ACTION PLAN
Institute of Health Administration/Robinson College of Business
November 28, 2007
The vision of the Institute of Health Administration/Robinson College of Business is to be a premier educator
of health care leaders. The Institute’s mission is to:

Create a leading-edge curriculum that integrates business and health care knowledge.

Engage in scholarly inquiry related to the improvement of the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality
of health care services and the health care system.

Promote and provide professional service and knowledge to public policymakers, the health care
sector and academic communities.
The Institute of Health Administration/Robinson College of Business submits the following Action Plan
based on the findings from the May 2007 recommendations of the GSU Academic Program Review (APR)
Committee, the findings of the external reviewers submitted to the Academic Program Review (APR)
Committee in February 2007, the Dean and Chair recommendations of December 2006, and the IHA APR
Self-Study report.
Summary APR Findings and Recommendations
The external reviewers and the APR committee both support the strong potential for significantly increasing
the national prominence of the Institute with the investment of additional resources, most importantly the
addition of as many as six new faculty and staff positions (half of which should be tenure-track faculty).
Recommendations include placing high priority on the new health informatics collaborative venture, reducing
reliance on part-time instructors, and pursuing opportunities such as a PMBA concentration or full cohort in
health administration. Additional resources and staff positions were also recommended to support the
administrative residency process and the potential of increasing extramurally funded research.
The reviewing bodies encouraged the Institute to enhance its vision and sharpen the strategic focus to take
advantage of the business school and the broader university environment. The opportunities to leverage
the existing RCB and GSU resources through collaborative efforts need to be pursued, particularly the
growth of the health informatics initiative which has strong potential for enhancing the national visibility of
the Institute, RCB, and GSU.
The external reviewers found that the complement of faculty and instructors offer high quality, externally
accredited graduate level programs. IHA has been recently awarded the maximum of 6 years
reaccreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) and it
has been continuously accredited in HA since 1971. Its degree programs are also accredited by the
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The Institute is a full graduate member of the
Association of University Programs in Health Administration, and its flagship MBA/MHA program is
nationally ranked both for the part-time MBA and MHA degrees by USNEWS & WORLD REPORT.
The quality of the students has consistently improved since the prior self- study period and the strong alumni
network serves as a critical resource for mentoring current students and providing ongoing financial and
advisory support for the Institute. The location of the Institute within the Robinson College of Business is a
key strength of the educational programs of the Institute, but the current size of the faculty requires
expansion in order to capitalize on the strengths of the College and realize future opportunities.
1
Strategic Direction
The Institute, the Robinson College of Business, and Georgia State University are presented with a number
of opportunities to augment the health administration program to enhance the educational experiences of
current students and future health care leaders. The conditions which make this imperative are:

A healthcare sector that continues to grow, comprises 17 percent of the GDP, and that now
exceeds the economies of all but 7 countries of the world. The size and rising costs of the health
care sector make this an important area for study within the Robinson College of Business.

The growing complexity of the health care system presents an excellent opportunity for innovation
in both the structure and management of health care institutions across the globe. Furthermore,
the increasing demand for healthcare services and reduced reimbursement make effective and
innovative management an urgent necessity.
These industry imperatives require health leaders who are prepared to meet the challenges of a changing
health care sector. The implementation of the following action plan will result in an Institute that is prepared
to offer the most advanced learning opportunities for leaders in this sector and to advance the creation and
dissemination of knowledge in these areas. To meet the vision, goals, and objectives of the Institute and in
response to the accreditation and APR recommendations, the main foci of strategic direction addressed by
the action plan are:

Establish a health informatics program within existing graduate and undergraduate degree
programs. With the rapid and accelerating pace of information technology development, the
potential for applications within the information-intensive healthcare sector is most promising. The
external reviewers pointed out that RCB has a unique opportunity to build a world-class health
informatics program given that the highly-regarded programs in health administration, computer
information systems, and process innovation are all located in a single college with national
recognized faculty – and in the Atlanta area noted for its information systems innovation and
healthcare sector.

