Syllabus

Instructor

Office Hours

  •   Tuesday/Thursday
  •   2:15-3:15 PM
  •   Tidewater 1915 or Zoom

Course Details

  •   Tuesday/Thursday
  •   1:00–2:15 PM
  •   Tidewater 1202

Course Descripton

HPAM 7660 presents an overview of health policy in the United States – its scope, its dynamics, and its conceptual and practical dilemmas. The course is designed to acquaint students with major issues in the policymaking process, specifically in formulating, implementing, and assessing those patterns of government decision. Students will explore the history and structure of the American health care system, as well as explore a policy issue of their choosing using the Bardach analytical method.

Course Materials

We will use the following online (and free!) textbook along with various readings that will be posted to the course website under the Assignments tab.

We’ll use R in this class to conduct data analysis. R is free, open source, and available on all major platforms. RStudio (also free) is a graphical interface to R that is widely used to work with the R language. R is available in all Tulane computer labs and you are encouraged to bring your laptop to class if you’re able to. [Problem Set 0][ps0] will walk you through setting up with R, RStudio, and GitHub.

Course Evaluation

The following components and weights will be used to calculate your final grade:

Category Percent of Final Grade
Policy Memo 30%
Case Presentation 20%
Reading Discussion Questions & Problem Sets 20%
Class Participation 20%
Peer Assessment 10%

Policy Memo - throughout the semester, you will construct a policy memo to be submitted on the final day of class. The memo should advocate for a policy position of your choice and can be targeted to local leaders (e.g., mayor, city council, etc.), or state or federal legislators. The target audience will depend on the scope of your policy. The final draft of the policy memo should be approximately 8-10 pages, excluding references.

The University of Southern California library provides a good guide for writing a policy memo. Note that as the guide states: “You should not approach writing a policy memo in the same way as you would an academic research paper. Yes, there are certain commonalities in how the content is presented [e.g., a well-written problem statement], but the overarching objective of a policy memo is not to discover or create new knowledge. It is focused on providing a pre-determined group of readers the rationale for choosing a particular policy alternative or specific course of action. In this sense, most policy memos possess a component of advocacy and advice intended to promote evidence-based dialog about an issue.” Your policy memo will consist of the following 7 sections, that will be submitted individually throughout the semester before a final version of the memo to be submitted on the last day of class:

  1. Executive summary
  2. Introduction and problem definition (Bardach Step 1)
  3. Issue analysis (Bardach Step 2)
  4. Proposed solutions (Bardach Steps 3, 4, & 5) 
  5. Strategic recommendations (Bardach Step 6 & Step 7)
  6. Conclusion (Bardach Step 8)
  7. References

Policy Memo Due Dates:

  1. Problem statement – Feb. 29th 
  2. Preliminary reference list – March 14th 
  3. Introduction and problem definition draft – March 21st 
  4. Issue analysis draft – April 4th
  5. Proposed solutions draft – April 11th 
  6. Strategic recommendations draft – April 25th 
  7. Executive summary and conclusions draft – May 2nd 
  8. Final draft – May 9th 

Case Presentation - The case presentation will take place on May 2nd. The case presentation will coincide with a series of panel discussion during our “virtual D.C. experience”. I’ll provide more detail on the schedule and content of these panels on the course website along with a rubric for the case presentations.

Reading Discussion Questions & Problem Sets – Reading discussion questions and problem sets will be due by class time one their assigned date. These will typically be submitted through GitHub, though some of the submissions early in the semester will use Canvas.

Peer Assessment - The peer assessment component of your grade will consist of anonymous grading of your team contribution by the other members of your team (more specific details to follow).

Your final course grade will be calculated according to the following ranges:

Letter Grade Percentage
A 94% and above
A- 90 to 93.9%
B+ 85 to 89.9%
B 80 to 84.9%
B- 75 to 79.9%
C 70 to 74.9%
F <70%

Late Policy

Late submissions will be given half credit.

SPHTM Honor Code

I expect that you will abide by the school’s Honor Code and Code of Academic Conduct. Failure to do so will result in referral to the Honor Board. I encourage you to discuss the lectures and coursework with your colleagues to facilitate your understanding of the material. But I expect that you will engage in independent scholarship when completing your own work, properly citing external assistance or sources. If you have any questions about these expectations, please refer to the code or ask me in advance.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

It is the policy and practice of Tulane University to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (Pub. L. No. 101-336), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Pub. L. No. 93-112, §504, as amended), and state and local requirements regarding individuals with disabilities. Under these laws, no qualified individual with a disability shall be denied access to or participation in services, programs, and activities of Tulane University. Students seeking academic adjustments or accommodations must register their disabilities with the Goldman Center for Student Accessibility.

