PHILADELPHIA – The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania today announced it will offer a new online Master of Health Care Innovation (MHCI) degree. The program will recruit working health care professionals worldwide. The Master’s will focus on three areas related to innovation in health care delivery: health policy, behavioral economics, and operations management. Located in the department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy in the School of Medicine, the MHCI is the University of Pennsylvania’s first online master's program.
“The MHCI is an opportunity for mid-career health care professionals to differentiate themselves and advance their knowledge in a field that will be paramount to the future of health care,” said Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, vice provost for global initiatives and chair of the department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. “Students from a variety of health care backgrounds - including clinicians, and leaders of health care systems, government health agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and device manufacturers - will acquire knowledge that allows them to improve the operations of their institutions during these times of flux in health care.”
The MHCI is designed as a practitioner program with the goal of accelerating professional development. Students in the MHCI program will earn their degree in 18 months through online coursework, a capstone project, and two brief on-campus seminars.
“This exciting new program brings together Penn’s deep expertise in health care with our campus-wide focus on innovation and new forms of education,” said Penn Provost Vincent Price, PhD. “It embodies innovation in both its online form and its path-breaking content: it uses the power of online learning to expand access to Penn’s world-renowned experts, especially for health care leaders who are not able to study full-time on our campus. We expect that, with enhanced skills and knowledge, they will together transform the future of global health care.”
The program’s small class size allows students to engage in valuable interactions with faculty experts. The program will draw its faculty primarily from the School of Medicine, with additional members coming from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
“This program represents a major step forward in our mission to provide superlative medical and health care education,” said J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, executive vice president, University of Pennsylvania for the Health System, and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “The world of health care is rapidly changing, including policy shifts, heightened emphasis on cost containment and value, and marvelous discoveries in fields ranging from cancer care to behavioral science. All of these have powerful effects on how health care systems are managed. The new Master of Health Care Innovation degree will offer students anywhere in the world an opportunity to learn from Penn’s globally recognized faulty members who are driving many of these changes.”
Core courses for the MHCI include the American Health Care System, Evaluating Health Policy and Programs, Health Care Operations, and Innovations in Health Economics. Among numerous elective courses are Health Care Systems around the World, China’s Health Care System and Reform, and Driving Value in the System.
MHCI is approved by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Applications for the program, which begins in August 2017, are due on February 1. They are available online at the Penn Medical Ethics and Health Policy Online Education Center.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.