Quality, Safety and Risk Management in Healthcare MS

Major: Quality, Safety and Risk Management in Healthcare
Degree Awarded: Master of Science (MS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 45.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 51.0701
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9111

About the Program

The MS in Quality, Safety and Risk Management in Healthcare prepares students to lead organizational efforts that improve and monitor quality metrics, improve safety for both patients and staff and manage risks in a dynamic health care environment.

This interdisciplinary patient safety and health care quality master's program is designed for health care professionals seeking to develop essential competencies to assess, monitor and improve health care outcomes in community-based care delivery settings, hospitals and other health care organizations.

Graduates of this program will be prepared to lead teams in a wide variety of quality and risk management initiatives including:

• Aligning the patient safety, risk and quality functions within the organization.
• Ensuring that patient safety, risk and quality activities are aligned with the strategic goals of the organization.
• Assessing current activities in patient safety, risk and quality to clarify responsibilities and reduce duplication of effort.
• Establishing a structure that ensures that patient care activities are addressed in a coordinated manner involving patient safety, risk and quality functions.
• Assembling a team to ensure that the structure for patient safety, risk and quality activities maximizes legal protections while allowing for the flow of information across all functions.
• Coordinating process changes, data collection, data analysis, monitoring and evaluation.
• Evaluating the roles of patient safety, risk and quality as the organization's needs change.

The program is certified by CAHME (Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education).

Additional Information

For more information about this program, contact:

Graduate Nursing Division
CNHPGraduateDivision@drexel.edu

Additional information is also available on Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions MS in Quality, Safety and Risk Management in Healthcare webpage and on the Drexel University Online MS in Quality, Safety and Risk Management in Healthcare webpage.

Admission Requirements

• A Bachelor of Science degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education.
• 3.0 or above on all previous coursework or the last 60.0 credits completed. Applications with a GPA less than a 3.0 may be considered on an individual basis.
• Official transcripts from all previous educational institutions are required.
• Two professional references required from colleagues or supervisors who can attest to the applicant’s knowledge, skill and potential aptitude for graduate study.
  • Letters of recommendations are waived for students with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
• Personal statement (no more than two pages and no less than one page double-spaced) that will give the admissions committee a better understanding of the following:
  • Why you are choosing this particular program of study.
  • Your plans upon completion of the certificate.
  • How your current work experience will enhance your experience in this program.
• Curriculum vitae or resume.
• Copies of any licensure and certification documents.
• While specific experience is not required for applicants to the track, previous related work experience may make an applicant more competitive.

TOEFL Requirement

International applicants, as well as immigrants to the United States and United States permanent residents whose native language is not English and who have not received a bachelor’s degree or higher in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand or the United Kingdom, must show proficiency in English speaking as well as listening, writing, and reading. U.S. citizens born on U.S. military bases abroad may be waived from the TOEFL requirement after providing documentation of this status; otherwise, applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

If you take the TOEFLiBT exam, you are required to have a minimum combined score for the listening, writing, and reading sections of 79 plus a speaking section score of 26 or higher.

If you take the TOEFL, you are required to have a minimum score of 550 or higher and a Test of Spoken English score (TSE) of 55 or higher.

Degree Requirements

Sample Plan of Study

Program Level Outcomes

• Apply a legal and ethical framework of health care delivery
• Further the role of the quality, safety, and risk management professional in the health care system through scholarship, clinical experience and organizational involvement
• Demonstrate critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills in decision-making
• Integrate multiple technologies and relevant theories into the organization and synthesis of health data to care for patients, families and communities
• Integrate culturally sensitive care that contributes to the health and wellness of the community
• Demonstrate leadership through the development of outcome-based standards of care and practice-based health policy issues
• Drive the quality and effectiveness of care based on current research findings, standards of care and patient outcomes
• Contribute to the advancement of health care and humanity through communication, interprofessional collaboration and education

Graduate Nursing Faculty