Healthcare Leadership & Administration Certificate
Program Highlights
Move into Healthcare Leadership & Administration
Increase Training & Development as a Current Leader or Admin
- Integrating leadership theory into day-to-day administrative practices
- Mediating and managing communication at every level within an organization
- Collecting and critically analyzing research and data
- Integrating current literature and evidence-based practices into leading and supervising healthcare delivery to patients
Designed for Working Healthcare Professionals
Our HLA Certificate is designed especially for working healthcare professionals, administrators, and leaders. With a completely-online program designed to fit with busy schedules, and that has three start dates a year, the HLA Certificate can fit your schedule.
Our HLA Certificate is designed to benefit individuals who fall into the following areas:
- Looking into a career as a healthcare administrator and may earn an MBA, MPA, or MHA degree in the future
- Currently working as a healthcare practitioner and are interested in gaining more administrative skills
- Presently working as a healthcare administrator and seeking additional confidence and leadership and administrative skills
Interprofessional Program Experience
Transfer into our PhD or DMSc Programs
Curriculum
Delivering High-Quality Healthcare
Learn how to deliver healthcare in a way that lowers costs while improving patient outcomes and satisfaction. Understand how to impact and improve the care offered by clinicians and employees you supervise. Delve into leadership theories, concepts, and challenges as they relate to healthcare.
Healthcare Systems
Learn how economics and healthcare systems interact. Deliver healthcare to the best of your clinic’s ability within that system.
Research & Data
Integrate critically-reviewed current literature and evidence-based practices into the daily administration of healthcare delivery.
Communication Systems
Mediate and manage communication at every organizational level to optimize the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery.
Courses
Core Courses
Code
Course
Credits
HLA 670Organizational Behavior & Management in Healthcare3
This course supports knowledge of the theories of organizations, the use of leadership, management processes, and organizational structures and outcomes. Specific topics include governance, strategic management and marketing, human resources management, recruiting, training, process improvement, management theory, and employee wellbeing. This course is designed for future managers and leaders of healthcare organizations and those who expects to have extensive involvement with each from the perspective buyers, insurers, or policymakers. The course provides students with knowledge about how the best healthcare provider organizations deliver high quality, cost-effective healthcare, how the response to their environment, and how they reach and implement decisions about future activities.
Offered Every Semester
HLA 700Healthcare Legal & Ethical Issues3
This course explores the legal and ethical issues and dilemmas in the delivery of healthcare. The principles and practical application of laws and regulations affecting operational decisions of healthcare providers, health plans, and third-party payers are discussed. Also addressed are social, moral, and ethical issues encountered in the balance of patient interests, needs and rights.
Offered Every Semester
HLA 620Healthcare Leadership3
Concepts of leadership related to current healthcare organizations are examined. Specific concepts including communications, public relations, team building, negotiation, and conflict resolution are explored. Strategic aspects such as vision, viewpoint and admission included. Managing uncertainty is discussed in relation to healthcare organizations. Contemporary leadership challenges, communication strategies and crisis communication are explored. Leadership functions and decision-making are analyzed.
Offered Every Semester
HS 640Healthcare Leadership & Ethics3
Leadership concepts related to current healthcare organizations are examined. Specific concepts, including communications, public relations, team building, negotiation, and conflict resolution are explored. Strategic aspects such as vision, viewpoint, and admission are included. Managing uncertainty is discussed in relation to healthcare organizations. Contemporary leadership challenges, communication strategies, ethics, and crisis communication are explored. Leadership functions and decision-making are analyzed.
Offered Winter, Summer Semesters
Electives
Code
Course
Credits
HLA 740Healthcare Delivery3
This course will train healthcare leaders to implement or teach principles of delivering better healthcare at lower costs through improving clinical and non-clinical processes. This course will introduce methods and tools for conducting quality improvement projects. Also discussed will be methods of health services research, teams and teamwork, outcome measurement, and medical informatics. A key learning experience of this course will be developing and implementing a quality improvement project.
Offered Every Semester
HLA 710Management & Entrepreneurship in Healthcare3
Introduces current and aspiring healthcare leaders to key dimensions of effective management and entrepreneurship. Explores professional, legal, and ethical aspects of development as healthcare professionals seeking to develop management and entrepreneurship opportunities. Synthesize of entrepreneurial and management competencies to plan and implement a simulated interdisciplinary business venture are explored.
Offered Summer Semester*
*Course requires a minimum of 3 students. If less than three students are interested in elective course it will not be taught in a particular semester.
Semester Dates
Fall 2025
Type
Date
Winter 2026
Type
Date
Summer 2026
Type
Date
What is the difference?
Priority Deadline
While admission decisions are provided on a rolling basis (decisions provided immediately after the application is reviewed), submitting your application by the priority deadline provides the most time for review.
The sooner applications are submitted and completed, the better the opportunity to review, accept, and enroll for the desired semester start.
Final Deadline
All applications and supplemental materials must be submitted by this date for the start of the upcoming semester. Any application submitted after this date will be moved to the following start date for that program.
Admission Requirements
A minimum of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
Anyone who is currently a healthcare administrator, a healthcare manager, or even working in a field unrelated to healthcare can apply for the Healthcare Leadership and Administration Certificate.
For students who are interested in healthcare administration but are not sure if they are ready to start an entire degree program, the HLA Certificate gives students a comprehensive foundation for a healthcare administration degree.
If you do not have healthcare experience, the HLA Certificate will help you explore the possibility of healthcare administration and leadership as a potential career path. Earning your Healthcare Leadership and Administration Certificate or taking any of the individual courses within the certificate program will prepare you to lead with confidence.
Faculty
Jennifer Austin
PhD, LAT, ATC, GTS
Program Director, Healthcare Leadership & Administration Certificate Program
Tuition & Fees
2025
Program Fees Details
This program is not eligible for Federal Student Loans. Private Loan options are available.
More Information
Locked-in Tuition
Rocky Mountain University offers guaranteed tuition rates while completing your graduate degree. Our programs have a cost per credit rate lock once you are enrolled. Locked-in tuition helps you see your total cost from start to finish. If you defer to a later cohort start, you may be subject to an increased rate.