Title IX

Tulane University recognizes the inherent dignity of all individuals and promotes respect for all people. As such, Tulane is committed to providing an environment free of all forms of discrimination including sexual and gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence like sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking. If you (or someone you know) has experienced or is experiencing these types of behaviors, know that you are not alone. Resources and support are available: you can learn more here. Any and all of your communications on these matters will be treated as either “Confidential” or “Private” as explained in the chart below. Please know that if you choose to confide in me I am mandated by the university to report to the Title IX Coordinator, as Tulane and I want to be sure you are connected with all the support the university can offer. You do not need to respond to outreach from the university if you do not want to.

Confidential Private
Except in extreme circumstances, involving imminent danger to one’s self or others, nothing will be share without your explicit permission. Conversations are kept as confidential as possible, but information is shared with key staff members so the University can offer resources and accommodations and take action if necessary for safety reasons.
Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS):
(504) 314-2277		 Case Management & Victim Support Services (CMVSS): (504) 314-2160
Student Health Center
Downtown: (504) 988-6929
Uptown: (504) 865-5255		 Tulane University Police (TUPD)
Downtown: (504) 988-5531
Uptown: (504) 865-5911
Sexual Aggression Peer Hotline and Education (SAPHE): (504) 654-9543 Title IX Coordinator: (504) 865-5611 or email: titleix@tulane.edu

Student Learning Objectives

  1. Exhibit a conceptual understanding of the forces and factors accounting for legislation and regulation pertaining to health services.
  2. Develop a framework to critically discuss and evaluate policy issues affecting the U.S. health care system.
  3. Compare and contrast the public policy objectives of various stakeholders with the realities of the political process.
  4. Critically evaluate the research literature that examines the federal and state roles in health services.
  5. Evaluate current proposals advanced in Congress and by the private sector that impact health services delivery.
  6. Demonstrate a working understanding of the legislative process and the related federal and state regulation processes.

Course Competencies

The Department of Health Policy & Management has adopted a set of competencies for evaluating each of our masters-level programs, including both the MPH in Health Policy and the MHA. Our accrediting bodies ask that we demonstrate, on a course level, which program competencies are supported and developed through this particular course. Some competencies are given more attention in the course activities and materials. The subsections below indicate to what extent each competency is addressed in the course materials, activities, and evaluation process.

MPH in Health Policy Program Competencies

Competency Degree Covered Learning Objectives
Analyze the influence of policy mechanisms on patient and provider behavior and health systems outcomes. P 1,3,5,6,7
Assess health systems performance and issues of quality, access, and efficiency. R 1,2,3,5,6,7
Critique health policy literature. R 4
Communicate health policy issues written and orally. P 2,3,4

MHA Program Competencies

Competency Degree Covered Learning Objectives
Speak and write in a clear, concise, and logical manner in formal and informal situations within health care settings to convey cogent business presentations and to facilitate a group. (Effective Communication) R 2,4
Consider the business, demographic, ethno-cultural, political, and regulatory factors in developing strategies that continually improve the long-term success and viability of health care organizations. (Strategic Management) R 1,3,5
Deconstruct complex problems into smaller elements and synthesize that with other data to derive recommendations. (Critical Thinking and Analysis) P 6,7

Rating Scale for Degree of Coverage: P = primary, R = reinforcing

Competency Map

Learning Objective Program Competency Learning Activity Primary Assessment
Exhibit a conceptual understanding of the forces and factors accounting for legislation and regulation pertaining to health services. MPH in HP – Competency 1
MHA – Strategic Management		 Lectures Exams
Develop a framework to critically discuss and evaluate whether the “market” in health services is or is not a policy issue. MPH in HP – Competency 1 Lectures
Group Presentations		 Exams
Compare and contrast the public policy objectives of Medicare, Medicaid, and the private insurance sector with the realities of the political process. MPH in HP – Competency 2
MHA – Critical Thinking		 Lectures
Group Presentations		 Exams
Policy Memo
Critically evaluate the research literature that examines the federal and state roles in health services. MPH in HP – Competency 3 Writing Workshops Policy Memo
Evaluate current proposals advanced in Congress and by the private sector that impact health services delivery. MPH in HP – Competency 1
MHA – Strategic Management		 Group Presentations Exams
Demonstrate a working understanding of private insurance and the federal and state regulation that oversees it. MPH in HP – Competency 1
MHA – Strategic Management		 Lectures Exams
Examine the development and regulation of the private insurance market over the past 20 years. MPH in HP – Competency 1 Lectures Exams