A Model for Healthcare Administration Education to Meet Needs of Disruptive Change in Healthcare

Healthcare is undergoing significant changes, and there is growing demand for healthcare administrators with skills to operate in such an environment. A challenge for educators, however, is developing and implementing appropriate educational programs which meet the emerging needs of the healthcare sector. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework which we use to explain different approaches for improving education in health administration under an environment that we define as systematic disruptive change. This type of change was brought about by healthcare reform and implies sector-wide impact in healthcare including pharmaceutical and equipment manufacturers, providers, payers, and patients. It involves substantial changes in institutional performance evaluation, and reimbursement and mandates for time-specific adoption of procedures and innovations. From the perspective of effective healthcare management educational programs, we propose models which involve a combination of competency-based curricula, life-long learning programs, and cooperative efforts between education institutions and regional healthcare institutions.