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Master of Health Administration (MHA)


2023-2024 GRADUATE STUDIES CATALOG

Effective 1 June 2023 through 31 May 2024

Please see the Graduate Catalog Archives for PDF versions of past catalogs.

This program is offered by the George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology. It is available via Live Virtual (100% synchronous modality), at the St. Louis main campus and at select U.S. campuses. Please see the Campus Locations and Offerings section of this catalog for a list of campuses where this program is offered.

Program Description

This course of study builds a broad conceptual understanding of the health care industry and develops specific, focused administrative skills that will help graduates guide health care organizations toward greater efficiency, effectiveness and patient centered care.

acbsp logoThe MHA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).

MHA Mission Statement

The mission of the Master of Health Administration (MHA) Program is to provide students from a variety of backgrounds, who have work experience in areas relevant to healthcare, with the academic and professional preparation they need to achieve upward career mobility in hospitals and related healthcare organizations. 

MHA Vision Statement

The Master of Health Administration (MHA) Program aspires to be nationally recognized as a leading provider of health administration for adult learners. 

MHA Values Statement

  • Respect: A culture of respect facilitates highly positive interactions between and among students, staff, faculty and other stakeholders.
  • Knowledge: Knowledge allows us all, regardless of the role we serve, to maximize our abilities to achieve success.
  • Potential: With proper guidance and support every individual has the potential to succeed.
  • Diversity and Inclusion: Diversity in all its forms enriches the educational experience — in the classroom and outside in the work environment. 

Competencies

The Webster University Master of Health Administration program focuses on those competencies most aligned with the skills, knowledge, and abilities commonly required for health administration positions in provider-based health care organizations. The Program's competency model is comprised of three dimensions (People, Management & Strategy) and includes 13 competencies. With each competency, we have identified the competency target level (1=beginning level of competency, 2=basic, and 3=professional).

People Dimension

1, Community Orientation: The ability to identify organizational priorities that align with the needs and values of the community. (target level 2)

2. Communication: The ability to effectively convey and receive information from others, including the essential components of active listening and clarity in writing and speaking. (target level 3)

3 Organizational Behavior: The ability to understand the way in which actions can impact and influence individuals and groups of individuals within organizations. (target level 3)

4. Human Resources: The ability to identify human resource management contemporary best practices, human resource related legal and regulatory requirements, and techniques for optimizing the performance of the workforce. (target level 2)

Management Dimension

5. Leading and Managing: The ability to identify appropriate methods for effectively influencing individuals and/or groups within an organization to take positive action toward supporting or achieving intended outcomes. (target level 3)

6. Finance: The ability to understand and explain financial and accounting information, determine the impact of varying reimbursement methods on revenue, identify strategies to improve the revenue cycle, and prepare and analyze budgets.(target level 1)

7. Marketing: The ability to understand the process by which organizations conceive, price, promote and distribute goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. (target level 1)

8. Information Technology: The ability to understand the role and function of administrative and clinical information technology in healthcare delivery. (target level 1)

9. Quantitative Analysis: The ability to analyze and interpret quantitative information as a means of understanding and measuring organizational performance. (target level 1)

10. Legal Principles: The ability to recognize common areas of legal risk. (target level 2)

Strategy Dimension

11. Strategic Planning: The ability to develop strategies that have the potential to improve the long-term success and viability of the organization. (target level 3)

12. Quality and Performance Improvement: The ability to effectively apply process improvement techniques. (target level 2)

13. Health Policy: The ability to understand the impact of select health policies on the delivery of healthcare services. (target level 2)

Learning Outcomes

  • Students will be able to explain healthcare leadership styles and demonstrate effective communication skills that are required in managing effective teams and in predicting human behavior in an organization.
  • Students will be able to apply health care management skills in problem solving, decision making, planning, delegating and managing time. 
  • Students will be able to incorporate strategic thinking to set priorities, focus energy and resources, and strengthen operations, in order to ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, and to operationalize healthcare organization's mission and vision. 

Program Curriculum

The 42 credit hours required for the Master of Health Administration (MHA) follow this sequence of courses:

  • HLTH 5000 Organization and Management in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • BUSN 6150 Business Communications and Technology (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5040 Human Resources Management in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5050 Financial Management in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5070 Financial Analysis in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5100 Statistics for Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5120 Issues in Health Policy (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5130 Healthcare Strategy and Marketing (3 hours) 
  • HLTH 5140 Health Administration Law (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5150 Process Improvement in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5160 Health Informatics (3 hours)
  • HLTH 6000 Integrated Studies in Health Administration (3 hours)

In addition, the student chooses 2 elective courses offered in this major and/or from the program curricula of other George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology majors.

