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Introduction to Public Health Management

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Course Type Course Code No. Of Credits
Discipline Core SPG2PH413 4

Semester and Year Offered: 3rd Semester, 2nd Year

Course Coordinator and Team: Samik Chowdhury & N. Nakkeeran

Email of course coordinator: samik@aud.ac.in

Pre-requisites: None

Aim:  Management has an all-encompassing role in public health starting from policy through strategy to planning, program formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. This course aims to introduce students to the fundamental principles of management and their application in public health. It is intended to familiarize students with the theories and techniques of managing key aspects of public health programs and practice viz. human resource, finance, operations, supply chain and information systems.

Course Outcomes:

  • Gain understanding of different branches of management as a core competency in public health.
  • Be able to apply core management concepts and principles to public health and health care policies, programmes and practice.
  • Learn problem solving and critical thinking in public health by applying contemporary ideas to influence program organization and management.

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

Module 1: Scope of management in public health

This introductory module discusses the scope of concepts and theories in management in public health planning, implementation of programmes and monitoring and evaluation, thereby setting the tone for the subsequent modules. The module will also discuss the global evolution of management thought and its implications for the management of public health planning and programmes in India.

Module 2: Human resource management

The module introduces students to some of the issues related to health human resources in India.  The module also familiarizes students with selected concepts, techniques and practices of human resource management which are applicable in the domain of essential public health services and programmes in both the public and private health sectors of the country.

Module 3: Financial management and accounting

The objective of this module is to discuss the basics of financial management and the financial environment in which the public health agencies of the Government and health care organizations function. Selected aspects of financial management viz. financial planning, budget preparation, financial statements, investment decisions, financing decisions, working capital management etc. will be introduced within the context of the health sector. The module will also introduce key concepts in financial accounting to the students.

Module 4: Supply chain and logistics management

This module provides an overview of the role of supply chain and logistics management in effective and equitable provision of public health services. Some of the issues that will be covered in this module are mechanisms to manage risk, uncertainty and heterogeneity in demand, value of information sharing across supply chain, inventory management, different types of purchasing contracts, role of logistics and transportation and the importance of data analytics in streamlining supply chain.

Module 5: Operations management

This module is designed to highlight the nature and scope of operations management in public health and health care and the associated challenges. This involves an understanding of the processes involved in delivering essential public health functions, location decisions, facility layout and their consequences, cost and quality control, managing and forecasting demand, inventory models, process improvement, compliance issues and others.

Module 6: Information management

This module introduces students to the significance of information in public health and the tools and techniques of managing information for delivery of efficient and equitable public health services. Some of the topics that will be illustrated are health information systems, electronic health records, role of big data analytics, health communication, and telemedicine. The changing nature of technological footprint in public health will be the overarching theme of this module.

Assessment Details with weights:

  • Term paper identifying the potential role of management in a public health programme of choice (30%). 
  • Written examination (30%).
  • Case study and presentation on the role of a specific management branch (module here) in the success or failure of health care system – public or private (40%).

Reading List:

  • Hendry, J. (2013). Management: A Very Short Introduction, OUP
  • Capper, S. A., Ginter, P. M., & Swayne, L. E. (2002). Public Health Leadership and Management: cases and context. Sage.
  • Qadeer, I. (2008). Health Planning in India: Some Lessons from the Past. Social Scientist, 36(5/6), 51–75. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27644278
  • Mabuchi, S., Singh, S., Bishnu, R., & Bennett, S. (2013). Management characteristics of successful public health programs:“Avahan” HIV prevention program in India. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 28(4), 333-345.
  • Planning Commission. (2011). High level expert group report on universal health coverage for India.
  • Kabene, S. M., Orchard, C., Howard, J. M., Soriano, M. A., & Leduc, R. (2006). The importance of human resources management in health care: a global context. Human resources for health, 4(1), 1-17.
  • Saprii, L., Richards, E., Kokho, P., & Theobald, S. (2015). Community health workers in rural India: analysing the opportunities and challenges Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) face in realising their multiple roles. Human resources for health, 13(1), 1-13.
  • Mavalankar, D. (1999). Review of human resource management (HRM) in relation to reproductive and child health programme in India: issues and challenges.
  • George, A. (2009). ‘By papers and pens, you can only do so much’: views about accountability and human resource management from Indian government health administrators and workers. The International journal of health planning and management, 24(3), 205-224.
  • Zelman, W. N., McCue, M. J., Millikan, A. R., & Glick, N. D. (2009). Financial management of health care organizations: an introduction to fundamental tools, concepts, and applications. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Operational Guidelines for Financial Management of National Health Mission. Available at https://main.mohfw.gov.in/departments/departments-health-and-family-welfare/nhm-finance/financial-management-groupfmg/operational-guidelines-financial-management
  • Choudhury, M., & Mohanty, R. K. (2019). Utilisation, fund flows and public financial management under the national health mission. Economic & Political Weekly, 54(8), 49-57.
  • Aayushi Kalra; Shailaja Grover; Unnikrishnan Dinesh Kumar (2020). Supply Chain Analytics to Manage Blood at VHS Blood Bank. Harvard Business Publishing case study.
  • Wendt, A. S., Stephenson, R., Young, M. F., Verma, P., Srikantiah, S., Webb-Girard, A., ... & Martorell, R. (2018). Identifying bottlenecks in the iron and folic acid supply chain in Bihar, India: a mixed-methods study. BMC health services research, 18(1), 1-12.
  • Samant, Y., Lanjewar, H., Parker, D., Block, L., Tomar, G. S., & Stein, B. (2007). Evaluation of the cold-chain for oral polio vaccine in a rural district of India. Public Health Reports, 122(1), 112-121.
  • Zeller, A., Wee, K. E., & Cheah, S. M. (2022). Stock-up vs stock-out: The inventory management dilemma at a mobile clinic. Harvard Business Publishing case study.
  • Kraiselburd, S., & Yadav, P. (2013). Supply chains and global health: an imperative for bringing operations management scholarship into action. Production and operations management, 22(2), 377-381.
  • Wager, Karen A., Frances W. Lee, and John P. Glaser (2017). Health Care Information Systems: A Practical Approach for Health Care Management. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Brownson, R. C., Gurney, J. G., & Land, G. H. (1999). Evidence-based decision making in public health. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 86-97.
  • Mony, P. K., & Nagaraj, C. (2007). Health information management: An introduction to disease classification and coding. National Medical Journal of India, 20(6), 307.
  • Bowman, S. (2013). Impact of electronic health record systems on information integrity: quality and safety implications. Perspectives in health information management, 10(Fall).
  • AbouZahr, C., & Boerma, T. (2005). Health information systems: the foundations of public health. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 83, 578-583.
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