

MGT 6450. health care Operations & Quality Management
This course studies the design, deployment, management and evaluation of processes that combine to produce an organization’s services or products. Topics include product and service design, process design and improvement, process technology, process planning and scheduling, strategies for dealing with fluctuating demand, procurement and supply management. This course focuses on process understanding, along with tools to improve operations management in health care organizations. The fundamental aims of health care delivery including patient access to care, quality & safety of care and cost of care will be examined from a patient-centered approach in both clinical and non-clinical processes in a variety of health care settings. The student is exposed to definitions and standards of quality in health care, as well as to various tools used to measure, evaluate and improve quality. Factors impacting quality improvement initiatives, including governmental and regulatory influences, accreditation standards and guidelines, quality programs, methods and process redesign are analyzed with a specific focus on the use of quantitative techniques and analytical methods used in the process and quality improvement in health care organizations.

MKT 6450. Marketing Management
This course introduces students to the core concepts and principles of marketing management. Specifically, this course provides students the opportunity to study and practice an economics-oriented, framework-based approach to analyzing and “solving” marketing problems while enhancing critical thinking, group decision-making, written and oral communication and analytical skills. The purpose of this approach is to equip students not only with a structured knowledge of marketing strategy and tactics but also with the facility to apply this knowledge in a wide variety of business and organizational settings. Methods of instruction include outside reading, lecture and case discussion.

MGT 6850. Crafting & Implementing Strategy
This course explores how organizations in all life cycle stages create, deliver and capture value through the ability to formulate and implement successful strategies. Key areas include strategy and entrepreneurship theory and schools of thought, external and internal environmental analysis, strategic alternatives and implementation challenges. A variety of industry and organizational settings are examined to compare and contrast the constraints and perspectives of startup and mature organizations. Instructional methods include a combination of readings, case studies, a business simulation, group and class discussions, guest speakers and a course project.

Prerequisites: ACC 6490, MGT 6450, MKT 6450

Electives

Each student in the program is required to take 6 elective hours (2 courses) beyond the HCMBA core. Students may elect to follow a general MBA track, selecting 6 hours of electives that are of interest or enhance their knowledge in more than one area. Alternatively, students may direct their focus into such functions as accounting, analytics, entrepreneurship, finance, health care, marketing or music business to "customize" their HCMBA program of study.

Accounting*

Accounting electives may be chosen from the courses listed on the Master of Accountancy curriculum page.

*Eligibility to take accounting electives requires a minimum of 18 hours of previous undergraduate accounting coursework.

BSA 6050: Database Modeling, Design and Analysis

This course introduces students to the core concepts, foundational skills and knowledge of health care analytics and provides students with the ability to extract, analyze and interpret data from patients’ health records, insurance claims and hospital financial records to drive actionable insights and improve performance. Students will gain hands-on experience with tools like Microsoft Excel and Power BI to understand and develop insights from data to improve patient care and services.

BSA 6230: health care Analytics

This course introduces students to the core concepts, foundational skills and knowledge of health care analytics and provides students with the ability to extract, analyze and interpret data from patients’ health records, insurance claims and hospital financial records to drive actionable insights and improve performance. Students will gain hands-on experience with tools like Microsoft Excel and Power BI to understand and develop insights from data to improve patient care and services.

BSA 6820: Predictive Analytics

This course provides students a practical, hands-on learning environment focusing on data mining and predictive analytics to solve business problems. Students will prepare data, create and validate predictive models, and deploy those models to predict future events and uncover hidden patterns of behavior. Students will examine how data analysis technologies can be used to improve decision-making by studying the fundamental principles and techniques of data mining to develop data-analytic thinking.

Prerequisites: BSA 6050 (formerly 6930) or Instructor permission

ECO 6400: Global Managerial Economics

Global managerial economics will integrate economic theory, data analytics and global affairs to guide business decisions and solve business problems. This course aims to be current and reflect the most urgent economic, political, social and business challenges. We will start with World Economic Forum annual agenda and Davos meeting; explore United Nations 2030 growth and sustainability goals; dive into market framework and government intervention; pricing, game theory, national debt, interest rates and exchange rates. We will conduct multiple debates on current economic and business issues including minimum wage, income inequality, impact of automation and outsourcing on America’s middle class, future of work, stakeholder capitalism, etc. Finally, multiple simulations and case studies will allow you to practice economic concepts and apply business decision-making to real-world business scenarios.

