Health Care Management – Thematic Units

DMY50: Basic Principles of Health Services Management

Unit Code: DMY50

ECTS Credits: 20

Unit Type: Compulsory

Year in which it is offered: First (1st)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General description of the unit:The purpose of the Thematic Unit is to:

• familiarize students with the basic principles of management both in theory and in practice
• identify the texture and specificity of the challenges related to the management of health services, especially hospitals
• give students the opportunity to address (through exercises, case studies, etc.) specific management issues and problems.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the module, students will be able to:

• Understand the meaning, importance, levels and basic functions of modern management but recognise the key evolutionary approaches to management.
• Know the main categories and forms of organisations providing health services and distinguish the main organisational characteristics in this area.
• Understand the definition, document the meaning, distinguish between types and develop the process of planning planning with examples from the health services sector.
• Understand the definition, document the meaning, distinguish the types of organization as well as understand the process of segmentation but analyze an organizational chart of a health unit.
• Understand the concept and importance of human resources management and its main functions (planning, job analysis, staffing, evaluation, training, remuneration), focusing on the health sector.
• Recognise operational problems in the health services sector, distinguish and compare planned and unplanned decisions, levels of decision making and the decision-making process.
• Explain why communication is essential to effective health facility management, define communication, state the communication process and the forms of formal and informal communication.
• Give a definition of leadership, describe the key features of the theories that explain it and use the managerial matrix.
• Describe the relationship between motivation and performance in a health care unit, evaluate and compare the main theories of motivation.
• Explain the necessity of control, describe the types and process of control and identify possible side effects of the control process in the healthcare sector.
• Know the human geography of the health services sector and the key producers of health professionals.
• Understand the specifics of the health services sector and know the management functions in a hospital.
• Know and recognize the role and importance of the management of a health care organization in terms of its medical and nursing work and its educational, research function.
• Understand the social aspects of the identity and functioning of health care establishments in terms of the relationships that develop with the community and between health professionals and patients or their relatives.
• Understand the health commodity as a separate commodity from the others, but also present the way in which the market for the health commodity functions, the factors determining the demand and supply of this commodity.
• Link and relate healthcare to wider social and political issues.
• Understand the main historical periods and key points in the historical development of health services in Greece in the modern period, with emphasis on the establishment of the National Health System (NHS) and subsequent reforms.

Cognitive Subjects of the unit:

• Organisation of health systems and units
• Decision-making in health services: planning and control
• Human resource management and the human factor in health services.

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this unit.

Evaluation: Completion of four (4) written assignments during the academic year, the average of the grades of which will contribute to the final grade of the thesis by 30%, if it is eligible for the final or re-sit examinations. Final written examinations, the grade of which contributes to the final grade of the subject by 70%.

DMY51: Health Services/Hospital: Identities and challenges

Unit Code:DMY51

ECTS Credits: 20

Unit Type: Compulsory

Year in which it is offered: First (1st)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General Description of the unit: The purpose of this unit is to:

• present the economic, institutional and social environment that constitutes the framework for the operation and action of health services
• identify the critical economic, administrative and legal issues that determine the present and future of health services
• focus the students’ interest on the demand for a qualitative improvement of health services in relation to the large number of difficulties and constraints within and outside the services.

The main purpose of the program is to educate and prepare health care managers capable of both formulating and making decisions that are rationally based and socio-culturally acceptable.

Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the module DMY51, students will be able to:

