MHA Competencies

The Master of Health Administration Program has adopted the National Center for Healthcare Leadership competencies model. Three competency domains (Transformation, Execution and People) and nineteen competencies within those domains guide the MHA Program curriculum. By the conclusion of the MHA program, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and application in the following competencies:

  • Promoting Accountability
    • The ability to hold people accountable to standards of performance or ensure compliance by effectively and appropriately using the power of one’s position or personality, with the long-term good of the organization in mind.
  • Analytical Thinking
    • Developing a deeper understanding of a situation, issue, or problem by breaking it down or tracing its implications step-by-step. It includes organizing the parts of a situation, issue, or problem systematically; making systematic comparisons of different features or aspects; setting priorities on a rational basis; and identifying time sequences, causal relationships, or if-then relationships.
  • Communication Skills 1 – Writing
    • The ability to use written communications in formal and informal situations to convey meaning, build shared understanding, and productively move agendas forward
  • Communication Skills 2 – Speaking & Facilitating
    • The ability to use spoken communications in formal and informal situations to convey meaning, build shared understanding, and productively move agendas forward.
  • Performance Measurement
    • The ability to understand and use statistical and financial metrics and methods to set goals and measure clinical as well as organizational performance; commits to and deploys evidence-based techniques.
  • Process & Quality Improvement
    • The ability to analyze and design or improve an organizational process, including incorporating the principles of high reliability, continuous quality, and user-centered design.
  • Project Management
    • The ability to plan, execute, and oversee a multi-year, large-scale project involving significant resources, scope, and impact. Examples include the construction of a major building, implementation of a new enterprise-wide information system, or development of a new service line.
  • Human Relations
    • The ability to create a positive work environment through management practices that represent contemporary best practices consistent with legal and regulatory requirements and through effective leadership (formal or informal) of people towards shared vision and team goals.
  • Strategic Orientation
    • The ability to consider the business, demographic, ethnocultural, political, and regulatory implications of decisions and develop strategies that continually improve the long-term success and viability of the organization.
  • Professional and Social Responsibility
    • The demonstration of ethics, sound professional practices, social accountability, and community stewardship. Acting in ways that are consistent with one’s values and what one says is important.
  • Financial Skills
    • The ability to understand and explain financial and accounting information, prepare and manage budgets, and make sound long-term investment decisions.
  • Information Technology
    • The ability to see the potential for administrative and clinical technologies to support process and performance improvement. Utilizes technological capabilities to satisfy an underlying curiosity to identify patterns in things, people, and issues.  It includes pressing for more precise information and resolving discrepancies by asking a series of questions and responding with data.