Accreditation for MHA Programs

What is MHA Accreditation?

Accreditation is the process that guarantees the quality of a postsecondary education that students are receiving. Accreditation comes from a non-government organization which itself has been formally accredited by accreditation bodies, and therefore are often called “accredited certification bodies“. In other words, they must be accredited to give out accreditation.

In terms of MHA programs, the leading accreditation body is CAHME, the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education. We’ve already covered CAHME in detail before, but for those of you just joining us, CAHME is the sole organization recognized by the US Dept. of Education to grant accreditation to Healthcare Management Masters Degree programs.

CAHME is there to ensure that the quality of MHA programs in the US are top quality, as they are designed to train the healthcare executives of tomorrow. When choosing a Masters of Healthcare Administration program, it’s imperative that your program be accredited.

Accredited programs have met these rigorous standards set by CAHME:

  1. Ability to respond to health industry and system changes and needs when necessary.

  2. Well defined admission criteria to admit qualified students and create a diverse student population.

  3. Students should be well-prepared for careers upon graduation, and their career preparedness level should be document and used to further improve the program.

  4. Curriculum should target the following healthcare management areas in detail:
    • Population health
    • Legal Principles development, application and assessment
    • Management and structural analysis of healthcare organizations
    • Leadership structure, roles, responsibilities and alignment
    • Written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills
    • Statistical analysis and application
    • Information systems management and assessment
    • Economic analysis
    • Decision making
    • Business ethics
    • and more, which can be found along with the above at CAHME’s Official Criteria Page.

Official accreditation of your MHA program will prove the quality of your Masters of Healthcare Administration to your future employers. Be sure to check out CAHME’s accreditation criteria, and their full list of accredited MHA programs.

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