Courses

There are 4 courses offered in Northeastern's Healthcare Specialization, but online learners are welcome to take any of them individually. To complete the specialization, however, please take the courses in the following order.

Course 1: Healthcare Consumerism and Implication for Care Delivery

Presenter: Russ Moran

In this course we will examine the changing role of the consumer in healthcare. Consumers are asking for more accountability in how healthcare is delivered and paid for. Healthcare professionals must make sure that they are delivering high quality, personalized care.

Some of the topics we'll cover are: the healthcare ecosystem, new technologies in healthcare, the development of new payment models, change management in healthcare, data analytics.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Explain the new role of consumers in healthcare delivery in order to respond to the demands in this changing industry
  2. Identify the key players in the healthcare ecosystem
  3. Describe how the healthcare system operates and its impact on consumer-driven healthcare.
  4. Articulate the challenges facing consumers and providers in order to find potential solutions for these challenges. 

Course 2: Future Healthcare Payment Models

Lead Presenter: Rina Vertes

This course will review the drivers of healthcare cost and solutions that have been proposed to address cost, quality and value of health care. Many place blame for high costs on payment models that pay healthcare providers for every service they provide to patients, essentially paying more for volume and service intensity. This is called a Fee for Service (FFS) payment model. Some solutions, arguably the more sustainable solutions, are the combined strategies of new payment models, care management, insurance plan designs, consumer engagement tools, and technology.

Using that information we will explore various situations, showcasing coordinated care and payment strategies that can be implemented to improve patient health and the cost of delivery of healthcare services.

By the end of this course, the learner should be able to:

  1. Identify the drivers and trends of healthcare spending from the perspective of various stakeholders, including medical providers, insurers, government and private purchasers and payments
  2. Critically assess the impact of strategic and financial approaches that have been put in place by the ACA and the various modifications.
  3. Evaluate how healthcare payment models currently work and the new direction that value-based payment is taking.
  4. Identify how financial and non-financial metrics can be appropriately combined to improve a healthcare stakeholders' value proposition.

Course 3: Evaluating the Quality of Healthcare Delivery

Lead Presenter: Gary Young

In this course, you will have the opportunity to learn about the great progress that has been made in measuring and evaluating quality of care. We will discuss key concepts and methods. You will also learn about how to use websites for comparing the quality of healthcare providers.

The course content is intended for a wide range of participants – for example, people who have a general interest in quality of care, consumers seeking information about how to choose a provider for themselves or family members, or leaders of business organizations who are responsible for employee health insurance benefits and network of providers.

By the end of this course, the learner should be able to:

  1. Explain key developments regarding how quality of care is measured and evaluated in the US.
  2. Articulate basic framework for evaluating quality of outcomes of care including types of and criteria for selecting quality measures for evaluating and comparing providers.
  3. Discuss scientific issues and challenges for evaluating quality of care and methods for addressing these challenges.
  4. Identify and apply resources and tools for comparing the quality of care of providers. 

Course 4: Business Application of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Lead Presenter: Craig Johnson

The future of healthcare is becoming dependent on our ability to integrate Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence into our organizations. But it is not enough to recognize the opportunities of AI; we as leaders in the healthcare industry have to first determine the best use for these applications ensuring that we focus our investment on solving problems that impact the bottom line.

Throughout these four modules we will examine the use of decision support, journey mapping, predictive analytics, and embedding Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence into the healthcare industry.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  1. Determine the factors involved in decision support that can improve business performance across the provider/payer ecosystem.
  2. Identify opportunities for business applications in healthcare by applying journey mapping and pain point analysis in a real world context.
  3. Identify differences in methods and techniques in order to appropriately apply to pain points using case studies.
  4. Critically assess the opportunities to leverage decision support in adapting to trends in the industry.