Topics in HA: Computer Applications

HADM 4970 is an advanced course designed primarily for students in the Program in Health Administration. Pre-requisite to the course are HADM 2200 (Health Policy) and HADM 3300 (Introduction to Health Administration). If you do not meet one of these requirements, please see me to discuss this. It is also highly recommended that students planning to take the course have had COMP 1000 (Personal Computer Applications).

Course Requirements

Component	Date	Weight
Mid-Term Exam	Feb.TBA	20%
Small-Group Exercises	-	15%
Individual Proficiency Test	Apr.TBA	20%
Article Review	Apr.TBA	20%
Final Examination	May 6	25%

• Exams. The Mid-Term and comprehensive Final Exam will be closed book, mixed objective-subjective, with a greater emphasis on the latter. Both the exams will cover assigned readings and in-class materials (including lectures, class discussion, and outside speaker presentations). Test Procedures are discussed in the Additional Course Information.

• Small-Group Exercises will be used throughout the course to give students the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the individual computer skills covered in the class; tasks will be of various levels of complexity, ranging from relatively simple to challenging. Grading will be as follows:
  • A--Student has superior mastery of skill; leads and assists others in group.
  • B--Student demonstrates good mastery of skill
  • C--Student demonstrates adequate mastery of skill
  • D--Student attends group session
  • F--Student does not attend group session
  • Students arriving more than five minutes late will be dropped 5 point forr that session; 10 points for ten minutes late or more. Students arriving more than ten minutes late will miss the session.

• Students will need to sign up for an appointment with me to take an Individual Proficiency Test to demonstrate their overall mastery of computer skills taught in the class. If no selection has been made by two weeks from the last available date, I will assign an appointment.

• Article Reviews. Articles to review must be selected from an approved list placed on Blackboard by the instructor. Students may choose any article from the list that has not already been selected by another student; to "select" an article, place its author's name and the article number on a public calendar entry on the class Calendar of the Blackboard site (see below). If no selection has been made by two weeks from the last available date, I will assign an article. For further information on choosing an article, see the instructions on the Virtual Classroom of the Blackboard site.

  The review should be a 15-minute Powerpoint presentation on the agreed class date, with 1) handouts to the class consisting of the slides used printed via the "handouts" print option and 2) a bibliography of at least five sources where additional information related to the topic can be found.. These sources should not include any used in the article itself. In the presentation, the student should summarize the article, including the topic of concern to the author, how he/she/they explored it, and the article's conclusions about its subject. Finally, the student should explain to what degree this article would be useful to a working healthcare professional dealing with information technology. The instructor should receive an electronic copy of the presentation, no less than two hours before class the day of the presentation, preferably through the Blackboard assignment tool

• No more than 15 slides should be used in the presentation, plus an initial title page with the article title, author, and the student's name. See my "Guidelines for Research Papers" for instructions on backup copies and problems with equipment.

• Class Discussion will not be explicitly graded. However, all students are expected to come to class fully prepared to discuss the readings assigned for that day. Knowledgeable participation in class discussion will be used to help decide cases of "borderline" final grades, both positively and negatively. Furthermore, students are expected to attend any sessions involving outside speakers or presentations by their fellow students. The HA Alumni conference on Friday January 22 will be regarded as equivalent to an outside speaker. It is also an officially approved University activity for which excuses from all classes, both HA and non-HA, will be provided for those who register by Jan. 20. See the mailout from Susan D'Antoni for further details.

• As an alternative to discussion in the physical classroom, students are also welcome to raise questions or make comments on the course's Blackboard Site (see below).

• There will be three Assessment Meetings throughout the course to give each student and the instructor the opportunity to review the student's goals for the course and progress. These meetings are not required but each will add one extra point to the student's final grade. Students should make appointments for these meetings 24 hours in advance. The first of these will be in January. (Students with a documentable conflict on the assigned day may see me on my regular office hours up to a week later.) The second and third assessment meetings will be held later in the class.

Communication Matters

All students in the course are expected to use the class Blackboard Site or their A.U. e-mail accounts to communicate with each other and with the instructor. These methods provide students experience in modern electronic communications. However, the primary soure of e-mail communication with the instructor should be through our class Blackboard Site (see below).

The class Blackboard Site is a center for course announcements and communications which allows students to pose discussion issues, post comments, and raise questions outside of the physical classroom. Students should check this site at least one day prior to each scheduled class meeting for announcements and relevant class readings; failure to do so will be the sole responsibility of the student. This site is restricted to class members; access requires your standard Auburn IT user name and password. Informational materials posted to this resources are just as much "fair game" for tests as standard lecture/reading/class discussion materials.

- TEXTBOOK -

The textbook for the course will be available only at J & M Bookstore and J & M II.

• Glandon, Gerald, et al. Information Systems for Healthcare Management. 7th Ed. Chicago, Illinois: AUPHA Press, 2008.

- INITIAL CLASS MEETINGS -