• Describe and define the different approaches to definitions of health and illness
• Describe and define the different levels of care
• Define health and its parameters
• Identify the scope of health promotion, and the transmitters, conduits and recipients of health promotion
• Define indicators of mortality, morbidity and positive health
• Define and describe the working scope and field of prevention
• Define and describe the scope of epidemiology
• Give examples of health service studies
• Define basic definitions of the welfare state and the health system
• Define basic theoretical approaches to the welfare state such as classical liberalism, Marxism, neo
• Marxism, neo-liberalism, the tradition and theory of citizenship and other theoretical approaches
• Define the content of health policy
• Identify the main parameters of the functioning of the health systems of certain countries
• Identify in broad terms the expenditure in each of these states
• Identify the main factors that have influenced the development of the welfare state and the way in which it has developed
• Identify and describe the three main features of social policy during the period of the development of the welfare state
• Identify and describe the differences in the way in which social policy has developed and the form it has taken in different countries
• List the five most important factors that led to the questioning of the effectiveness of social policy in the post-war period
• Indicate the new constraints facing social policy
• Indicate what the trends in social policy are today
• Identify and evaluate the two main parameters affecting health care expenditure
• Identify and assess the main forms and dimensions of the informal economy in the health care system
• Recognize how the health system is influenced and affected by the economic, social and physical environment
• Indicate the structure and the way in which the Greek health care system is organized, managed and operated and identify its main characteristics and peculiarities as well as its main components/structural elements
• Indicate the basic principles and institutions introduced by the legislation in order to establish the health sector and the health system in our country
• Identify the ‘abolition’/liberalization of the NHS in 1992 and the institutions adopted by Law 2071/1992
• Set out the current situation and identify which institutions may have contributed to the development and modernization of the health system by Law 2519/1997 on the NHS
• Present a list of the rights of hospital patients
• Identify concepts and terms (relating to the moral and ethical dimensions of health) whose use is currently confusing
• Set out the complex ethical issues arising from the development of new technologies and from the achievements of biomedical science and research
• Identify the ethical dilemmas raised by health policy and the economics and financing of health services
• Identify the crucial role of quality in the promotion of products and services
• List the various methods commonly used to ensure and improve the quality of health services and their advantages and disadvantages
• State the reasons why the State was unable to contribute to the administrative organization of hospitals in the early years of their establishment
• Define the various systems of hospital management
• List the innovations introduced by the NHS in hospital management
• Describe the role of the hospital administration
• Indicate the reasons why hospital boards are an obstacle to the functioning of hospitals
• State and list the causes of mismanagement of hospitals
• Indicate the importance and necessity of modernizing the administrative system of hospitals
• Determine the possibility of functional coexistence of different forms of hospital administration
• Distinguish between health factors and illness
• Explain the reasons for the development of different forms of care
• Explain the impact of technology on care and understand issues related to the cost (increasing or containing costs) of care
• Give examples of health parameters
• Distinguish the differences between disease and illness
• Distinguish between different forms of health education
• Explain the differences between epidemiology at the beginning of the century and today
• Distinguish between the concepts of provision and payment for services
• Distinguish between private and public/public in terms of the provision and payment of health services
• Identify and explain the structure of a health system and its basic functions (prevention, promotion, treatment, care, rehabilitation)
• Explain why the welfare state has taken different forms in different countries
• Explain the form the welfare state has taken in Greece and the causes of its crisis
• List the main problems that arise today and explain why the social policy pursued to date has become to some extent ineffective
• Explain how demographic changes affect social policy
