Competency Model

Background:

The MHA Program is designed to include all major competencies required for health care management generalist positions, whether early careerist (Resident track) or mid-level careerist (Executive track). The MHA Program Competency Model consists of four (4) domains comprising 17 competencies that align with the MHA Program’s mission of providing “a rigorous competency-based education experience informed by evidence-based practice, faculty scholarship, and service to the community."

The MHA Program Competency Model:

1. Health Care Environment and Community (the relationship between health are operations and their communities and local, state, regional, and national organizations and policies)
   1. Public and Population Health Assessment (Historic, current, and anticipated future characteristics and requirements for health care at local, state, regional, and national markets)
   2. Delivery, Organization, and Financing of Health Services and Health Systems (Delivery, Organization, and Financing of Health Services and Health Systems)
   3. Policy Analysis (Creation, analysis, and social or other norms that formally or informally provide guidance for health care delivery)
   4. Legal and Ethical Bases for Health Services and Health Systems (Laws, regulations, and social or other norms that formally or informally provide guidance for health care delivery)
2. Leadership Skills (the motivation and empowerment of organizational resources to achieve a shared vision)
   1. Ethics, Accountability, and Self-Assessment (Professional and personal values and responsibilities that result in ongoing self-reflection, professional awareness, learning, and development)
   2. Organizational Dynamics (Organizational behavior methods and human resource strategies to maximize individual and team development while ensuring cultural awareness and inclusiveness)
   3. Problem Solving, Decision Making, and Critical Thinking (Data, analytic methods, and judgment used in support of leadership decisions)
   4. Team Building and Collaboration (Partnerships that result in functional, motivated, skill-based groups formed to accomplish identifiable goals)
3. Management Skills (the control and organization of health services delivery)
   1. Strategic Planning (Market and community needs served by defined alternatives, goals, and programs which are supported by appropriate implementation methods)
   2. Business Planning (Develop and manage budgets, conduct financial analysis; identify opportunities and threats to organizations using relevant information)
   3. Communication (Verbal and non-verbal communication to effectively convey pertinent information)
   4. Financial Management (Read, understand, and analyze financial statements and audited financial reports)
   5. Performance Improvement (Data, information, analytic tools, and judgment used to guide goal setting for individuals, teams, and organizations)
   6. Project Management (Design, plan, execute, and assess tasks and develop appropriate timelines related to performance, structure, and outcomes in the pursuit of stated goals)
4. Analytic and Technical Skills (the successful accomplishment of tasks in health services delivery)
   1. Systems Thinking (Interrelationships between and among constituent parts of an organization)
   2. Data Analysis and Information Management (Data, information, technology, and supporting structures used in completing assigned tasks)
   3. Quantitative Methods for Health Services Delivery (Economic, financial, statistical, and other discipline-specific techniques needed to understand, model, assess, and inform health care decision making and address health care questions)