MSHA: Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Emphasis
journey today.
The Master of Science in Health Administration with an Emphasis in Health Care Quality and Patient Safety (MSHA) is offered by the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions at Grand Canyon University. This MSHA is ideally suited to current healthcare administrators who wish to potentially take the next step in their career, as well as active registered nurses (RNs) who would like to transition to an administrative career.
Better healthcare quality and patient safety are foundational goals of all healthcare organizations. This healthcare administration degree program is designed to teach you the skills necessary to perform as a middle or upper-level manager in a variety of settings. This healthcare emphasis aims to teach you how to apply effective leadership principles and follow the best practices of change management while guiding healthcare staff to strive toward quality and safety improvements.
The master’s in health administration with a healthcare quality and patient safety emphasis is designed to empower you to make a positive impact on quality and safety in healthcare. This program emphasizes the conceptual, analytical and application skills required to manage in contemporary healthcare organizations.
Learners may alternatively consider earning a healthcare administration degree without the quality healthcare emphasis. The Master of Science in Health Administration explores topics in contemporary healthcare delivery systems, healthcare policies, organizational dynamics and legal and ethical principles.
GCU strives to make higher education accessible for working professionals who wish to pursue career advancement. You can take healthcare quality courses online for geographic freedom and greater scheduling flexibility.1 As a member of our online learning community, you’ll be able to connect with a diverse body of students who bring varying perspectives and backgrounds to academic discussions.
As a private Christian university, GCU integrates the Christian worldview into the curriculum. You will study how to apply biblical principles to your professional practice. With the intent of graduating well-rounded students, this degree explores a variety of health administration competencies, ranging from the regulatory landscape to professional ethics to project management and beyond. You will be taught how to serve as an innovative change agent and a leader of organizational improvement and adaptation within the health administration field.
Health quality and patient safety courses at GCU are taught by knowledgeable faculty who are committed to supporting students. To complete this MSHA degree, you must pass all courses and complete the required 150 practicum/field experience hours.
Topics Covered in This Master’s in Health Administration Program
Healthcare administrators typically tackle a diverse range of challenges in today’s health settings. Our instructors strive to prepare you to confidently face these challenges by teaching a broad framework of foundational competencies with far-reaching application potential. You can expect to examine both hard and soft skills in this program.
Some of the topics covered in this master’s degree include:
Nationally recognized expectations and metrics for quality
Different approaches to support quality improvement measures
Methods to track, assess, analyze and review patient safety data
Project management models and approaches in healthcare
Ways to set expectations in healthcare project management and quality
Identify methods to mitigate obstacles in healthcare project management and quality improvement
Technologies that support clinical decision-making for patient safety
Healthcare delivery models
Legal and ethical principles in healthcare
Healthcare policies and economics
Healthcare research methods, analysis and utilization
Organizational structures (marketing, business analysis and human resource management)
This health administration master’s: healthcare quality and patient safety emphasis is designed to equip learners with a solid framework of administration competencies applicable to a range of healthcare settings.
With a firm foundation of health-related administration skills and knowledge, professionals may be prepared to pursue work in settings such as:2,3
Hospitals
Nursing and residential care facilities
Outpatient facilities
Physician offices
Insurance companies
Government agencies
Laboratories
Nonprofit organizations
Pharmaceutical companies
Since being initially chartered in 1949, GCU has prioritized the delivery of quality education to our students. Our instructors strive to help students develop a firm, well-rounded foundation of competencies so they can confidently make a positive impact on their workplaces and communities. GCU has been institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1968.
The College of Nursing and Health Care Professions shares the university’s commitment to upholding the principles and standards established by our accrediting bodies. For more information on the accreditation of nursing programs and other university approvals, please visit our nursing accreditation page.
MSHA: Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Emphasis FAQs
Read through our frequently asked questions and answers to learn more about the MSHA degree and careers related to the health administration field.
With advanced online learning platforms, resources and support, online students have opportunities to gain the same quality of knowledge as many would expect from an on-campus program.1 In order to demonstrate to employers that you earned your MSHA degree from a reputable university with approved curriculums, make sure the university you plan on attending is properly accredited.
A quality manager in healthcare works to improve all aspects of patient care, with the goal of working toward increased patient safety and improved outcomes. This may include reviewing policies and procedures, working with billing/insurance, claims and litigation, training staff and analyzing performance metrics.
Patient safety and quality in healthcare are dependent on many factors. Often, it refers to the measures of a hospital’s efficiency, timeliness and equitable access, and how these factors all work together to provide optimal care and prevent harm to patients. Safety is a fundamental cornerstone of quality care.4
Quality in regard to healthcare refers to how effective an organization is at fulfilling its standards. According to the National Library of Medicine, quality care is characterized as being effective, efficient and safe, while also being patient-centered, timely and equitable. Patient safety is the single most important factor, and all other aspects of quality care stem from safety.4 Patient safety is more simply looked at as preventing harm to patients. With this comes the responsibility of preventing errors, learning from errors and minimizing risks that can compromise patient safety.
An MSHA degree that focuses on patient safety and quality in healthcare can be worth it for you if you aspire to equip yourself with additional career qualifications with the goal of pursuing advancement in healthcare administration. It’s also a worthwhile endeavor purely for the sake of being taught how to better help patients by shaping policies and processes in a way that prioritizes their safety and quality care.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally, about 1 in 10 patients suffer harm in health settings and over three million deaths each year can be attributed to substandard healthcare.5 While not all adverse patient outcomes are preventable, of course, the WHO estimates that more than half of all healthcare setting-related harm is indeed preventable.5 By prioritizing patient safety, healthcare professionals can improve the efficiency of the health delivery system, encourage better patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs and strengthen ties between health systems and communities.5
Develop the skills to examine and improve policies, processes and organizational dynamics for better patient outcomes.
- While all courses are completed online, you will need to attend clinical, practicum and immersion hours in person locally.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024, April 17). Medical and Health Services Managers: Work Environment. Occupational Outlook Handbook. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
- Oppenheimer, T. H. (2023, Oct. 10). Jobs for People with a Healthcare Administration Degree. Nurse.org. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
- Mitchell, P. H. (2008, April). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
- World Health Organization. (2023, Sept. 11). Patient Safety. Retrieved April 25, 2024.