Online Healthcare MBA Programs (Dual Specialization)
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An online master’s degree in business administration (MBA) in healthcare with a dual concentration can provide graduates with financial skills that are tailored to the fast-moving landscape of healthcare. The healthcare industry is undergoing many significant innovations, and with more information being recorded than ever before, the industry needs employees with business savvy that can turn insights into meaningful patient outcomes and lean operational processes.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the job market for health service managers to grow by 20 percent between 2016 and 2026, much higher than the average profession. Additionally, healthcare spending is forecast to reach $8.7 trillion by 2020, according to Deloitte’s 2018 Global Health Care Outlook, meaning that the worlds of finance and healthcare will continue to get closer, rewarding those with experience in both spheres.
With an online healthcare MBA, students can select a personalized curriculum that offers both a strong business foundation as well as healthcare-related electives.
Diverse perspectives fuel innovation and an online MBA in healthcare with a dual concentration caters to professionals of all backgrounds and allows students to access career-boosting education wherever they are. Business-oriented individuals can gain the healthcare-focused insights they need to work as regulatory consultants or system managers in a rapidly growing and evolving environment. While mid-career health professionals can combine a graduate-level business education with a deep dive into a healthcare niche (e.g., population health, global systems, or operational management) to gain unique expertise in an emerging arena. Clinicians can develop the business skills necessary to run a private practice or transition into higher-level leadership roles that require logistical resource allocation, strategic decision-making, and people-management. And entrepreneurs can target their skillset to one of the largest industries in the world, where there’s a renewed call to find efficiencies in both processes and finances. PricewaterhouseCoopers called 2018 the year of resilience among uncertainty in the healthcare industry, where securing the internet of things and leveraging artificial intelligence will become top priorities for the industry.
In an industry that is full of radically different specializations, there is a growing need for overarching integration—and most often, business is the lingua franca between silos. With an online healthcare MBA with a dual specialization, students can merge the lean process management skills taught in graduate-level business education with the unique needs of the healthcare industry, where innovative opportunities continue to emerge.
Featured Online MBA Programs in Healthcare With Dual Concentrations
The University of Scranton provides a 100 percent online dual MBA-MHA program, which takes approximately 2.5 years to complete. It saves students 13 to 18 credits compared to those who enroll in the two degrees separately.
This degree program comprises 65 to 70 credits, including a 56-credit core, one MHA elective, one MBA elective, an international class, and an internship or residency course. Classes include instruction in healthcare financial management, healthcare ethics, organizational behavior, HR management, administrative issues, and healthcare IT management, among other topics.
To apply for this program, students must have an accredited bachelor’s degree, a GPA of at least 3.0, and a minimum of three years of professional experience. No GMAT or GRE test scores are required.
- Location: Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Accreditation: Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME); Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
- Format: Online
- Tuition: $965 per credit plus fees
- Program length: 2.5 years (up to six years)
This online MBA program from the Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics boasts credentials as one of the top online MBA programs in the nation according to MBA website Poets & Quants and U.S. News & World Report. The core MBA curriculum prepares students to communicate in and navigate the world of business with courses that focus on fundamental analytics, staff management, and corporate strategy. The healthcare specialization offers five additional courses in popular health informatics, e-service management in healthcare, patient experience and engagement, leadership and innovation in population health, and policy and finance for healthcare delivery. Students may add a second or third concentration in business analytics, finance, strategic leadership, or international business. A general business track consists of 44 credits, while a healthcare concentration consists of 47 credits, and a triple concentration consists of 53 credits. While GMAT and GRE scores are required with applications, waivers are available based on a student’s GPA, work experience, and math education history. Visits to campus are not required, but students are welcome to do so if they wish.
