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Postgraduate | ACU-HLSC506 | 2023
Strategic Management In Digital Health Service Delivery
Plan for optimized healthcare using current technologies and strategies. You’ll learn to plan, implement, and evaluate changes in the workforce and health system. Improve patient outcomes. Increase accessibility to healthcare.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Part of a degree
- Duration
- 10 weeks
Start dates
- 30 Jan 2023,
- 17 July 2023
FEE-HELP available
About this subject
On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:
LO1 - Reflect on strategic management principles to critically appraise the factors that influence decision making in health service delivery processes supported by digital health (GA1, GA2, GA4).
LO2 - Evaluate the impact of changes to healthcare funding on aspects of health service delivery from a strategic management and equity perspective (GA1, GA2, GA4, GA9).
LO3 - Apply knowledge of effective consultation, consumer advocacy and political lobbying in relation to strategic agenda setting in health service delivery within a digital health ecosystem (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA9).
LO4 - Create digitally supported strategic management strategies that have potential to enhance health outcomes (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA6, GA9).
- Topics will include:
- Management Theory
- - The theoretical underpinnings of strategy and strategic management in health service delivery
- - Contemporary strategic health care management – national, international and digital
- Strategic Management
- - Social determinants of health and relevance to strategic health management
- - National and international health priorities
- - Expert and stakeholder consultation processes
- - Workforce skill development
- - Health service delivery (including Digital Health Services, NDIS, Aged Care Packages)
- - Health policy and social justice
- Implementing Strategic Management
- - Policy implementation strategies
- - Agenda setting
- - Healthcare funding – strategic management implications
- - Health insurance – strategic management implications
- - Patient/consumer advocacy
- - Political lobbying
- Evaluating Strategy Outcomes
- - Evaluating outcomes of strategic decision making
- - National, international and digital health trends in strategic health service direction
Strategic management in health service delivery addresses health system design, delivery and evaluation. Globalisation has brought the need for healthcare management to be strategically planned and delivered with an awareness of both local and global implications because a broad-based response or approach may be required to address health service issues. This unit is required for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the knowledge and skills, including critical analytical skills, required to apply a contextual, integrative approach to strategic management in health service delivery.
In this unit students will consider the broad context of strategic health service management with reference to health service funding and health service delivery. Students will reflect on how awareness of strategy as it applies to health-related issues can influence consumer advocacy and political lobbying for the common good. In critically evaluating strategic, contemporary health service management students will develop skills in addressing national and international health priorities from a long term, consultative, social justice and equity perspective.
The aim of this unit is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical basis underpinning health care management strategy and the ability to evaluate the implications of strategic decisions on health outcomes.
In order to pass this unit, students are expected to submit three graded assessment tasks. In addition, students must achieve a cumulative grade of at least 50% across all assessments. In order to reward students for engagement and performance, a final graded result will be awarded.
In this unit, to support students in being able to demonstrate unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, a standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. The assessment strategy allows for the progressive development of knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for the student to be able to demonstrate an understanding of strategic management and decision making in health service delivery. Students are supported in demonstrating an understanding of the impact of consultative processes, consumer advocacy and strategic decision making on health outcomes and the common good which is required for students who are aspiring towards ethical and effective management in health service delivery. These assessments are required to build student knowledge, skills and attitudes to graduate as a healthcare professional who can contribute to ethical and effective health service delivery.
A range of assessment strategies are used including assessing students’ ability to: (i) reflect on the ethical implications and effectiveness of strategic decision making in health service delivery through a written reflection; (ii) analyse health service implementation strategies through group work and collaborative seminar presentation (iii) evaluate health service delivery in relation to health outcomes and the common good through preparation of a written essay.- Group Work: Enables students to collaborate with peers to debate the implications of funding decisions on the integration on digital health into healthcare. (25%)
- Reflective Essay: Enables student to reflect and analyse the ethical implications and effectiveness of strategic decision making in health service delivery. (25%)
- Major Essay: Enables students to evaluate digital health service delivery in relation to health outcomes and the common good. (50%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
Established in 1991 after amalgamating four eastern Australian Catholic tertiary institutes, Australian Catholic University now has seven campuses, from Brisbane to Melbourne and welcomes students of all beliefs. Specialising in arts, business, education, health sciences, law, theology and philosophy, ACU encourages its students to think critically and ethically and bring change to their communities and offer this online through Open Universities Australia.
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- QS Ranking 2023:
- 31
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2023:
- 12
Entry requirements
To enrol in this subject, you must be admitted into a degree.
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
ACU-HLSC659 (Not currently available)
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
0.125 EFTSL
This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.