ETP 6600: Opportunity Assessment

This course is designed to cultivate an understanding of the various processes involved in evaluating opportunities for new enterprise. Students will work toward developing an understanding of how personal interest, strategy, marketing, financing and legal matters impact opportunities in terms of perception, execution and growth. A key goal will be to empower students to enhance further their understanding of how to position a new venture for success. Completion of an opportunity assessment project is an integral part of the course.

ETP 6650: Strategy for New Enterprise and Innovation

This course is designed to cultivate an understanding of the processes involved in developing strategy for new enterprise and innovation in economic environments that are increasingly fast-paced, rapidly changing, and highly uncertain. Students will explore how an entrepreneurial mindset can be used to create a richly stocked opportunity register by identifying new sources of differentiation, ways to reconfigure market spaces or resegment existing markets, mobilize innovative ideas for redesigning existing products, seize on the potential created by design breakthroughs, and develop a dynamic portfolio of strategic business options to move a venture, whether new or existing, toward an increasingly profitable and sustainable future. Individuals who are responsible for, or play a role in, technical innovation and business development within existing organizations should find this course equally helpful to those launching new ventures.

FIN 6150: Corporate Finance

This course focuses on two topics as they relate to corporate finance: short and long-term valuation, securities issuance and options. Short-term valuation / financing is analyzed from a cash and credit management perspective. Long-term valuation / financing issues include discount rate estimation, alternative Net Present Value methods and mergers and acquisitions. The role of options in firm valuation and securities issuance is explored. Other topics may also be discussed.

Prerequisite: FIN 6100 or Instructor permission

FIN 6250: International Corporate Finance

This course studies the application of financial management principles to the financial decisions of multinational corporations. The underlying causes of the accounting and economic exposure of multinational corporations are examined. The financial instruments available to hedge accounting and economic exposure are identified. The capital budgeting process is explored from the perspective of a multinational corporation.

Prerequisites : FIN 6100

MBU 6200: Music Business Revenue Streams

This course examines how the music industry is structured to monetize and manage entertainment assets.

MBU 6360. Strategic Marketing in the Music Business

This course is a study of the traditional and emerging methods used to market and distribute recorded product from the label to the consumer.

MGT 6360: SCOPE International Business Consultancy

Student Consultancy Opportunities for Professional Engagement (SCOPE) International is intended to offer professional quality consulting services to clients involved in international business. Possible tasks include identifying viable market opportunities in foreign target markets, developing best market entry strategies, and completing a preliminary marketing or business plan for clients. As students strengthen their consulting and project management skills, they also learn to successfully navigate new business environments and cultures - a prerequisite for success is a globalized economy. All projects involve an in-country immersion.

MGT 6370: SCOPE Domestic Business Consultancy

Student Consultancy Opportunities for Professional Engagement (SCOPE) is intended to offer professional quality consulting services to clients in the local business community. Possible tasks include, but are not limited to, identifying viable market opportunities, developing market entry strategies, and completing a marketing or business plan for clients. As students strengthen their consulting and project management skills, they also learn to successfully navigate current business environments. All projects involve on-site immersion with clients.

MGT 6480: Improvement Methods in health care

This course will give participants an overview of the basic concepts and tools for applying a variety of improvement methods and culture transformation approaches for health care organizations. Topics will include an overview of Lean Philosophies and Tools in a health care environment, an introduction to the application of Six-Sigma methods, the use of management systems, and how to apply high-reliability organizing used in other industries, human performance in complex systems, and human-centered design for the health care setting. The classroom lecture, exercises and simulations build the foundation throughout the course for the participants to apply them in a Mini-Kaizen Event Lab Exercise. This course will also include actual situations and health care examples from hospitals and health care organizations from around the world. Additionally, the course will involve other lean practitioners, health care leaders, high-reliability experts, design leaders and clinicians, each with multiple years of applying improvement methods in some of the top health care organizations in the US to assist with simulations and/or to share their experience in various aspects of applying proven best practices in health care.

MGT 6895: Business Communications (Special Topics)

Whether embarking upon (or continuing in) your career, this course is designed to explore various aspects of work beyond the hard skills. It is meant to empower you with tools and perspective to navigate the realities of work in today’s environment.

Want to explore the power of personal branding? Curious about how culture can greatly affect your satisfaction? Want tips and strategies on how to deal with difficult bosses, talk about tough things like politics, feedback, pay and when to make moves? If so, this course is for you.

