The Healthcare Systems Engineering program provides the option for a Certificate in Healthcare Systems Engineering. The certificate may be completed as a standalone curriculum, paired with another Master's degree from Lehigh, or taken on the path towards completing a Master of Engineering Degree in Healthcare Systems Engineering. The certificate is especially useful for professionals who look to acquire only a subset of the tools taught through the program, or combine a Healthcare Systems Engineering perspective with other courses of study, such a Master in Management Science & Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering, or Business Administration.

To complete the Certificate program, students must complete 12 credits: 6 credits (2 courses) must be selected from the Healthcare Core and 6 credits (2 courses) must be selected from the Systems Engineering Foundation.

 

Healthcare Core Courses (Select 2)

Introduction to Healthcare Systems

The state of healthcare from economic, systems, quality, and historical perspectives. Components of the healthcare system including, facilities, delivery and treatment systems, and personnel. System costs, reimbursement methods and financial aspects in healthcare. Healthcare policy, laws and ethics. System performance measures including access, cost effectiveness and quality of care.

Quality and Process Improvement in Healthcare

The dimensions of healthcare quality and their definitions, quality metrics, accreditation and other benchmarking and evaluation methods. Change management, project planning and team management. Continuous improvement tools including “lean”, “six-sigma”, and “TQM”.

Financial Management in Healthcare

Engineering economics in healthcare; value metrics (net present value, return on investment, etc.), cost-benefit analysis, capital projects and improvements. Accounting methods in healthcare systems. Reimbursement methods, organizations, and alternatives. Financial strategy, planning, pricing and capital formation in “for”, and “not for” profit settings.

Information Technology in Healthcare

Introduction to information systems in healthcare. Components of the system; electronic medical records, patient monitoring and data collection (clinical information systems), ancillaries (lab, pharmacy, radiology), imaging and digital technology, financial, inventory and management information systems. Enterprise systems in healthcare, IT driven cost, efficiency and treatment quality metrics. Data warehousing, sharing, mining, protection and privacy issues.

Systems Engineering Foundation Courses (Select 2)

Simulation

Applications of discrete and continuous simulation techniques in modeling industrial systems. Simulation using a high-level simulation language. Design of simulation experiments.

Design of Experiments

Experimental procedures for sorting out important causal variables, finding optimum conditions, continuously improving processes, and trouble-shooting. Applications to laboratory, pilot plant and factory.

Optimization Models and Applications

Modeling and analysis of operations research problems using techniques from mathematical programming. Linear programming, integer programming, multi-criteria optimization, stochastic programming and nonlinear programming using an algebraic modeling language.

Stochastic Models and Applications

Introduction to stochastic process modeling and analysis techniques and applications. Generalization of the Poisson process; renewal theory, queuing, and reliability; Brownian motion and stationary processes.

The certificate option is available to students and professionals from a variety of backgrounds. To enable all our students to be successful through the rigorous engineering coursework they complete, two courses are offered for students who need to build or refresh quantitative knowledge, particularly in the areas of probability, statistics, and linear algebra, which are the areas of mathematics relevant to the problems and tools in healthcare systems engineering.

 

Mathematics Prerequisites

Introduction to Industrial Engineering Mathematics

A review of linear algebra and an introduction to quantitative analysis, manipulation of matrices, core concepts associated with systems of linear equations and linear optimization, algebraic and geometric models. The credits for this course cannot be applied to any undergraduate or graduate degree offered by the Industrial & Systems Engineering Department or the Healthcare Systems Engineering master’s program.

Engineering Probability and Statistics

Random variables, probability functions, expected values, statistical inference, hypothesis testing, regression and correlation, analysis of variance, introduction to design of experiments, and fundamentals of quality control.

Certificate option

Certificate in Healthcare Systems Engineering - Curriculum Snapshot

Students interested in continuing towards the completion of a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.)in Healthcare Systems Engineering may apply all the courses completed as part of the Certificate towards the M.Eng. degree. A formal application to the Master's program is necessary.