Syllabus
Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy
Colorado School of Public Health
HSMP 6670
University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus
Ambulatory Healthcare Management
2 Credit Hours
Spring, 2012
Instructor Information:
Name: William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE
Sr. Vice President / Sr. Advisor
Integrated Healthcare Strategies, and
Clinical Professor of Health Systems, Management and Policy
Colorado School of Public Health, Denver
Office Hours: By arrangement
Phone/email: 303-883-6807; wfjessee@yahoo.com
Course Description:
This elective course will overview the variety of ambulatory settings in which healthcare
services are delivered, and provide students with basic knowledge and skills needed to
manage care delivery in those settings. The content domains to be addressed will
include: business operations, financial management, human resources management,
information management, organizational governance, patient care systems, quality and
safety management and risk management. Practical examples will be used to illustrate
the application of management methods to specific issues encountered in a variety of
ambulatory care settings
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be expected to have attained the following
competencies:
1. Describe and discuss alternative organizational forms for delivery of ambulatory
healthcare services
2. Develop a budget and describe methods for overseeing financial performance in
ambulatory care organizations
3. Describe basic concepts for billing and collection for insured services, including
disease and procedure coding
4. Discuss key laws affecting management of human resources in ambulatory care
organizations
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5. Discuss principles for assuring safe, high quality care for patients in ambulatory
care organizations, and for managing adverse results
6. Describe basic approaches for managing financial risks in ambulatory care
7. Discuss alternative structures for governance of ambulatory care organizations
and describe the role of the manager in governance
8. Describe alternative approaches to managing business and clinical information
needs in ambulatory care
Instructional Methods and Course Contact Hours:
The course will be taught through a blend of face-to-face and on-line activities. Face-toface classes (primarily lecture and discussion) will be held for two hours (4:00pm – 6:00
pm) every other Tuesday, totaling 16 hours of face to face instruction during the 16
week semester. In alternate weeks, students will complete on-line exercises and
required readings, which will require an additional total of 16 hours of instruction. Some
of the on-line exercises will be team activities. Total contact hours will be 32.
Classroom:
The eight on campus sessions are scheduled for Ed 2 South L28-1307.
.
Required textbook:
Wolper, L.F. Physician Practice Management ( 2005), Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett
Publishers, 695pp.
Additional readings will be assigned from time to time and made available via e-mail or
as handouts in the face-to-face sessions.
Grading Criteria:
Written exercises (3 will be assigned) – 10 points each
Participation in on-campus discussions and presentations,
with demonstration of competence in required readings
Final exam
Total possible points
Grading Scale:
A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
F = below 70
2
30 points total
30 points
40 points
100
Course outline and calendar:
Week 1. January 24 On campus
 Wolper – Chapters 1 and 2
Alternative Ambulatory Care Settings
Week 2. January 31 Distance
Governance and Leadership Issues
 Wolper – Chapters 3 and 4
 Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic
and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to
prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be
distributed at the January 24 session and will also be e-mailed to each
student. Discussion questions will be addressed during the February 7 faceto-face class.
Week 3. February 7 On campus
 Wolper – Chapters 5, 6 and 19
Human Resources Issues
Week 4. February 14 Distance
Planning and Marketing
 Wolper – Chapter 7
 Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic
and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to
prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be
distributed at the February 7 session and will also be e-mailed to each
student. Discussion questions will be addressed during the February 21 faceto-face class.
Week 5. February 21 On campus
 Wolper – Chapter 9
Accounting and Budgeting
Week 6. February 28 Distance
Financial Management I
 Wolper – Chapter 10
 Written Exercise #1. Each student will develop an operating budget for a
medical practice, based on assumptions in the Assignment Sheet. The
budgetary assumptions will be distributed at the February 21 session and will
also be e-mailed to each student. Students will present and defend their
budgets at the March 6 face-to-face class. (10 points)
Week 7. March 6 On campus
 Wolper – Chapter 12
Financial Management II
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Week 8. March 13 Distance
Performance Benchmarking
 Wolper – Chapter 11
 Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic
and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to
prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be
distributed at the March 6 session and will also be e-mailed to each student.
Discussion questions will be addressed during the March 27 face-to-face
class.
Week 9. SPRING BREAK – No class or assignments
Week 10. March 27 On campus
 Wolper – Chapter 13
Information Management
Week 11. April 3 Distance
Compliance and Risk Management
 Wolper – Chapters 15 and 16
 Written Exercise #2. Each student will describe their approach to handling a
delicate human resources and compliance issue, involving both staff and
physicians, as outlined in the Assignment Sheet. Papers should be no longer
than 5 pages, and each student will present their approach to the problem for
class discussion during the face-to-face class on April 10. (10 points)
Week 12. April 10 On campus
 Wolper – Chapter 18
Legal Issues
Week 13. April 17 Distance
Physician Compensation
 Wolper – Chapter 20
 Teams of two will be assigned a series of discussion questions on this topic
and will be expected to work together, either face to face or virtually, to
prepare responses to each question. The discussion questions will be
distributed at the April 10 session and will also be e-mailed to each student.
Discussion questions will be addressed during the April 24 face-to-face class.
Week 14. April 24 On campus
 Wolper – Chapter 22
Safety and Quality
Week 15. May 1 Distance
Innovations in Ambulatory Care
 Christensen, C.C., Grossman, J.H., and Hwang, J., Disrupting the Business
Model of the Physician’s Practice, Chapter 4 in The Innovator’s Prescription,
New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing, 2009.
 MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation, Reducing Care Fragmentation: A
Toolkit for Coordinating Care, pp. 1-29, 2011. (See
http://www.improvingchroniccare.org/downloads/care_coordination_toolkit.pdf
for full text)
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
Written Exercise #3. In a paper no longer than 5 pages, each student should
describe the three most significant challenges that you believe face the US
healthcare system in the delivery of safe, high quality, cost-effective
ambulatory care over the next decade. Use your best “crystal ball technique”
to predict how those challenges may be resolved. (10 points)
Week 16. May 8 On campus
 Wolper – Chapter 23
Facility Design
Week 17. May 15 On campus
FINAL EXAM (40 points)
Policies:
Attendance
Attendance is required at all on-campus sessions. Due to the blended format of this
course, one or more absences may result in the student’s inability to complete the
course during the current term.
Misconduct
Students are required to comply with the Student Academic Honor and Conduct Code
of the Colorado School of Public Health. This document covers such issues as
plagiarism and professional misconduct. View the link below for additional information:
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/PublicHealth/Academics/academics/Docu
ments/PoliciesHandbooks/CSPH_Honor_Code.pdf
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