Explore Unique Specializations for Your Online MHA
Take your degree — and your passion for healthcare — further with a specialization in one of five areas: Healthcare Leadership, Business Analytics, Project Management, Aging Studies, or Quality Improvement.
Ohio University’s MHA degree gives you a unique opportunity to focus your degree on a growing specialty while gaining foundational skills in healthcare management.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that medical and healthcare service manager careers are expected to grow by 32% from 2020-30. With an MHA from OHIO, you can become the leader you want to be, with the skills employers need on the job today and into the future.
By focusing your MHA in one of our in-demand specializations, you can open worlds of options and opportunities to grow as a professional. An MHA degree will help you become a highly sought-after professional in a dynamic field.
Enhance your leadership skills through a cutting-edge MHA curriculum
Enjoy the flexibility of 100% online coursework
Pursue an online MHA with no GRE required
Choose from a 1-year full-time or 2-year part-time option
Choose from five specializations and earn a certificate with your degree
Traditional MHA
The traditional MHA offers a breadth of courses on topics including epidemiology, health information systems, and an elective option so students can explore a new area or course of interest to them.
MHA with a specialization in Aging Studies
This specialization addresses the educational needs of graduate students and professionals who work with the aging or an elderly population in healthcare or other disciplines.
MHA with a specialization in Business Analytics
Gain specialized training in the use of advanced analytical techniques for managerial decision-making. Focus will be placed on managing, processing, and analyzing data to address a multitude of business challenges and opportunities. Draws upon a portfolio of methods that include data mining, optimization, and database management so data can be transformed into information and insights for organizations to meet their strategic goals.
MHA with a specialization in Project Management
The Project Management specialization focuses on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®), as identified by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
MHA with a specialization in Leadership
The leadership specialization is designed to offer high-quality educational opportunities to assist health professionals in leading people more effectively, improving quality and safety, enhancing the patient experience, stimulating financial growth, and further developing a robust organizational culture. Given the complexity of the healthcare delivery system and its related programs and services, effective leadership is a critical success factor.
MHA with a specialization in Quality Improvement
Students take a deep dive into the concepts associated with delivering quality healthcare, trends in quality improvement, and Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. This specialization creates a solid foundation in the concepts and interactions of cost, quality, and access to care within the U.S. healthcare system; the theoretical models and transformation of quality improvements over time; the structure, function, and goals of healthcare teams; and the fundamental principles of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. These courses cover the body of knowledge for the Certified Quality Improvement Associate (CQIA) exam by the American Society for Quality (ASQ).
Specialization Coursework
To earn the Master of Health Administration, students must complete the core curriculum of 27 credit hours. For each specialization (except the traditional MHA), students earn a graduate certificate after completing the required 9 credit hours. Courses for each specialization are listed below.
Traditional MHA
HLTH 6020 – Information Systems for Health Services
HLTH 6300 – Epidemiology for Health Administration
Elective course*
*Students choose from the other certificate courses.
Healthcare Leadership
IHS 5200 – Foundations of Leadership in Healthcare
IHS 5201 – Quality, Safety, and Service in Healthcare Leadership
IHS 5202 – Financial Innovation and Growth Strategies in Healthcare
Business Analytics
MBA 6320 – Descriptive Analytics
MBA 6390 – Predictive Analytics
MBA 6325 – Prescriptive Analytics
Project Management
PM 6100 – Project Management I
PM 6200 – Project Management II
PM 6500 – Change and Risk Management
Aging Studies
CFS 6890 – Self, Aging, and Society
CFS 5700 – The Business of Aging
HLTH 6060 – Gerotechnology
or
CFS 5660 – Transitions in Development: Middle and Later Life
Quality Improvement
HLTH 5850 – Quality Improvement in Healthcare Organizations
PM 6600 – Lean Six Sigma
Elective*
*HLTH 6100 is already a core course in the MHA curriculum, so students complete an elective course to reach the required 36 credit hours.