MGT 6930: Management Consulting

Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the management consulting process and its practical applications within a client setting. Topics will include consultant-client relationships, client firm entry, ethical practice, data collection and analysis, feedback and development of recommendations. Course instruction is supplemented through presentations by practicing management consultants who will further address topics including client expectations, how to facilitate strategic change and differences between independent versus internal consulting, among others.

MGT 6940: Decision Making and Negotiation Skills

This course will examine the cognitive aspects and the dynamics of decision-making. In addition, the course will explore the process of negotiation and decision-making when two or more individuals or groups are involved. Skills for improved negotiating will be introduced.

MGT 6950: Advanced Negotiation and Mediation

This is an advanced course in negotiation and dispute resolution, focusing on the complex modern social and business problems. In most instances, the course will address multi-party, multi-issue business deal-making. The course will examine the mediation process and the distinct mediation styles used by mediators and professionals engaged in conflict resolution activities. Students will observe and experience the dynamics of mediation as well as the various uses and applications of mediation in today’s business world. In addition, the course will explore the process of mediation when two or more individuals or groups are involved and discuss differing dynamics of the mediation process used in different industries. This course will include topics set forth under the certification requirements of the Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31. This course has been approved and certified by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Prerequisites: MGT 6940

MKT 6490: Global Cross-Cultural Business & Marketing Communication

As the world of business has become more and more global, managers find it necessary to communicate, market, manage, and negotiate in a manner appropriate to the cultural context. This course will enable students to develop skills of managing cultural differences in such a multicultural environment. Moreover, we will examine how problems in cross-cultural management and marketing often emerge less from cultural differences themselves, than from our own inability to perceive difference accurately or our insistence on finding difference where it does not exist.

MKT 6970: Marketing Analytics

An advanced graduate course introducing the students to a data-driven approach to marketing decision-making, with emphasis on translating quantitative analytical output into actionable managerial insights. With a case-based pedagogy, students will have a managerially relevant, hands-on experience of the marketing analytics value-chain process. We focus on not only the rigorous methods that yield reliable statistical analytical results but also the vividness with which the students will be able to translate these results into narratives that drive change and deliver value for stakeholders.

Prerequisites: MKT 6450

All students must complete all prerequisite courses before entering Massey MBA programs. The courses are required to ensure the success of all students. The MBA coursework is challenging, and we focus on ensuring that all students have the proper academic background to enter graduate-level business courses with a command of fundamental concepts. Most students who earned an undergraduate degree in business already have the prerequisites, while some students may have some of the prereqs, but not all. And many prospective students have none of the perquisites.

Massey MBA prerequisite courses include:

• Accounting I
• Accounting II
• Microeconomics
• Macroeconomics
• Statistics

Haven't completed all of the prerequisites?

For students who need all or most of the prerequisites, the Summer Business Institute (SBI) is the most effective way to complete the coursework before entering a Massey MBA program. Designed and taught by Massey faculty members, SBI courses are completed over twelve weeks in the summer. Students attend classes two weeknights per week and on Saturdays during the program. Students who complete the Summer Business Institute hit the ground running, fully prepared for success in Massey’s MBA programs.

Summer Business Institute

The following items are required to complete the application:*

1. Submit an application and a $58.00 fee through BusinessCAS
2. Belmont does not charge an application fee.
3. Upload a one-page essay on personal and professional goals
4. Upload a current resume
5. Send official university transcripts from schools you attended to BusinessCAS, NOT Belmont.
6. Provide the names and email addresses of two recommenders. Recommendations are submitted through online links provided. We do not accept recommendations from family members, pastors, or friends because they may lack objectivity. 
7. Optional - GMAT (or GRE) official score report (Encouraged, but not required)
8. Interview - In-person OR via Zoom.

International Applicants that attended college outside the United States May also need to provide an official transcript evaluation and English Proficiency test score to BusinessCAS.  Belmont now accepts MANY English test options.  A full list of options for transcript evaluation companies and English testing options (as well as exceptions) can be found on the Belmont International Student Applicant page. If you are in F-1 status and have immigration questions, please contact Shauna Walsh in Belmont’s International Student and Scholar Services for more information at 615-460-6243 or shauna.walsh@belmont.edu.

Application Deadlines

Massey Graduate School of Business Application Deadlines

All prospective students should apply as soon as possible to complete their applications by the deadlines listed below. Your application must be completed and you must be accepted into the program to be considered for scholarships and graduate assistantships.

SPRING:   Completed Application Deadline - December 1st

SUMMER:  Completed Application Deadline - April 15th 

FALL:  Completed Application Deadline - August 1st

For all Scholarship & GA Opportunities: You must be ADMITTED before March 1st.

