The MHA Program is designed to include all major competencies required for health care management generalist positions, whether early careerist (Track I) or mid-level careerist (Track II). The MHA Program Competency Model consists of five domains comprising 22 competencies that align with the MHA Program’s mission of providing a foundation for health care administration based on evidence-based practice.
1. The ability to describe health care systems throughout the continuum of care with a focus on organizational strategy and management.
2. The ability to describe the legal and regulatory environment in which healthcare organizations and managers operate, recognize the implications of that environment for leadership and management, and influence the policy environment.
3. The ability to explain concepts, issues and practices related to the economics of healthcare financing in the United States and how those concepts affect organizational and political decision making.
4. The ability to apply operations management concepts to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the healthcare sector.
5. The ability to assess the internal and external environment and develop and implement strategies to improve organizational performance consistent with the mission.
6. The ability to interact with, recruit, manage and motivate a diverse workforce in accordance with legal requirements and optimize performance to meet the strategic goals of the organization.
7. The ability to read and analyze financial statements, prepare and manage budgets, explain the impact of different payment models, and make sound short-term and long-term investment decisions.
8. The ability to read and analyze health care supply chain activities to include purchase contracts, group purchasing organizations, purchase card payments, equipment contractual agreements, life cycle management, turn ratios, consumption rates and warehousing.
9. The ability to design, plan, execute and assess tasks and develop appropriate timeline related to performance, structure, and outcomes in pursuit of stated goals.
10. The ability to explain and use quantitative and qualitative methods to measure and improve organizational performance, especially as it relates to healthcare quality.
11. The ability to explain and effectively use health IT and health informatics to enable and support health care operations and transformation.
12. The ability to critically analyze data and other information to resolve problems and develop solutions to organizational issues.
13. The ability to implement a decision-making process from information derived from risk measures, stakeholders, and organizational values.
14. The ability to effectively absorb and convey pertinent information in written and oral form across a wide variety of settings and among different audiences.
15. The ability to effectively lead and participate in a team, manage meetings, promote team effectiveness, and evaluate team performance.
16. The ability to lead through dynamic processes or projects and obtain concurrence among people for change within the governance structures of various healthcare organizations.
17. The ability to conduct oneself at all times with integrity, in an ethical manner and with honesty that merits trust from all stakeholders resulting from on-going self-reflection and self-assessment.
18. The ability to apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organization conflict and challenges.
19. The ability to analyze the effects of health policy on providers, payers and populations and its implications for organizational response and change.
20. The ability to establish goals and objectives for improving health outcomes that incorporate an understanding of the social determinants of health and socioeconomic environment in which the organization functions.
21. The ability to apply systems thinking and tools to identify the interrelationships between and among stakeholders and apply these insights into developing effective plans and policies.
22. The ability to properly identify, collect, analyze and manage the data required for effective organizational management.