This course teaches the fundamental concepts of management theory applied to health and social care. Attendees will develop a clear understanding of the challenges that the health and social care eco-system is facing nowadays and will learn the latest managerial approaches for sustainable effectiveness in health and social care delivery. Senior health and social care senior managers will join dedicated classes to provide attendees with lessons learnt from the field. The course will deal with three main topics: the structure and funding of the health and social care eco-system, the main processes and organizational units in healthcare organizations, technology assessment (HTA) and innovation management in healthcare. Knowledge developed in this course will be salient for all students interested to practice in professional and/or knowledge-intensive contexts.

Topic 1: Structure and funding of the health and social care eco-system

• Health and Social Care Systems in Industrialized Countries (policies and funding)
• Experiences and Challenges in Italy (national vs regional levels)

 Topic 2: Main processes and organizational units in healthcare organizations

• Key actors, governance and organizational configurations
• Value Chain and critical processes
• Administrative Processes: the Planning and Control Unit
• Technical Processes: the Clinical Engineering, Quality and Risk Management, Information Systems Units

Topic 3 - Technology assessment (HTA) and innovation management in healthcare

• Evidence-Based Medicine and Evidence-Based Management in Healthcare
• Experiments and Study Design for Health Care Decision-Making
• Technology Assessment in Health Care (HTA)
• Technology Assessment in Hospitals (HBHTA): goals, organizational configurations, methods,      performances
• Technology Acceptance (TAM) in Healthcare from patients’ and professionals’ perspective
• eHealth-enabled and Telemedicine-based innovations in Health and Social Care Delivery
• Change Management in professional and knowledge intensive contexts

The course will be delivered by means of face-to-face classes. Senior health and social care managers will be invited as guest lecturers to provide students with key lessons from the field. During the semester, Students will develop a project work in small teams, whose quality will contribute to their final mark. In this regards, students’ evaluation will be based on both the quality of the project work and an oral exam.