Three foundational courses form the backbone of the compliance programs and are required for all master and certificate students.
Risk Management (4 credits)
This course explores the methods and policies for allocating losses from harm to one’s person, property, relations, and economic and other interests. The course covers the substantive principles of tort claims and their defenses, as well as claims activities in the period between the event that gave rise to the claim and the time that litigation commences, the phases of litigation of a claim (from pretrial to settlement, including discovery), and basic concepts relating to handling activities in the post litigation period, such as reporting, data analysis, and risk management initiatives to prevent future events.
Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (3 credits)
This course deals with the institutional dynamics that allow compliance officers to interact with business owners and regulators in order to properly risk-manage compliance requirements while creating and enforcing a code of conduct that champions an ethical corporate culture. The students are introduced to corporate codes of ethics and governance, including the role of the board of directors and executives in managing firms and overseeing risk management and regulatory compliance. The course covers the detection and handling of potential compliance lapses, including the conduct of investigations and the role of whistleblowers and attorney advisors.
Compliance Skills: Planning, Auditing, Investigating, and Reporting (3 credits)
This course covers the basic concepts of regulatory compliance and risk management and how to: identify the compliance obligations of an enterprise; assess the legal risks associated with these obligations; build a compliance and ethics program that effectively mitigates these risks; roll out an effective program; develop appropriate audit procedures to analyze program effectiveness; correct and improve organizational operations by follow-up monitoring, process change, and education; and lead a response to a regulatory audit or investigation, all while generating value through compliance and ethics. This course includes a required major project that consists of designing a regulatory compliance program around the seven essential elements of a compliance program.
Required Courses for master and certificate with a specialization in healthcare
Health Law (3 credits)
This course provides a broad survey of the fundamental legal issues surrounding the delivery of healthcare in the United States. It is an introduction to the complex and wide-ranging field of health law. Topics include: health insurance; the regulation of medical professionals and institutions; the clinician-patient relationship; liability of health care professionals and institutions; discrimination in health care; and professional relationships in health care. Students will learn to identify and analyze major legal issues in health care contexts and to understand the interplay among cost, quality, and access to care.
Health Care Organizations, Finance, and Regulation (3 credits)
This course will introduce students to legal issues associated with the financing of health care (both public and private payment systems), as well as the forms and structures of modern health care organizations, including the creation and regulation of tax-exempt organizations and how the antitrust laws impact the structure and conduct of health care providers. The course will also cover the federal and state laws that impose criminal and civil penalties on health care providers for a variety of activities. Coverage will include the five main Federal fraud and abuse laws: the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, the Exclusion Statute, and the Civil Monetary Penalties Law, as well as an introduction to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Discussions will include how health care businesses can comply with these laws in their relationships with payers (e.g., the Medicare and Medicaid programs), vendors (e.g., drug, biologic, and medical device companies), and fellow providers (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, and physician colleagues). These areas will be reviewed both from the perspective of compliance and transactional issues.