Qualified students working toward their OD degree may apply for the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Optometry Business Management. The certificate is offered jointly by SUNY College of Optometry and SUNY Empire State College. The credits earned from the certificate program can be applied to the MBA in Healthcare Leadership program offered by SUNY Empire State College. Students may enter the program in the summer between their first and second year of the OD Program.
The certificate program is a six-course (three credits per course), 18-credit program. Two courses are part of the OD Program and four are offered online by SUNY Empire State College. To learn more about the program, please visit: Empire State College website or read the press release.
Financial aid may be available for the certificate program. Applications for the certificate program will be handled through Empire State College online.
The certificate program are also open to practicing optometrists.
This course focuses on the managerial leadership roles and competencies needed to translate strategic visions into tactical and operational plans. It also examines tools and methodologies to improve organizational efficiency and productivity through integration, communication, and the management of knowledge-based organizations. Students identify, develop, and apply competencies associated with the dynamics of change and flexibility and then balance them with the competencies required to lead with stability and control.
Students taking this course will be able to make sound decisions that promote the financial well-being of a health care organization. The course covers essential concepts underlying the preparation and measurement of financial data, measurement of business operations, business valuation, financial reporting, forecasting, cost allocation and pricing, and service and product cost. It also includes examination of special reports for executive review and decisions including financial ratio management and financial condition analysis. It then progresses to the evaluation of principles governing the healthcare industry and rules and regulations in collecting, preparing and presenting financial data for healthcare providers. As students learn to use the accounting and financial reporting aspects of healthcare organizations, they also learn about the financial decisions relevant for operating budgets, capital budgets and working capital management. Issues involving long-term financing and investment as well as risk and return analysis and management, debt and equity financing, managing capital structure and cost of capital, cash flow analysis and capital projects appraisal are also covered in this course.
Healthcare organizations are immeasurably complex systems and there is mounting industry-wide pressure to address the challenges of and opportunities for instituting significant operational improvements. Within the healthcare sector, operations management has several goals including reducing costs, increasing patient safety, improving clinical outcomes and quality of patient care, and improving financial performance of the organization. This course is designed to focus on the approaches and strategies for achieving these operational goals to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare systems. It provides an integrated approach and set of contemporary tools that can be used to improve the management and delivery of healthcare services and the financial performance of a healthcare organization. Topics include challenges and opportunities related to operations management in healthcare, project management, quality management tools with a focus on six sigma and lean thinking, process improvement and patient flow, capacity management, scheduling, forecasting, and supply chain management.
This course explores corporate communication as a strategic area of healthcare management. The effectiveness of corporate communication is largely determined by the development of an optimal balance between a coordinated, centralized perspective and a network of flexible, decentralized operatives. This balance is vital for keeping communication programs and activities consistent throughout the healthcare organization and aligning corporate communication goals with strategies both internally and externally. The course also focuses on increasing the capacity to integrate communication channels including social media, branding, visual communications, and health and crisis communications.
The MBA program at SUNY Empire State College requires a minimum of 42 credits. Students who complete the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Optometry Business Management (18 credits) would be required to complete an additional 24 credits for the MBA. To learn more about the program, please visit: Empire State College website