• Explain the changes in the way social policy is implemented today
• Explain the nature and nature of the new social policy
• Explain how social policy has been influenced and affected by the post-war model of economic development
• Explain how social policy has influenced and been influenced by the Greek model of economic development
• Explain how the health sector differs from the health system
• Identify the main problems, shortcomings and distortions in the Greek health system
  formulate value judgements about the problems and weaknesses of the Greek health system
• Make limited comparative references to the legal framework of the health sector in other countries and distinguish the effects it has had on the health system in Greece
• Discern the physician-centered nature of the system
• Explain the status of health professionals
• Distinguish the specificities of the production and distribution of services, and in particular health services, in relation to the production and distribution of material goods
• Interpret and describe the relationship between wellbeing and ill health
• Calculate the mortality and morbidity rates of a population
• Calculate health service indicators
• Classify health systems and state their objectives
• Identify difficulties and problems in assessing and evaluating the quality of health services
• Compare health education models
• Analyze the role of individual attitudes and behavior in the success of a health education programme
• Analyze the relationship between health education and health promotion
• Compare the mortality rates of different countries or regions of a country
• Classify a specific prevention programme into one of the prevention categories
• Examine the cost-benefit ratio of the implementation of a programme
• Calculate the needs of a health service for a specific health problem
• Know where to investigate and where to look for data on health expenditure for different countries
• Classify a service provider into one of three tiers
• Analyze and interpret the causes of the welfare state crisis
• analyze the relationship between the state, the market and the family in terms of promoting social welfare
• Identify trends and prospects for the future of the welfare state
• Analyse the way in which the family, the state and the market are intertwined in meeting social needs in both the Fordist and post-Fordist periods
• Identify the main problems facing social policy and the social protection system in general today
• Analyse how changes in the labor market affect social policy today
• Analyse the relationship between the social protection system and the pattern of economic growth
• Analyse the role of social policy in the current model of economic development
• Analyse how new technologies are and will be affecting the health system
• Explain and analyse the role of expenditure in a health system and how it is linked to the efficiency of the system
• Formulate valid questions with a clear view on a range of issues related to the development and organisation of the Greek health system
• Analyse the NHS at a legal level and explain whether it was truly national and what innovations it introduced
• Analyse the right to health and its protection
• Compare the two systems of hospital management, centralised and decentralised
• Suggest causes of differences in mortality and morbidity between two or more populations
• Construct questionnaires to measure positive health indicators
• Draw up the budget for a health prevention or health promotion study to place the action and management options of a health system in a theoretical framework
• Propose measures and policies through which, in their opinion, it is possible to solve problems, remove distortions and generally improve the situation in the Greek health system
• Outline the modern model of hospital management
• Evaluate the indicators used to measure the health or disease status of a population
• Select from among the indicators the one needed to study a specific health problem
• Evaluate the results of different health indicators
• Assess the effectiveness, necessity and feasibility of implementing a prevention programme
• Assess the magnitude and significance (or severity) of a health problem that requires (or justifies) the implementation of a prevention programme
• Formulate critical or supportive arguments for the welfare state and health services
• Evaluate health indicators of health systems
• Make an informed assessment of the of a health correct or incorrect structure system
• Identify the effects of the crisis of the welfare state on the well-being of the individual and society as a whole
• Assess at least the basic moral and ethical dimensions of everyday medical operations, such as, for example, the information and consent of patients to treatment or surgery
• Assess the involvement and responsibility of the stakeholders (state, institutions, services, users, and society) in shaping the level of health services provided

