Courses
Core Courses
Check the Penn Timetable to find out when/whether a specific course is running in any given semester.
HPR 501-Economics of Health Care Delivery: Examines how medical care is produced and financed in private and public sectors, economic models of consumer and producer behavior, and applications of economic theory to health care.
HPR 600-Introduction to Health Policy and Research: Provides an overview of health services research using lectures by dynamic and innovative researchers who can provide a context for the fundamentals of HSR and an overview of existing cutting-edge research.
HPR 603- Health Services and Policy Research Methods I - Primary Data Design and Collection: Introduces students to commonly used primary data collection methods, provides examples of how they have been used in health services research. Students will define a primary data collection research project and develop methods necessary to conduct the project.
HPR 607-Health Services and Policy Research Methods II – Causal Inference Using Secondary Data: Introduces research methods appropriate for data analysis of administrative and public datasets to address health policy issues.
HPR 604-Introduction to Statistics for Health Policy: Introduces basic concepts of statistical thinking and analysis. Includes descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing for differences between two or more groups and correlation and prediction.
HPR 608-Applied Regression Analysis for Health Policy Research: Students learn how to select an appropriate regression model for a given set of research questions/hypotheses, assess how adequately a given model fits a particular set of observed data, and how to correctly interpret the results from the model fitting procedure.
HPR 606-Fundamentals of Health Policy: Students gain an overview of the U.S. health care system and comprehensive understanding of politics and government, economics of the public sector, the nature of persuasion, and techniques and formats for communication of scientific research to policy audiences.
Elective Courses run by MSHP
HPR 503-Qualitative Methods in Health Research: The purpose of this course is to expose students to a variety of qualitative approaches/methodologies that may be used in health services/policy research. Students are given the opportunity to apply the theoretical approaches to their own research interests with direct input from the faculty and their peers.
HPR 504-Principles and Practice of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety: Healthcare delivery is complex and constantly changing. A primary mission of leading healthcare organizations is to advance the quality of patient care by striving to deliver care that is safe, effective, efficient, timely, cost effective, and patient-centered. The goal of this inter professional course is to provide students with a broad overview of the principles and tools of quality improvement and patient safety in health care.
HPR 550-Clinical Economics and Decision Making: This course focuses on the application of decision analysis and economic analysis to clinical and policy research. A major focus of the course is the application of economic principles to the evaluation of health outcomes.
HPR 580-Outcomes Research: This course addresses issues related to the measurement of quality in healthcare. Included is a review of the classical-structure-process-outcome quality paradigm. In addition, this course deals with observational, or quasi-experimental, research studies. It addresses the advantages and limitations of alternative designs, and covers the role of clinical risk adjustment in observational studies of medical interventions.
HPR 611-Implementation Science in Health and Health Care: In this course, a suite of qualitative, quantitative and mixed research methods that address the features of implementation science are highlighted. The course is largely case-based, evaluating examples of both successful and unsuccessful efforts in knowledge translation and evidence dissemination.
HPR 637 - Advocacy and Public Health: This course is designed to provide the foundational context and practical skills necessary to effectively advocate for evidence-based policy change in furtherance of public health objectives. The class will be interactive in nature and will require participation in public health advocacy exercises in order to hone advocacy skills. There will also be a focus on persuasive communication, both oral and written. We will explore the entire advocacy process from the identification of a problem and evaluation of possible policy solutions to utilizing the full range of advocacy tools to promote policy change. We will be using real-time examples of public health challenges affecting the health, safety, and well-being of children and families here in Philadelphia and in communities across the country.
HPR 640 - Coaching in Quality Improvement: The purpose of this course is to provide participants with the skills and tools to successfully guide learners in experiential quality improvement (QI) work in healthcare while developing a network of educators with similar roles. Students will be placed into groups based upon their level of experience and confidence in teaching and advising learners in this field. Both groups will discuss topics such as QI project selection, using QI frameworks to structure teaching sessions, key organizational and team factors, providing feedback, common teacher and learner pitfalls in QI, and many others.
HPR 650-Systems Thinking in Patient Safety: This blended online/in-classroom graduate level course integrates principles of systems thinking with foundational concepts in patient safety. Utilizing complexity theories, students assess healthcare practices and identify factors that contribute to medical errors and impact patient safety.
HPR 660- Applied Predictive Modeling for Health Services Research: This course offers an introduction to the principles and applications of predictive modeling. It is geared toward health services researchers with an emphasis on clinical and policy scenarios and the use of electronic health record and administrative claims data.
HPR 670 – Leadership in Health Care and Business Acumen: This week-long course aims at developing essential business acumen and leadership skills required to thrive in a constantly changing health care ecosystem. Taught by invited faculty who have experience working with health care leaders, this course will focus on actionable knowledge in financial acumen, strategic decision making, innovation, and building high-performance teams.
HPR 714 – Grant Writing and Review: This course is designed to assist students in the design of an NIH Grant (F-32, K, R21, or R01) or other grants for submission by enhancing their appreciation of the specifics of the grant writing process and in understanding the grant review process. This course provides background, training, and practice with the writing and submitting of NIGH-style grants.
HPR 799-Independent Study: Prior approval is required (see policies below).