High Impact Learning Experiences

Webster MHA courses have signature learning experiences. For example, students in the HLTH 6000 capstone course work in teams to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for a complex healthcare organization. Students perform extensive internal, external, and competitive analysis to identify issues and solutions using the strategic planning process. The final project includes financial plans, marketing plans, action steps, and quality measurements. Students write a final paper and make a formal presentation of the plan to faculty and classmates. Other MHA courses have similar high impact learning experiences associated with the content studied in each course. 

Dual Degree Option: MBA/MHA

63 to 66 Credit Hours

Requirements for a dual degree with the MBA program generally include the required MBA courses (33 hours) and the required coursework in the additional degree program, except where noted below. If BUSN 5000 has been waived, the required hours are reduced by 3 credits and the BUSN 5000 course does not require a substitution.

Upon completion of all required credit hours, two separate diplomas are issued at the same time. The two degrees cannot be awarded separately or sequentially under this arrangement.

  • BUSN 5000 Business (3 hours)
  • MBA 5010 Value Creation (3 hours)
  • MBA 5030 Market Analysis and Business Planning (3 hours)
  • MBA 5100 Adding Value through Human Capital (3 hours)
  • MBA 5200 The Financial Value of Capital Projects (3 hours)
  • MBA 5300 Providing Value to Customers (3 hours)
  • MBA 5400 The Supply Chain and Business Processes (3 hours)
  • MBA 5500 Information Support for Decision Making (3 hours)
  • MBA 5910 Cases in Value Creation (3 hours)
  • MBA 5920 Walker Consulting Project: Adding Value to Organizations (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5000 Organization and Management in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • BUSN 6150 Business Communications and Technology (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5040 Human Resources Management in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5050 Financial Management in Health Administration* (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5070 Financial Analysis in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5100 Statistics for Health Administration* (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5120 Issues in Health Policy (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5130 Healthcare Strategy and Marketing (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5140 Health Administration Law (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5150 Process Improvement in Health Administration (3 hours)
  • HLTH 5160 Health Informatics (3 hours)
  • HLTH 6000 Integrated Studies in Health Administration (3 hours)

*HLTH 5050 and HLTH 5100 substitute for MBA 5020.

Admission

See the Admission section of this catalog for general admission requirements. Students interested in applying must submit their application online at www.webster.edu/apply. Transcripts should be sent from your institution electronically to transcripts@webster.edu. If this service is not available, send transcripts to:

Office of Admission
Webster University
470 E. Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63119 

Additional Requirements

Requirements for admission to the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program including the MBA/MHA:

  • A bachelor's degree from an accredited educational institution recognized by Webster University.
  • An undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or a cumulative GPA of 3.0 for a minimum of 12 credit hours of graduate work. Students who apply with a GPA between a 2.0 and 2.99 can be considered for conditional admission (see below for additional information).
  • Official transcripts for all universities, colleges and professional schools.
  • One signed letter of recommendation* supporting the applicant's petition for graduate study from a current or former employer or from a faculty member familiar with the student's work who can speak to the student's ability to succeed in the MHA program.
  • A résumé* showing a minimum of one year of work experience in areas relevant to healthcare.
  • A personal statement* of 500 words or less describing the applicant's career goals and rationale for seeking the MHA degree.

*These required materials must be electronically uploaded to the applicant account.

Completed applications are reviewed on a rolling admission basis.

Conditional Admission

In addition to the above requirements, applicants with an undergraduate cumulative GPA between 2.0 and 2.99 may be admitted on a conditional basis based on a review of the following:

  • GPA of a least a 3.0 for the final 60 credit hours of undergraduate coursework, or for major coursework.
  • Submittal of an additional paragraph to their personal statement that provides an explanation as to how they will succeed in the MHA program given their undergraduate performance.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are admitted to their graduate program upon completion of all admission requirements. Students are advanced to candidacy status after successfully completing 12 credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. In specialized programs, courses required as prerequisites to the program do not count toward the 12 credit hours required for advancement.