The set of the above skills/outcomes is achieved through the study of the module material, the implementation of the indicated activities and the completion of the module assignments. It is assessed through the marking of the module assignments, as well as the final examinations, the format of which is designed to monitor as closely as possible the students’ achievement of the above learning outcomes.

Cognitive Subjects of the unit:

1. Health: definitions, assessment and factors affecting health

2. Health systems, health services and policies

3. Quality of health services, information systems and new technologies

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this unit.

Evaluation: Completion of four (4) written assignments during the academic year, the average of the grades of which will contribute to the final grade of the thesis by 30%, provided it is eligible for the final or re-sit examinations. Final written examinations, the grade of which contributes to the final grade of the subject by 70%.

DMY60: Economic and Financial Management of Health Services

Unit Code: DMY60

ECTS Credits: 20

Unit Type: Compulsory

Year in which it is offered: First (1st)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General description of the unit: The purpose of this unit is to:

• explain the specificities of the health care market in relation to other markets
• examine alternative methods of financing and reimbursement of providers
• develop the concept of efficiency in the operation of a hospital
• to analyse the budgets of hospitals
• to present techniques for the economic evaluation of medical technology
• describe economic methods for setting priorities in the health sector.

Learning Outcomes:Upon completion of this unit, students:

• Have understood the specific characteristics of the commodity “health care”, the problems they create in the health services market and the policy measures that can be taken to address them
• have an in-depth understanding of the incentives created for patients, insurers and health service providers by the way different health systems are organised and financed
• They can comprehensively evaluate different health care systems and financing systems, while assessing many parameters based on both theoretical arguments and empirical research findings
• They will know the main characteristics of the national health system and will be able to identify its weaknesses and propose effective health policies
• Have an understanding of the difficulties in determining the optimal level of health expenditure
• They understand the hospital as an economic entity that uses inputs which, through a productive process, are transformed into outputs
• Distinguish between different types of efficiency, understand the difficulties of measuring it and be able to propose appropriate policies to increase it
• Know the main methods of economic evaluation and the scope of each of them
• Be able to evaluate empirical economic evaluation studies that have been carried out
• Be able to understand the main objectives, methodology, results and conclusions of reputable empirical studies in the international literature
• Have an understanding of the main characteristics of the main priority setting mechanisms and identify the main strengths and weaknesses of each
• Can analyse the basic financial statements of health care facilities using financial ratios
• Can describe the main methods of investment appraisal.
• Understand the need to move towards a modern accounting system in hospitals in the National Health System and distinguish the differences between a simple and a double-entry accounting system

Cognitive Subjects of the Unit:

• Health economics
• Financial management of health services
• Financial evaluation of health programmes and priority setting.

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this unit.

Evaluation: Completion of four (4) written assignments during the academic year, the average of the grades of which contributes to the final grade of the unit by 30%, if it is eligible for the final or re-examinations. Final written examinations, the grade of which contributes to the final grade of the unit by 70%.

DMY61: Sociological and Psychological Approach to Health and Health Services

Unit Code: DMY61

ECTS Credits: 20

Unit Type: Compulsory

Year in which it is offered: Second (2nd)

Language of instruction:Greek

Module Outline

General description of the unit: The purpose of the unit is to:

• complement the approaches already developed in the first three Thematic Units
• to familiarise students with the basic concepts of Sociology / Health Psychology
• to provide students with knowledge and skills to prepare for the integration of decision-making, ensuring social acceptance and consensus
• present findings and methods from sociological and psychological research that are relevant and useful in the administration/management of health care facilities
• enable students to understand how knowledge about health services and their multiple parameters is generated
• stipulate the issue of research methodology and interdisciplinarity.

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the unit, the student is expected to be able to:

• Applies the principles of Healthcare Unit Management (HCM) in solving practical problems.
• Defines key concepts used in graduate-level HCM studies, such as cultural formation, doctor-patient relationship, health disparities, socio-diagnostic models of preventive behavior, chronic illness experience, and research methods in health services.
• Compare different factors influencing disease prevention behaviour.
• Critically analyses research data in the field of health services.
• Designs interventions to improve health services.
• Distinguishes between different models of doctor-patient relationship (such as Parsons’, Freidson’s, Szasz&Hollender’s theory).
• Describes how cultural formation influences the experience of chronic illness.
• Explains the role of gender and social class in the emergence of health inequalities.
• Conducts an internet-based literature review and uses appropriate research methods to study health care problems.
• Develops research protocols and writes the research proposal.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing burnout in health care.
• Identifies differences between past epidemics and modern chronic diseases.
• Recognises the different strategies of communication and interaction between doctor-patient.
• Discusses the various factors that influence patient satisfaction with the health services provided.
• Appreciates the causes and consequences of burnout.
• Applies different models for the study of preventive behaviour (such as the health belief model, the theory of planned behaviour, the theory of self-efficacy, the theory of motivation for health protection, the theory of health control focus).
• Uses key concepts to study leadership, organizational behavior, team dynamics, conflict resolution.

Cognitive Subjects of the Unit:

• Social and cultural aspects of health, illness and medicine
• Behaviour and interpersonal relationships in health care/ Psychology of health, illness and health care
• Methodology and methods of scientific research in health and health services.

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this unit.

Evaluation: Completion of four (4) written assignments during the academic year, the average of the grades of which contributes to the final grade of the unit by 30%, if it is eligible for the final or re-examinations. Final written examinations, the grade of which contributes to the final grade of the unit by 70%.

Postgraduate Diploma Thesis (C, 40 ECTS)

Module Outline

For more information regarding the Specifications – Useful Material for writing Postgraduate Diploma Theses and posting a Diploma Thesis in the HOU Repository, you can go to the Digital Education Space http://study.eap.gr and especially to the section Programme of Studies.

General Regulation for Postgraduate Diploma Thesis

Guidelines for the Preparation of Diploma Theses of the Programme of Studies “Health Care Management”