The Master of Science in Healthcare Systems Engineering provides a balance of theory
and practical knowledge for the practice of the profession and/or for advancement
to a doctoral program. Recognizing the high concentration of healthcare providers
in the greater Binghamton area, Watson College has structured this program to serve
both full- and part-time graduate students. This program prepares individuals for
professional or leadership roles in various healthcare areas, including hospital operations
management, health systems engineering, health information technology and consulting.
Join us at an upcoming information session, in person or online, to learn more about our Healthcare Systems Engineering MS program.
Healthcare Systems Engineering Curriculum
Students in this program will attain a wide variety of industrial and systems engineering
tools and skill sets, such as modeling and simulation, statistical process control,
data science, reliability modeling, scheduling, human factors and optimization, among
others. This degree program is available in person and fully online.
Required courses
Students must complete six required courses, including 9 credits of core ISE courses
and 9 credits of core health systems courses.
Basic concepts in probability and statistics required in the modeling of random
processes and uncertainty. Bayes' formula, Bayesian statistics, independent events;
random variables and their descriptive statistics; distribution functions; Bernoulli,
Binomial, Hypergeometric, Poisson, normal, exponential, gamma, Weibull and multinomial
distributions; Chebyshev's theorem; central limit theorem; joint distributions;
sampling distributions; point estimation; confidence intervals; student-t, x squared
and F distributions; hypothesis testing; contingency tables, goodness of fit, non-parametric
statistics, regression and correlation. Prerequisite: one year of calculus. Term offered
varies. 3 credits.
Levels: Graduate, Undergraduate
Stochastic processes, review of probability and statistics, covariance, input data
selection, random number generators, non-parametric tests for randomness, generation
of random variates, output data analysis, terminating and non-terminating simulations,
model validation, comparison of alternatives, variance reduction techniques, sensitivity
analysis, experimental design and predictive models. Prerequisite: SSIE 505 or equivalent.
Term offered varies. 3 credits.
Levels: Graduate, Undergraduate
Statistical quality control, designing for quality, process control, vendor and
customer quality issues, quality costs and production. Prerequisites: SSIE 505 or
permission of instructor. Offered in the Spring semester. 3 credits.
Levels: Graduate, Undergraduate
One of the growing systems in our society is that of the healthcare delivery system.
The purpose of this course is to introduce the concepts behind the healthcare delivery
systems and to focus upon the systems improvement or continuous improvement techniques
available for complex systems. Topics would include improvement to, and problems with:
organizational structure, managing change, the financial structure, the responsibility
structure, quality data and implications of quality measures, use of clinical decisions
support systems and the care givers role in the system. There will also be a focus
upon suppliers to the healthcare delivery system and the unique requirements placed
upon their products and processes. Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of
instructor. Crosslisted with ISE 434. Term offered varies. 3 credits.
Levels: Graduate, Undergraduate
The application of industrial and systems engineering principles to continuous
process improvement in the healthcare domain will be studied. Concepts that will be
addressed will include, but not be limited to, process mapping, optimization, scheduling,
lean and flexible systems, quality enhancement, simulation, supply chain management,
inventory control, and information management. Prerequisite: graduate standing in
the department or permission of the instructor. Crosslisted with ISE 437. Term offered
varies. 3 credits.
Levels: Graduate, Undergraduate
This course is intended to provide an overview of healthcare finance and the current
financial environment for the healthcare industry and to learn how to apply engineering
economics to healthcare financial management. It will provide information on financial
and managerial accounting and how the use of Systems Science and Industrial and Systems
Engineering principles can be applied to financial management concepts to allow for
health-related organizations to make sound business decisions. Crosslisted with ISE
438. Prerequisites: SSIE 534 or permission of the instructor. Term offered varies. 3 credits.
Levels: Graduate, Undergraduate
For students with adequate backgrounds, electives may be substituted for these courses
with consent from the advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.
Degree-completion options
Upon completing the core requirements, students will be able to complete their program
with one of the following three options to attain eligibility for degree conferral:
Coursework only: Three additional graduate-level, 3-credit elective courses and SSIE
637 Advanced Topics in Health Systems (3 credits), which includes significant project-based
coursework to serve as a capstone for the termination requirement of the program.
Project: SSIE 598 Project (3 credits) and three additional graduate-level, 3-credit
elective courses (at least one at 600-level).
Thesis: SSIE 599 Thesis (6 credits) and two additional graduate-level, 3-credit elective
courses (at least one at 600-level).
SUNY Distinguished Prof; Department Chair; Healthcare Systems Engineering / Health Systems / Manhattan Graduate Program Director; SUNY Distinguished Professor; Director
Systems Science and Industrial Engineering; Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE)
