Academic Catalog

D H 354: HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Summer 2022
Units: 5
Hours: 5 lecture per week (60 total per quarter)
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Non-GE
Transferable: CSU
Grade Type: Letter Grade Only
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • The student will be able to analyze current issues related to the business practices in dentistry and the implications of these issues to the profession of dental hygiene.
  • The student will be able to evaluate financial statements as part of business decision making.

Description

An introduction to business practices, finance, management, and policy creation for oral health care programs and businesses. This course examines current societal and professional issues and their impact on dental hygiene business practices and management. The course will cover the following areas: planning, strategy and leadership, legal and ethical issues affecting businesses in the oral health care sector, financial statements, and personnel considerations. Intended for students in the Dental Hygiene Baccalaureate Degree Program; enrollment is limited to students accepted in the completion degree track.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Evaluate the importance of advocacy, communication and leadership skills of dental hygienists to enhance their role of practitioner as well as the advanced roles of researcher, manager, change agent, consumer advocate, and health promoter/educator.
  2. Analyze current issues related to the business practices in dentistry and the implications of these issues to the profession of dental hygiene.
  3. Analyze oral health care business organizations, the functions and responsibilities of the business persons.
  4. Evaluate financial statements as part of business decision making.
  5. Demonstrate an understanding of laws and ethical principles as they effect business dealings and personal rights in the oral health care sector.

Course Content

  1. Dental Hygiene business and career options
    1. Roles of the dental hygienist
      1. Practitioner
      2. Educator
      3. Change agent
      4. Marketing and sales
      5. Research
      6. Manager
      7. Consumer advocate
      8. Public health
    2. Sectors of employment in health care
  2. Current issues in health care business
    1. Alternative practice models
    2. Future trends in oral health care
    3. Affordable Care Act
    4. Access to care issues
      1. Disparities
      2. Financial barriers
      3. Government programs and assistance
      4. Geographic and organizational barriers
      5. Social and cultural barriers
  3. Management and leadership
    1. Leadership vs. management
    2. Negotiations
    3. Interviewing
    4. Employment contracts, compensation, benefits
    5. Employee evaluations
    6. Public relations
    7. Advocacy
  4. Finance and marketing
    1. Successful marketing
    2. Financial planning for business
      1. Financial statements
      2. Financial ratios, trends and cash flows for decision making
    3. Planning process and setting objectives
  5. Law and ethics for business in health care sectors
    1. Ethical principles and core values
    2. Informed consent
    3. Decision making models for ethical problems
    4. Jurisprudence
      1. Criminal law
      2. Civil law
      3. Tort law
      4. Contract law
      5. Case law
      6. Practice Act/Business and Professions Codes
    5. Workplace legislation
      1. Affirmative action
      2. Pregnancy discrimination
      3. Family and Medical Leave Act
      4. Occupational Safety and Health Act
      5. Reporting domestic violence, child abuse, spouse abuse and elder abuse

Lab Content

Not applicable.

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

1. Computer with internet access, multi-media classroom.
2. When taught via Foothill Global Access, on-going access to computer with email software and hardware; email address.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Written assignments
Case study presentations
Discussions
Individual or group projects

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Lecture
In-class discussion
Individual and collaborative activities in and out of class
Research and writing assignments

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Kimbrough-Walls, Vickie, and Charla Lauter. Ethics, Jurisprudence and Practice Management in Dental Hygiene (ISBN 13: 978-0-13-139492-6). 2021.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

  1. Read from relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journals, and current periodicals 50-100 pages per week.
  2. Evaluate legislative efforts related to medicine and dentistry.
  3. Participate in relevant discussion related to oral health disparities and how healthcare management plays a role in access to care.
  4. Final assignment/term project: work independently to prepare and present a business plan.

Discipline(s)

Dental Technology