Health Services Policy and Management (HSPM) is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the promotion of personal and public health through planning, organizing, directing, controlling, coordinating and evaluating health services.
Career opportunities exist in hospitals and clinics, state and federal health care agencies, physician practices, long-term care facilities, professional organizations, consulting firms, insurance companies, health departments, and hospital and medical associations. Individuals from a wide range of undergraduate majors can expect to succeed in health administration, given the many career opportunities the field offers.
The MPH program emphasizes the management of public health agencies and public sector health services. Graduates from the MHA program find jobs in finance and business development, operations management, information technology management, human resources, patient and community relations and other fields. The Ph.D. prepares students to conduct health services research and/or teach at a university level.
The Department of Health Services Policy and Management’s mission is to be actively involved in improving quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health services and health systems locally and globally. (Adopted Fall 2021).
We offer seven advanced degrees related to health services policy and management. Each graduate degree has specific application deadlines and requirements.
Research led by Peiyin Hung has dug deeper into the challenges surrounding maternity care access that the health services policy and management assistant professor has been unveiling through her recent research.
Individual state funding for substance use disorder declined by an average of $10 million per year following Medicaid expansion, according to new research led by HSPM associate professor Christina Andrews.
Jan Ostermann is leading a new project to increase vaccination uptake among children in rural and underserved areas. He will use a $3 million NIH grant to implement a community-based digital intervention in Tanzania that could be applied in settings around the world.
As business manager for health services policy and management, she manages the department budget, processes payroll/human resources actions, plans special events and supports chair Brad Wright.
USC details efforts by several university researchers working to improve maternal and child health, including Peiyin Hung's efforts to address limited access to maternal care in rural areas.
Yi-wen Shih's research examines mental health, health disparities and substance use (particularly opioids). She advocates for nonpharmacologic treatment of chronic noncancer pain to improve health outcomes/pain management and mitigate the opioid crisis.
The health services policy and management (HSPM) associate professor and Rural and Minority Health Research Center director was recognized with one of the National Rural Health Association's top honors: the 2023 Outstanding Researcher Award.