- Location: Newark, Delaware
- Accreditation: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
- Format: Online, on-campus, or hybrid
- Tuition: $812.50 per credit hour; healthcare concentration degree totals $38,187.50
- Program length: 16 to 36 months, depending on pace and course load
Students in this program will receive an MBA degree in healthcare management, and have the opportunity to pursue an additional concentration. At Herzing University, MBA candidates can benefit from a small student-to-teacher ratio and focus on putting theory into practice. In the classroom, they learn how to make data-driven decisions and craft solutions that consider a global world and various cultural perspectives. The program begins with three foundational courses in leadership, research, and management, then breaks out into the paths of business and healthcare. On the business side, students will take classes in marketing, technology and innovation, or strategic planning. On the healthcare side, students study healthcare administration, policy, and information management. The general program requires at least 39 credit-hours to complete, while the healthcare concentration option requires at least 47 credit-hours. Both can be done completely online, with no visits necessary to any of Herzing’s several campuses.
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia; Madison, Wisconsin; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Orlando, Florida
- Accreditation: International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE)
- Format: Online or at the above campus locations
- Tuition: $34,710 for the full 48-credit healthcare concentration degree
- Program length: As few as 12 months, if attending full-time
Saint Leo University is a Catholic institution that is rooted in a 1,500-year Benedictine tradition but is open to all faiths. Its programs emphasize the need for a steadfast moral consciousness in a rapidly changing world. Students at Saint Leo learn not only fundamental analytical and technological approaches to complex management problems, but also about the ethical and leadership-based approaches that can work in tandem to preempt the problem. This mixed approach of traditional and cutting-edge learning is carried through healthcare specific areas such as insurance programs, taxation, consumer care, and community health. Students take fundamental business classes such as managerial economics, human resources, and financial accounting. The healthcare management MBA consists of 36 credits. However, with director approval, students can take on a second concentration such as cybersecurity, data analytics, or risk management. Students take up to two courses per eight-week term and are not required to visit campus as part of the program.
- Location: Saint Leo, Florida
- Accreditation: Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE)
- Format: Online
- Tuition: $720 per credit-hour for the 2017-18 academic year (online tuition and costs for 2018-19 are not yet posted)
- Program length: One to five years, depending on pace and course load
Professors to Know in Online MBA Programs in Healthcare Programs
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Rick L. Andrews, PhD - University of Delaware
Dr. Rick Andrews is the deputy dean of the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. He teaches marketing at the University of Delaware, and his teaching primarily focuses on the areas of marketing research, statistics, and business consulting. After receiving his doctorate in marketing and statistics at Virginia Tech, he joined the faculty of the University of Delaware as an assistant professor before serving as chair of the Department of Business Administration between 2006 and 2011. He has published many papers on the statistical modeling of consumer perceptions, preferences, and choices in several top academic journals such as Management Science, Marketing Research, and the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics. His work has been academically cited by others more than 1,000 times in the last five years.
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Orlando Rivero, DBA, MHA, MPH - Herzing University
Dr. Orlando Rivero is the graduate program chair at Herzing University Online, the second such online MBA program with multiple specializations that he has helped design.
He received his doctoral degree in business from Argosy University, his master's of public administration at Nova Southeastern University, and his master's of healthcare administration from University of West Florida. His teaching and consulting focus on corporate healthcare management and international business strategy. Dr. Rivero has spent over 20 years working in leadership roles with local governments, during which time he received the National Association of Counties (NACO) Achievement Award for implementing community-driven programs in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
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Rafael A. Rosado-Ortiz, MD - Saint Leo University
Dr. Rafael A. Rosado-Ortiz has a long medical career as a family physician and healthcare manager. He is the department chair of healthcare management at Saint Leo University and the leading resource for all courses related to healthcare management and healthcare program implementation. He has several academic publications, most of which describe how to improve care for minority and underserved populations in the U.S. and Latin America—an issue he has been dedicated to for more than 25 years. Prior to his role at Saint Leo University, Dr. Rosado served as the assistant medical director for the Department of Juvenile Justice in Georgia, where he administered 30 medical facilities statewide and implemented processes to better protect patients and adhere to evidence-based practices.