University of Colorado
Executive MBA in Pharmaceutical Management
Curriculum
Statistics And Epidemiology
Provides students with a sound
theoretical understanding of the basic principles of
scientific inquiry, sources and kinds of data, and
corresponding analytical techniques. It introduces the
basic principles of comparative and inferential statistics and
of epidemiology and demography.
Health Economics
Offers an intensive analysis of
issues in health economics. Particular attention is
given to "market failure" in health insurance and to
alternative methods of containing health care costs, including
both regulatory and market approaches.
Health Care Sociology
Provides students with
sufficient descriptive and analytic information to allow them
to be conversant with current management and policy issues in
the organization and delivery of health services. It
identifies analytic approaches from the social sciences, with
particular emphasis on sociology.
Human Resource Management
Is a survey course intended for
students who will hold senior executive positions in health
services organizations, enabling them to appreciate the
organizational value of a well-developed HRM function, to
think strategically about human resources, to understand
linkages among human resource systems, and to see the
relationship of the human resource function with other
management functions.
Financial Management
Allows students to learn and
apply the basic techniques for analysis of an organization's
investment and financing decisions. Topics include risk
analysis, capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital
structure, and financial planning.
Management Information
Systems
Focuses on the use and
management of information as a health care resource.
Students learn about current computer technologies relevant to
managers for operations and decision support.
Quantitative Methods
Focuses on the application of
quantitative tools in decision making. Topics include
linear programming, decision analysis, statistical inference,
and multiple regression.
Marketing
Enables students to acquire the
knowledge and skills needed to design and execute relationship
management strategies and marketing tactics in the variety of
settings and situations prevalent in health care.
Discussions address accountability, planning strategic and
tactical initiatives, operational improvement, communications,
research, and evaluation in marketing applications.
Ethics And Health Law
Exposes the student to the
legal system as it affects the health care industry. The
course addresses the numerous legal and ethical issues raised
by advances in technology, changing societal values,
decreasing resources, and increasing professional liability.
General Systems Theory
Is presented as a conceptual
tool in health administration. Health is viewed as a
subsystem of society, and interfaces among health and other
social subsystems are analyzed. Broad social and
cultural issues form a context for meaningful discussion of
health planning and administration in the current decade and
in future decades. This course will be offered as an
elective.
Competitive Strategy
Develops the student's ability
to think strategically by examining the interplay between the
structure of industries/markets, the potential sources of
sustainable competitive advantage, and the formulation of
strategies. It draws heavily on knowledge from other
courses, particularly economics, organization theory, and
marketing. Students prepare a competitive analysis and
strategy formulation project for a health care institution as
part of the course.
Management Of Healthcare
Institutions
Builds on the concepts, models,
and techniques introduced in the curriculum to integrate them
with a decision-making focus. This course includes the
topic of governance and uses a major case analysis.
Students provide management reports and a formal oral
presentation.
Microeconomics
Provides the executive with the
background, theory, and skills in microeconomics that are
essential for effective managerial decisions and are helpful
in other courses in the Program. Students learn the
fundamentals of marginal analysis as a basis for decision
making regarding the use of society's scarce resources.
This course provides the student with the tools to understand
various market and governmental (regulatory) solutions to the
economics of health care delivery.
Management Accounting
Provides an overview of the
concepts and techniques of managerial accounting for
generalist health care administrators. These techniques
are used primarily for financial planning, measurement, and
control. Topics covered include financial planning,
budgeting, cost measurement, cost control, breakeven, revenue
and cost variance analysis, price setting, and related
financial decision-making.
Organization Theory and
Design
Provides an overview of the
problems associated with organizing people at work while
leading the transitions demanded by the healthcare
environment. Topics covered include creating and
building support for a vision as well as the identification
and management of barriers associated with resistance.
Alternative systems and structures are examined and change
management, team development, and conflict resolution
processes are applied to healthcare organizations.
Pharmaceutical Management Courses
The Healthcare Industry and the
Role of the Pharmaceutical Industry
This course focuses on the
understanding of the operation of the healthcare market and
its relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.
Topics include the nature and characteristics of competition
among the pharmaceutical companies, regulatory
characteristics, the role of patents, brand name vs. generic
drugs, the impact of managed care on the pharmaceutical
industry, cost and pricing decisions, third-party
reimbursements for prescription drugs, responses to
competitive pressure through mergers, acquisitions, and
restructuring.
Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Management
The course focuses on
progressive practices pertaining to manufacturers,
distributors, providers, and integrated networks. Topics
to be covered include (1) information flow (integration of
cost, clinical and charge systems; types of information
systems do and do not work; internal communication of goals
and missions; integration of distributors information with
internal systems; and point of use
information-data-integration); (2) Organizational Dynamics
(culture; leadership, organizational structure; physician
relationships, and change management); (3) Metrics
(measurement of goals, cost reduction, supply chain goals vs.
larger enterprise goals, and the use of reward incentives);
(4) Supply Chain Relationship Management (management of cost
information and improved efficiencies with manufacturers,
group purchasing organizations, and distributors; and
relationship among units within a system or network.
This is a case based course drawing on findings from leading
integrated delivery systems throughout the nation.
Students will be expected to carry out a project pertaining to
progressive practices in their own organizations.
Pharmaceutical Marketing
A further exploration of
marketing principles as they specifically relate to the
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The three
main areas of focus will include 1) marketing research; 2)
product management (examining patent-protected, generic, and
competitive drugs by lifecycle, their interface between other
corporate functions such as R&D and sales/promotion,
regulatory issues, and greater healthcare environmental issues
such as third party payers and global competition); 3) sales
management (the sales force make-or-buy decision; structuring
via territory, quotas, motivation, and evaluation; account
management; and, emerging technologies as direct-to-consumer
and e-commerce grows more influential).
Pharmacoeconomics
This course introduces students
to the theory and application of economic analysis and
outcomes research in the pharmaceutical industry. Topics
include: an overview of the pharmaceutical industry; the role
of cost, quality of life and other outcomes research data;
development and application of cost and economic data and
analyses; development and application of quality of life
instruments and analyses; health policy issues in the use of
outcomes research. Numerous applications and examples
from industry will be presented.
Elective Courses
Students may also choose from
several electives that total six additional credit hours.
The following courses are representative of those offered:
