Paul Torrens
Office: 31-299 CHS
Phone: (310) 825-7640
E-mail: torrens@admin.ph.ucla.edu
Office Hours: By appointment - (310) 206-3435
Fax: (310) 206-4722

Fred Hagigi
Phone: (310) 828-6763
E-mail: hagigi@ucla.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Fax: (310) 825-7773

Description

This course is the first of a two course sequence required of all students in the MPH for Health Professionals. The sequence is structured as follows:

200A: Understanding the Organization and Financing of the Health Services System
200B: Assessing the key problems and efforts to reform the Health Services System

The sequence will be coordinated by Dr. Torrens and Mr. Hagigi who will also be directly responsible for a number of sessions. In addition, other faculty from the Department of Health Services and elsewhere in the University and select health policy makers and managers will discuss topics which are central to their teaching, research, or managerial interests. Students are expected to gain basic competencies in the topics covered and to use the required sequence of courses as a basis to select additional readings which emphasize topics and skills they wish to study in greater depth.

Knowledge and Skill Objectives

HS200A is designed to provide an intensive introduction to health services in the United States. Upon completion of the course the student should:

1. have some understanding of the historical development, current structure, and ways of conceptualizing the health care system;
2. understand how the system responds to health care needs of the population and the demand for services;
3. grasp the essential ways health services are paid for in the United States; and
4. Have considerable familiarity with the major types of health care organizations and personnel delivering health services.

Course Requirements

1. Mastering of course content through reading, attendance at the lecture sessions and active participation in the course discussions.
2. Completion of a homework assignment showing understanding and ability to apply principles and skills emphasized in a module of the course. Succinct writing with excellent grammar and syntax will be expected in this assignment.
3. Completion of a final project. You will be required to choose one of the following session topics:

· Delivery Systems
· Private Health Insurance
· Medicare
· Medicaid

You should write your paper using the following guidelines:

1. Summarize the historical developments of this subject up to the present time, demonstrating your understanding of the development of the subject and its current situation today.
2. Discuss the current situation of the subject today, focusing on the important issues/challenges present today.
3. Describe and discuss what steps you think the health care industry (your particular chosen topic) must take to cope with the issues and challenges in the subject of your choice.

In other words, your paper should have three parts: historical development, current situational appraisal, and future predictions and actions.

This assignment will allow you to conceptualize more expansively and creatively on some (or all) of the materials presented in class. The goal is to increase your insight into the organization and financing of health care, which is a necessary foundation for the reform issues presented in HS 200B in the Winter Quarter.

Student Evaluation

Course requirements will be weighted according to the following:

Requirement	Weight
Homework:	30 points
Final Paper:	60 points
Class participation:	10 points
Total:	100 points

Letter grades for the course will be assigned as follows:

98 - 100 = A+	88 - 89 = B+	78 - 79 = C+
93 - 97 = A	83 - 87 = B	73 - 77 = C
90 - 92 = A-	80 - 82 = B-	70 - 72 = C-
		Below 70 = F

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Readings

There will be three sources of readings for HS 200A. The first is the textbook for the class, Introduction to Health Services (5th edition), by Williams and Torrens; this text will be delivered to you by Program staff before the course begins. The second is a set of selected readings put together by the instructors and the guest lecturers; this set of readings will (hopefully) be delivered to you by Program staff on the first day of class. The third is an informal set of occasional articles, news items, or other materials that may be produces for a particular class session; these items will be distributed at the beginning of the particular class.

In these readings, students should be reading for broad, conceptual understanding; they should not be reading to memorize individual data bits for possible future use in an exam. Certain individual data items may be important, but if they are, they are usually mentioned and/or re-enforced by the instructor.