For All Scholarships: There is no separate scholarship application.

For Merit Scholarships: Submit a GMAT Score to maximize your scholarship opportunities.

For Need-Based Scholarships: Submit the corresponding FAFSA Application for your academic year at the time you apply. Please note, that graduate students do NOT use their parent's income for FAFSA, so it benefits you to submit this, even if you have no intentions of using student loans. Learn more on the Graduate Tuition & Aid website.

For Diversity Scholarships: No additional information is needed beyond completing the demographic information on your application for admission.

Financial Aid / Payment Options

Graduate business students have several payment options including scholarships, employer tuition assistance, installment payment plan programs, and/or student loans. 

US Students: To determine eligibility requirements for student loans, submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Renewal FAFSA (for previous Federal Aid applicants) and request that Belmont University receive a copy of the analysis. The FAFSA requires approximately six weeks for processing. You may file the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.  Additional information on payment options is as follows:

Scholarships.  Scholarships are awarded on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:

• Acceptance to the program by March 1st.
• Academic excellence, including exceptional grade point average and/or optional test scores (GMAT/GRE)
• Strong recommendations from business, academic, and professional sources
• Minority or International status submitted in the application demographic section
• Demonstrated financial need through a submitted FAFSA

Graduate Assistantships. Five full-tuition graduate assistantship positions are available each academic year across all graduate business programs.  Multiple partial tuition assistantships are also available. 

Belmont Bruin Alumni Grant. Students who have graduated from Belmont University with an undergraduate degree earn a 20% reduction in the cost of graduate tuition. Students must complete the graduate application by the appropriate deadline and be accepted to the graduate program.

Endowed Scholarships. These are awarded annually to candidates who meet the unique criteria for each award.

• Alumni Council Scholarship for Hardship
• Ben Rechter MBA Minority Scholarship
• Charles R F Treadway Scholarship
• Damon & Carrie Hininger Massey
• Graduate Assistantship Scholarship
• B. and Doris Massey Minority Scholarship
• J C Massey Endowed (Nelson)
• Jack C Massey Scholarship
• Massey Scholars for Professional MBA Students
• Volunteer Capital Massey Memorial Scholarship

Employer Tuition Assistance/Corporate Partners. Either of the formats below may qualify you for a matching tuition discount of up to 20% off through the Corporate Partners Program.  

• Employer Payment - If your employer will be paying your tuition directly to Belmont, Student Financial Services needs an employer authorization agreeing to Belmont's payment terms.
• Employer Reimbursement is an agreement between you and your employer. If your employer will be reimbursing you after your courses are complete each semester, you are financially responsible for paying for courses before the semester begins. You can pay in cash or use loans to get started, then you can roll your reimbursement checks into the future semesters.

Installment Payment Plans.  Use your savings and/or income to cover all or part of your education expenses. You can take advantage of the Interest-Free Monthly Payment Option offered through the Tuition Management System (www.afford.com/Belmont). TMS takes your estimated educational expense and divides it into monthly payments. The cost is $55 per year and is only available for fall and spring semesters.

Paying With Student Loans.  Graduate students who are U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for the Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan programs, which are awarded without regard to financial need.  Interest accrues from the time the loan is disbursed until it is paid in full.  The maximum loan is $20,500 per academic year.  If you are using Stafford Loans to pay any portion of your tuition, you should complete the FAFSA  at least six weeks before the beginning of classes. 

International Students
International students admitted before March 1^st are considered for all scholarships and graduate assistantships. Upon admission, international students will be contacted by Belmont’s International Student Services Office for additional information regarding student visas, enrollment deposits, and university policies that are unique to those entering the U.S. to attend Belmont University (615-460-6342).

Veterans

Individuals who have completed U.S. military service should contact one of Belmont’s V.A. Education Counselors (615-460-6871).  The University supports several armed forces educational benefit programs, including Yellow Ribbon.

• Engage in monthly professional development events
• Attend lectures featuring top business professionals
• Travel to Budapest, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Prague or another international destination as part of a global elective.
• Complete a professional field experience in health care.
• Get customized career guidance from the Jack C. Massey College of Business Career Development Center

Belmont University’s MBA programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the premier agency for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting.

Fewer than 5 percent of business schools worldwide achieve AACSB accreditation, and Belmont is the only private college or university in Tennessee that is accredited by AACSB International for BBA, MBA and accounting programs.