Health Care Management
Health care is one of the largest industries in the United States, accounting for about 15 percent of the nation’s GDP. During the 1990s, health care organizations were buffeted by numerous regulatory changes and by changing market demands. With the consolidation of managed care organizations and dominance of integrated delivery networks and systems, the need for health care managers with business training has never been greater. The health care management major provides undergraduate students with the skills necessary to find employment and work effectively in a variety of health care settings. Students completing requirements for this major are employed in positions ranging from administrative assistants of large urban hospitals to assistant directors of rural nursing homes to medical group practice managers to analysts in consulting firms. Various CEOs of regional integrated delivery systems began their careers as health care management majors in the program.
The Health Care Management Program at The University of Alabama is one of only 35 programs in North America fully certified by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration. Within Alabama, the HCM Program is the only fully certified undergraduate health care management major grounded in business studies. Students complete specialized courses in health systems, management of health care organizations, issues in health care management, and a health care management internship. Students can declare tracks in ambulatory care, long-term care, or health care sales and take electives in these areas. Courses in accounting, ethics, finance, human resource management, leadership, managerial communication, marketing, organizational behavior and theory, operations management, and business strategy ensure the general business education of each student.
To learn more, contact:
Dr. Marilyn Whitman, HCM Program Coordinator
Clinical Instructor, Health Care Management
Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration
The University of Alabama
Box 870225
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0225
Phone: (205) 348-8934
Fax: (205) 348-6695
Email: mwhitman@cba.ua.edu