New Focus – Health Management in the Hohenheim Bachelor of Economic Science programme:
Managing future medical provision with technology and sensitivity [02.12.07]
Apply now up to 16 July 2007: the University of Hohenheim is offering a new specialist course in Health Management within the Bachelor of Economic Science degree course.
Making a “healthy“ career: The technological and organisational changes in the health service require specialist and management staff with interdisciplinary training - it is no longer enough simply to have a general Economic or IT degree. Anyone who is interested in formulating the medical supply centres of the future, should be interested in planning, organisation and IT, as well as having the requisite sensitivity for working within the medical sector. The optimum vocational training for this is provided by the new focus on Health Management in the Bachelor of Economic Science degree, to which the Universität Hohenheim and the state of Land Baden-Württemberg will be admitting 60 students at the start of the 2007/2008 winter semester within the scope of the 2012 University programme.Mr. K. has been suffering from serious heart disease for many years. On the way to work one day his mobile phone rings – it is the cardiology departments which is treating him: “Our sensors show that your vital signs have reached a critical level. Please come straight to the hospital.“ When he arrives there, the doctors have already been advised and, thanks to quick treatment, they are able to avoid another heart attack.
The scenario of being saved by your mobile phone is no longer simply science fiction today. "In sample projects today we are examining processes, such as these, whereby the patient is connected up to IT for the good of his health, in order to avoid expensive follow-on costs," explains Prof. Dr. Christian Ernst, Chair of Economics and Management of Social Services at the Universität Hohenheim. Our goal is to create greater efficiency and the potential for improvements in quality, towards which any reforms in the health service will then work towards.
E-Health and Health Telematics as a Technological Dimension
The Bachelor degree course in Health Management includes four semesters of basic education in general economics. Thereafter the students have to opt for a specialist phase with three focal areas, including health management, e-health and health telematics, consumer behaviour and health as well as health insurance systems. In practical projects electronically linked to the health service, the students work on improving the efficiency and quality of services by the targeted use of IT in the health service. “E-health and health telematics are important focuses in education“, states Prof. Dr. Stefan Kirn from the Business IT department.
Patients in the Spotlight
In order to understand at an early stage the value systems and develop the decision-making processes of colleagues who work in the medical and care sectors, there are also lectures on “Medicine for Economists“ on the timetable of the future managers of the health service. “In order to improve efficiency and quality in the health service, we cannot allow ourselves to overlook the target group, our patients. The patients must feel motivated to take part in these new treatment methods,“ PD Dr. Alfonso Sousa-Poza, Chair of Housekeeping and Consumer Economics, goes on to say.
Worldwide career opportunities
With international experience within their course, the students are qualified to take up positions in healthcare management across the globe and, to this end, some of the lectures are even held in English. It is planned to create an exchange scholarship programme with the New Zealand Health Authority as well as set up projects with organisations linked to the "World Demographic Association“, such as the World Health Organisation, United Nations Populations Fund, European Research Area in Ageing, and to work closely with universities in the USA, Europe and Africa.
Planned Masters Degree for Exceptional Graduates
“We want to train graduates, who will be able to take up responsible positions within the health service and who are capable of successfully coping with the huge economic challenges of the future, which will result from the growth in demographics and advances in medical technology“, summarises Prof. Dr. Ernst. Exceptionally well-qualified graduates will therefore have the opportunity to continue their studies at the Universität Hohenheim with a Masters in Health Management, which is currently being set up.
Contact for press:
Prof. Dr. Christian Ernst, University of Hohenheim, Chair for Economics and the Management of Social Services, Tel.: 0711 459-23855, e-mail: sodienst@uni-hohenheim.de
Detailed questions on the degree course can be answered by
Stefanie Heyer (Soc.Econ.), University of Hohenheim, Tel.: 0711 459-23423, e-mail: st-heyer@uni-hohenheim.de