USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

MS in Healthcare Decision Analysis

The USC Master of Science in Healthcare Decision Analysis is a specialized graduate program that directly prepares graduates for business careers in the healthcare, biopharmaceuticals, consulting, health insurance, and medical technology industries. Our real-world STEM training provides strategic management tools and actionable insights for improving healthcare value, access, reimbursement, and pricing. Students learn to build, evaluate and apply quantitative models and analysis to optimize business decisions and outcomes in the biopharmaceuticals, medical technology, health insurance, and consulting industries.

Program Hybrid Course Format

Courses are offered in a hybrid format which combines in-classroom instruction on the beautiful USC campus on weekends and online webinars on select weeknights. The hybrid format allows full-time students, dual-degree students, and working professionals to maximize their learning experience while having access to best-in-class campus facilities, innovative instructional technologies, and learning and networking opportunities with healthcare industry executives and mentors.

Requirements for Degree Completion

The Master of Science in Healthcare Decision Analysis degree requires the completion of 33 units with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.

Core Courses (Select Up to 33 Units)

• HCDA 502 Comparative International Healthcare Systems (3 units)
• HCDA 503 Competitive Healthcare Intelligence (3 units)
• HCDA 506 Foundations of Insurance and Global Access (3 units)
• HCDA 507 Foundations of Product Development and Commercialization (3 units)
• HCDA 510 Business Implications of Healthcare Policy (3 units)
• HCDA 515 Healthcare Decision Analysis and Modeling (3 units)
• HCDA 520 Health Economics and Outcomes Methodology (3 units)
• HCDA 525 Healthcare Literature Analysis and Applications (3 units)
• HCDA 540 Executive Leadership and Healthcare Marketing (3 units)
• HCDA 550 Healthcare Innovation: Creativity to Value (3 units)
• HCDA 553 Advanced Pricing Strategies (3 units)
• HCDA 560 Managing Effective Partnerships and Mergers (3 units)
• HCDA 580 Seminars in Healthcare Decision Analysis (1-3 units)
• HCDA 589 Healthcare Consulting Enterprise Team Project (3 units)
• HCDA 590 Directed Research (1-3 units)
• HCDA 599 Special Topics: Introduction to Healthcare Data Analytics (3 units)

Elective Courses (Select Up to 9 Units)

• BPMK 500 Biopharmaceutical Marketing Management (3 units)
• BPMK 503 Biopharmaceutical Advertising and Communication (3 units)
• BPMK 504 Market Access and Reimbursement Strategy (3 units)
• BPMK 506 Biopharmaceutical Product Pricing & Competition (3 units)
• BPMK 508 Biopharmaceutical Marketing Research and Analytics (3 units)

The Master of Science in Healthcare Decision Analysis program features a distance learning option for active working professionals who cannot regularly travel to a traditional classroom.

Distance Learning Option

The distance learning option provides the flexibility to pursue graduate education while maintaining the comprehensive curriculum, academic rigor, and team collaboration emphasis at a top university program.

• Access to expert faculty and executive guest lecturers
• Collaborative virtual activities and team assignments
• Engaging in lectures and class breakout discussions
• On-campus residency to engage with peers, faculty, executive network, and alumni
• Powerful virtual learning tools

Enterprise Team Projects

In the complex, dynamic world of healthcare, commercial teams are challenged to perform multiple feats: launch new products, gain formulary status, increase margins, expand market share, and outwit competitors — usually against impossibly tight deadlines.

Now, a commercial organization with more projects than people to manage them can speed up results and shorten their list by outsourcing a project to a team of graduate students from the USC Healthcare Decision Analysis & Biopharmaceutical Marketing programs.

The USC Enterprise Team Projects team consists of 5-7 graduate students who contribute approximately 1,200 hours to the effort over four months.

Projects can be structured around problems or opportunities including new product commercialization, value and access, pricing and reimbursement, competitive intelligence, product marketing, brand strategy, pipeline and business development, and other key business areas.

Program Learning Objectives

The purpose of the USC Master of Science in Healthcare Decision Analysis program is to prepare graduates for business careers in healthcare, biopharmaceuticals, medical technology, and health insurance industries. Below is a list of learning objectives:

• Integrate strategic leadership and business management skills to advance the performance of healthcare enterprises.
• Apply healthcare subject matter expertise to navigate and solve dynamic industry challenges.
• Build, evaluate, and apply quantitative models and analysis to optimize healthcare business decisions and outcomes.
• Contribute functional expertise to interdisciplinary teams creating solutions to complex problems.
• Maintain high professional and ethical standards in the advancement and innovation of healthcare for all stakeholders.

USC Master of Science in Healthcare Decision Analysis is a specialized graduate program that directly prepares you for business careers in healthcare, biopharmaceuticals, consulting, health insurance, and medical technology.