HCAD 665 is a 3-credit graduate course at the University of Maryland Global Campus. UMGC describes it as an examination of strategic issues driving the future of healthcare.
It looks ahead. Students identify trends, think about how communities are changing and consider how leaders keep institutions viable while adopting new science and technology.
Course at a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| University | University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) |
| Course code | HCAD 665 |
| Credits | 3 |
| Level | Graduate |
| Subject area | Strategy and leadership in healthcare |
| Typical work | Strategic analyses and leadership papers |
What HCAD 665 Covers
The catalog lists:
- Identifying trends and preparing leaders for changing communities.
- Integrating rapid technological and scientific advances.
- Ensuring institutional viability.
- Developing and communicating strategic goals and shaping organizational values.
- The effect of ethics and power on leadership decision making.
- Shared governance and collaboration.
- Change and performance management.
Key Concepts Explained
From Trend to Strategy
A trend is only useful if it changes a decision. Move from observing a trend to stating its implication, then to a strategic response.
Invented illustration: Trend: an aging local population. Implication: more demand for chronic disease and home-based services. Response: a goal to expand community care partnerships, with a measure such as the number of patients supported at home. The community is invented.
Ethics and Power
Leaders hold power over resources and information. Strategic decisions should be tested against ethical principles and a fair process. Say who benefits, who bears costs and who had a voice.
Shared Governance
Shared governance involves clinicians, managers and boards in decisions. Explain how it builds buy-in and where it can slow decisions.
Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them
| Assignment type | What it tests | How to approach it |
|---|---|---|
| Trend analysis | Spotting and interpreting change | Link each trend to a decision |
| Strategic plan outline | Goal setting and values | Goals, actions, measures, owners |
| Ethics and power case | Leadership judgment | Identify stakeholders and weigh principles |
| Discussion posts | Critical thinking | Offer a position with evidence |
Check your syllabus for the actual assessments.
Writing Strategic Goals
Good goals are specific and checkable. Compare these approaches.
| Weak goal | Stronger goal |
|---|---|
| Improve patient care | Reduce wait for follow-up visits within a stated period, measured monthly |
| Use more technology | Adopt a specific tool in one service line and review results after a pilot |
Link each goal to organizational values and say how you would communicate it to staff. Strategy that no one understands rarely survives.
Mapping Stakeholders and Power
Strategy affects different groups differently. A stakeholder map shows who has influence, who has interest and what each wants.
| Stakeholder | Interest | Influence on the strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Patients and communities | Access and quality | Demand and reputation |
| Clinicians | Care standards, workload | Adoption of change |
| Board and executives | Viability, mission | Resources and direction |
| Payers and regulators | Cost, compliance | Funding and rules |
Use the map to test your strategy: who gains, who loses and who might block it? Then add actions to build support, such as consultation or pilots.
Because the catalog mentions ethics and power, point out where influence is uneven, for example where patients have little voice, and explain how leaders can widen participation without losing decisiveness.
Change and Performance Management
The catalog ends with change and performance management. A good paper explains how a strategy becomes a daily practice: communicate, equip people, remove barriers and measure.
- Explain the reason for the change in terms staff care about.
- Provide training and resources.
- Set a small number of performance measures.
- Review results openly and adjust.
Acknowledge that technology and science change quickly. Leaders need a way to scan for developments, test them on a small scale and scale up what works, rather than reacting to every new tool.
Making Predictions Responsibly
A forward-looking course invites predictions. State them as scenarios with reasons, not certainties. For each scenario, say what would have to be true for it to happen and what early signs would show it was under way.
| Scenario element | Example question |
|---|---|
| Driver | What force is pushing the change? |
| Signal | What would we see first? |
| Response | What should leaders do now? |
Checking Your Own Work
Before submitting, check that each strategic goal has a measure, an owner and a time frame, that each trend leads to an implication and that ethics and power are addressed. Then read the introduction and conclusion together to make sure they agree.
Where Students Get Stuck
- Vision statements without actions. Include steps, owners and measures.
- Trend lists. Interpret each trend.
- Ignoring ethics. Include fairness and power in the analysis.
- Overlooking change management. Plan for resistance.
Study Tips for HCAD 665
- Keep a current-events file of healthcare trends with dates.
- Practice trend, implication, response in one sentence each.
- Use stakeholder maps to test fairness.
- Align headings with the rubric.
How We Help with HCAD 665
Send the assignment, rubric, readings and feedback. We can prepare a model strategic outline, explain leadership concepts with examples, or review your draft for argument and referencing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
UMGC lists it at 3 credits.
Strategic issues shaping the future of healthcare, including trends, technology, ethics, governance and change.
The catalog lists none; confirm with your adviser.
Yes. The catalog lists change and performance management.
HCAD 660 concerns organization and management; HCAD 665 looks at strategy and leadership for the future.
No. We provide model material and feedback for study; you submit your own work.