Reduce reliance on part-time instructors. The Institute’s utilization of professional part-time
instructors for graduate courses has augmented the strength of the program, but it requires a
careful balance between full-time and part-time faculty. The Institute has been fortunate in
attracting highly experienced health care management professionals to serve as part-time
instructors, and their professional experience has enhanced the educational experience for
students. The CAHME reviewers recommended that the reliance of part-time instructors be
reduced, and the requested new faculty hires will be primarily tenure-track with an appropriate mix
of expertise to meet accreditation standards and the GSU goal for faculty tenure composition.

Expand extramurally-funded research undertaken directly by the Institute and improve
scholarly publications. The research efforts of the Institute are strong and with the potential of a
larger faculty base, the opportunity to excel and expand the research focus is promising. Applied
research disseminated throughout the University and to the industry and policy communities
continues to be a particular strength of the Institute’s core faculty. Key faculty members have
worked closely with the Georgia Health Policy Center in the Andrew Young School of Policy
Studies in attracting significant grants and contracts, some of which should be redirected to the
Institute. This relationship has created a number of educational and research opportunities for
recognition of the Institute by state and national policy makers. Additional research opportunities
exist for collaboration with faculty from other RCB departments, the GSU Institute of Public Health,
and throughout GSU.

Increase enrollment through opportunities such as a PMBA concentration in HA or
PMBA/MHA cohort, undergraduate HA electives, perspective courses, and freshman
learning communities. RCB has implemented a most successful cohort-based Professional
2
MBA program, and a few PMBA students are pursuing the MSHA as a second degree. A
significant opportunity exists to establish a PMBA/MHA cohort given the size and importance of the
healthcare sector. The success of the Perspectives course in International Health Systems and
FLC suggest that additional elective HA undergraduate sections and courses provide enrollment
opportunities.
Goals and Objectives
The section outlines the goals and objectives of the Institute. These goals and objectives are strongly
supported by the APR process. Where appropriate, target dates for achieving specific objectives have been
specified.
Goal 1: The primary educational goal of the Institute is to provide an integrative educational
experience of course content and field work to enable graduates to become effective functioning
members of a health care management team and to create in students a desire for life long learning
in an ever changing health care environment.
The Institute of Health Administration can meet the challenge of the increasing complexity of the growing
health care industry by leveraging and expanding the Institute’s resources. Given the aforementioned
strategic direction of health informatics, reduced reliance on part-time instructors, increased funded
research, and PMBA education, additional faculty are required to complement the Institute’s educational and
research capabilities and meet the APR recommendations and accreditation standards. Four full-time
faculty are requested (two in the health informatics area and two in the HA area to reduce reliance on parttime instructors) with the timeline specified in the resources section.
Objectives:
1. Retain and recruit core faculty and staff with diverse expertise to disseminate theoretical and
practical knowledge as required to meet the needs of the health care industry.
a.
Expand the core faculty by four at appropriate academic ranks to meet the APR
recommendations and accreditation standards to teach courses such as: health
informatics, process innovation, supply chain, health system governance and
leadership, healthcare human resources, healthcare quality, healthcare financial
management, and international health systems. This plan will ensure that by FY 2012,
75 percent of HA courses will be delivered by full-time tenured or tenure track faculty.
b. Support the faculty and students with appropriate research assistance, residency
placement support, and adequate administrative support by FY 2009.
c. Augment the core faculty in the classroom through the judicious use of additional
healthcare leaders and guest speakers with extensive health management and
business management experience. Ensure that the combined faculty will be diverse
and consistent with the diverse population and communities served by the health care
industry by FY 2012.
2. Continuously improve the structure, content, and delivery of the Institute’s curriculum to meet the
changing needs of the healthcare sector.
a.
Adopt and implement a CAHME accreditation competency-based model for curriculum
review and enhancement by May 2008.
b. Utilize the competency based model to monitor and improve the integration of
competencies in the curriculum of the accredited health management program by May
2009.
c. Restructure the residency review process and criteria as recommended by CAHME to
3
include more appropriate faculty oversight of the residency process by FY 2009.
Participate in external and internal workshops and seminars on an annual basis to
enhance classroom instruction.
e. Perform CAHME self-study (FY 2011) and retain full accreditation (FY2012).
d.
3. Establish a health informatics program within existing degrees to educate managers at the
graduate level and entry-level professionals at the undergraduate level, with the purpose of
providing expertise in the use of information technology to improve the delivery of health care
services. These specializations will involve teaching new HA courses and additional sections of
existing HA courses to complement existing graduate and undergraduate computer information
system and HA degree programs.
a.
b.
Expand the full-time faculty with expertise in health informatics by FY 2009.
Expand the existing collaboration with the RCB CIS faculty to formalize the oversight
and management of the health informatics program by FY 2011.
c. Create an industry based advisory board to provide strategic direction to the health
informatics programs by FY 2010.
d. Based on the undergraduate health informatics specialization in the BBA/CIS, assess
the need for a new BBA in health informatics for implementation by FY2012.
4. Recruit and retain academically qualified and diverse students for the core MBA/MHA program, the
PMBA/MSHA program, the MBA with health administration concentration, and the new Health
Informatics specializations within the existing MBA, MIS-CIS, MSHA, and BBA-CIS degree
programs.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Increase the HA semester hours by 10 percent by FY 2011.
Maintain an average GMAT score across all core HA students equal to that of RCB.
Accelerate enrollment of the joint PMBA/MSHA program by FY 2011.
Establish a PMBA/MHA cohort of experienced professionals by FY 2012.
Increase the enrollment in the Health Informatics specializations in existing graduate
and undergraduate degree programs by 20 percent by FY 2012. Increase the related
HA course offerings to twice per year by FY 2012.
5. Contribute to the education and development of doctoral candidates whose research and teaching
interest encompass health care.
a.
Implement a doctoral seminar in the area of Health Economics and Risk to educate
doctoral students within the College of Business, at AYSPS, and throughout the
University in the theoretical basis for analysis of health care financing, administration,
and reimbursement systems. Obtain RCB approval for the new seminar by Fall 2008.
Offer the seminar by Spring 2009 and every other year thereafter.
b. Identify faculty members for routine participation on dissertation committees for
doctoral candidates by FY 2010.
Goal 2: The research goal of the Institute is to foster faculty research, academic publications, and
other public dissemination of findings that contribute to the improvement of the management of
health care.
In terms of research, In terms of research, Objectives:
1. All tenured and tenure track faculty will engage in individual and collaborative research projects
that strive to result in publications in premier journals in health administration, broad dissemination
4
of findings, and improved support of health management practices in Atlanta, Georgia, across the
USA, and internationally.
a. Each core faculty member will strive to increase publications in premier journals and
publish one or more peer reviewed articles per year.
b. Each core faculty member will strive to make one or more peer reviewed presentations
at prestigious academic meetings per year.
c. Each core faculty member will participate in soliciting extramural funding for academic
research through direct proposals and/or collaborative efforts with other units in the
College, University, and health care community.
d. The Institute will collectively seek to obtain direct grants or proposal funding that
cumulatively totals $500 thousand (initiated through IHA) and collaborate with other
entities in the University to obtain funding that cumulatively totals $1 million in projects
through FY 2012.
e. Faculty will demonstrate integration of research findings into the curriculum.
Goal 3: The service goal of the Institute is to encourage faculty and graduates to serve in leadership
positions within their healthcare organization, in the health care community and service
organizations, and within the University.
Objectives:
1. Faculty and associates are expected to hold leadership positions in nationally regarded healthrelated professional organizations. Graduates of the IHA degree programs are mentored and
encouraged to assume leadership roles in their health care organizations and professional
associations. Faculty will also serve as an information and technical resource to health care
organizations, policy makers, and consumers, and serve and actively participate on university
and/or college committees. The HA program will strongly:
a. Encourage each faculty will seek involvement that will lead to leadership roles in at least
one premier national or local professional organization annually.
b. Encourage at least 75 percent of currently enrolled dual degree MBA/MHA students to
join the Future Healthcare Executives student chapter at GSU by FY 2010.
c. Encourage at least 75 percent or greater of graduates of the HA program will become
members in one or more professional organizations by FY 2012.
Goal 4: An overall goal of the Institute is to be recognized as a national leader in providing excellent
business based education, research and service to foster the efficient and effective organization,
management, and delivery of health related services to the public.
Objectives:
1. The Institute will continuously improve its national prominence.
a. The Institute will maintain its standings as a select member of the top CAHME accredited
programs with AUPHA full graduate status.
2. The Institute will achieve increased giving from its alumni base and other stakeholders.
a. The Institute will increase its total endowments from $ 487,000 in the APR study year FY
2006 to at least $1 million by 2012.
b. The Institute will increase its alumni donations by 10 percent through 2012.
2007 Progress on Goals and Objectives:
The Institute has made some progress toward its goals and objectives since the APR self-study report as
follows:
5
1. In terms of scholarly research, the Institute has independently submitted several proposals for
external funding over the past year, and approval decisions are pending. IHA faculty has submitted
multiple papers for review at premier journals and conferences. A paper by Custer and Ketsche
was voted best abstract in its class at the Annual Research Meeting of the prestigious Academy
Health in June 2007, and has since been submitted to Inquiry for consideration. Papers by IHA
faculty were accepted at Health Services Research and Journal of Policy Analysis and
Management during 2007. Additional working papers are nearing completion and should be
submitted before the end of 2007.
2. To reduce the percentage of graduate semester hours taught by part-time instructors, full-time
faculty were reassigned in Fall 2007 to larger graduate courses and undergraduate courses,
respectively. When additional faculty are hired, more progress in this objective will be possible.
3. In Fall 2007 specializations in health informatics were first introduced at the graduate level within
the MSHA degree, the MS/CIS degree, the MBA, and at the doctoral level (CIS) thorough existing
degree programs in health information systems and computer information systems. At the
undergraduate level, a health informatics specialization within the BBA/CIS major was started in
Fall 2007. To support these initiatives, HA foundation courses related to health informatics have
been planned initially to be offered once per year starting in Fall 2007, Spring 2008, and Summer
2008 for undergraduate students.
4. The Institute has collaborated with the PMBA program and established the MSHA as a second
degree, initially with three students in the PMBA/MSHA program in Fall 2007.
5.
Service activities by faculty and associates have been impressive. Pat Ketsche and Bill Custer
have served or testified to several State of Georgia legislative and executive branch committees
and have participated in national sessions for health policymakers. Faculty members actively
participate in national academic, accreditation, and professional bodies (e.g., Andy Sumner serves
on the Board of Directors and planning committee of the Association of University Programs in
Health Administration and the Higher Education Committee of the American College of Healthcare
Executives (ACHE), Pat Ketsche serves as a Fellow on Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Management Education and the planning committee of Academy Health, Marie Cameron serves on
the Board of Governors of ACHE, and Lisette Branscomb serves as a Fellow of ACHE and student
chapter advisor) . The Institute’s faculty is widely quoted in the national and local press as experts
in the health care industry, most notably Bill Custer who recently has been quoted in the Wall Street
Journal, National Public Radio, and a host of other citations).
Resources required to fully meet the educational, research, service, and overall objectives of the
Institute, as recommended by the APR committee and external reviewers:
1. Recruit four new full-time faculty positions as discussed previously, with research and instructional
expertise in the areas and timeline shown below. Two of these positions will be to support the
health informatics initiative and two will be to address the CAHME accreditation concerns regarding
reliance on part-time instructors. The external reviewers and IHA self-study recommended four
new faculty in the following areas:
a. Health information systems and health informatics (FY 2009).
b. Health system governance and leadership, healthcare human resources, and general
health administration (FY 2010). .
c. Healthcare innovation, supply chain, change management, and operations (FY 2011).
d. Healthcare quality, financial management, and international health systems (FY 2012).
2. Convert the partial support of the Senior Research Associate position to state funding through
reassignment of a half-time faculty support by FY 2009. The external reviewers recommended
6
primary responsibility for coordination and oversight of the residency courses by other than tenuretrack faculty. Expanded support for this position will enable the Senior Research Associate to:
a. Coordinate, oversee, and provide enhanced programs for the graduate residency process
and required courses.
b. Contribute to the health informatics curriculum and its support, particularly at the
undergraduate level.
c. Oversee the specialized HA masters programs, including marketing, recruitment,
advisement, and career development.
d. Develop curriculum-related industry collaborations to support curriculum feedback, course
projects, field study courses, and student career development.
e. Serve as primary liaison to the alumni board and advisory board of the Institute.
3. Expand the Executive-in-Residence position to full-time. The APR and external reviewers
recommended a position to develop partnerships and research which will:
a. Enhance industry partnerships and professional association linkages to increase Institute
contracts, endowment funding, and collaborative projects.
b. Facilitate the teaching of undergraduate Freshman Learning Community, health
administration, and health informatics courses.
c. Mentor culturally diverse graduate and undergraduate health administration/informatics
students to engage more fully in the healthcare environment.
4.
Redesign the current business manager position to an administrative research/business
manager position (with expanded responsibilities and remuneration) during FY 2008 which will:
a. Augment the research endeavors of the department.
b. Monitor and maintain progress of extramural research.
c. Complete and administer grant applications internally.
d. Provide administrative management and coordination of departmental services, staff and
faculty.
e. Provide oversight to clerical, research associate and student assistant activities.
5. Recruit new administrative position for clerical/secretarial work load of additional faculty members,
program expansion, expanded advisory board relations, student recruitment and advisement
associated with expanded academic programs (FY 2009).
6. Provide salary increases for faculty and staff as appropriate to foster retention of highly qualified
individuals (Ongoing).
7. Increase operating funds for enhanced residency oversight, travel, computer equipment, and office
space.
7
With a firm investment of resources in the Institute of Health Administration by the University and College of
Business, faculty and staff of the Institute will be empowered to embody the mission, achieve the objectives,
and realize its vision to be a premier educator of health care leaders.
Funding Requirements:
Institute of Health Administration/RCB
Health Administration Action Plan
Funding Requirements by Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year End:
Item
FACULTY
Add 4 new faculty positions (1 per year)*
convert part of 1 PT SrResAssc to perm
convert 1 PTI to FT NTT (HI,PMBA)
2009
2010
2011
2012
$144,000
$40,000
$80,000
$288,000
$40,000
$80,000
$432,000
$40,000
$80,000
$564,000
$40,000
$80,000
$540,000
$40,000
$80,000
GRAD STUDENT
PhD/CIS health informatics
Other (Add'l GRA, Post-doc, etc.)
$15,000
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000
STAFF
convert to Res Assoc/Bus Mgr
add 1 clerical research support
$20,000
$40,000
$20,000
$40,000
$20,000
$40,000
$20,000
$40,000
$20,000
$40,000
FACILITIES, COMPUTERS, MISC.
$20,000
$20,000
$20,000
$20,000
$10,000
$389,000
$548,000
$692,000
$824,000
$790,000
Total:
Notes
2013
1,2,3,4
1
1
1
1
Notes:
* Includes faculty positions for replacement of PTI's by TT faculty and health informatics
1. Excludes benefits overhead and annual salary increases
2. Assumes 1 new TT faculty for 4 years, average 9-month starting salary of $120,000
3. Includes $24,000/year/faculty for three years for summer support, 1 summer course taught thereafter
4. Assumes $10,000 per net new faculty position for facilities, equipment, and miscellaneous
8