Both nationally and internationally there is a growing awareness among healthcare professionals in private practice that good business skills are essential to their success. They increasingly realise that practising medicines successfully in the 21st century requires more than good intentions and world class medical skills. Healthcare professionals are faced with numerous business challenges emerging from such trends as medical super-inflation, consumerism globalisation and reform of the funding industry.
The Higher Certificate in Practice Management has been customised to focus on the business environment, current priorities and practice needs of all healthcare practitioners, in private practice. It introduces the healthcare professional or practice manager to business principles in a private practice environment, contextualised to the ethical framework applicable to the South African healthcare environment.
The course is designed to develop the functional and operational management and operational management skills required to successfully manage a small to medium size healthcare business aligned with effective and efficient patient care.
Practice managers and all health professionals in private practice or who plan to go into private practice.
The mode of delivery for this qualification is distance online learning, enabling participants to complete the programme at their own pace over a period of 12 months. Participants will receive comprehensive and user-friendly study material and a prescribed textbook for Module 1: Understanding the South African Healthcare Environment.
The learning material and assessments have been designed to enable participants to grasp management techniques and principles in a private practice environment and the application thereof.
The following outline provides an overview of the content to be covered in this programme and the ways in which your progress will be assessed. You will need to complete all the fundamental and core modules, over the 12- month period of the programme.
Module 1: Understanding the South African Healthcare Environment
Module 2: Human Resources Management
Module 3: Financial Management
Module 4: Health Law and Ethics
Module 5: Managed Care
Module 6: Strategic and Operational Management
Module 7: Strategic Marketing and Customer Relations
NQF Level 5 (120 Credits), CHE accredited, Department of Education registration, SAQA number 96726.
Accredited according to the HPCSA’s Medical and Dental Board Guidelines for Health Care Professionals for 30 CEU’s on Level 2. Participants are required to obtain a mark of 70% or more to qualify for CPD points.
Students will be assessed by means of both formative and summative assessments. With a minimum of one written assignment per module and one final overarching examination.
Students will receive a HCert (Practice Management) upon successful completion of all assessments and obtaining a pass mark of 50%.