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Master’s Degree Tracks
Health Law & Policy Track

The health care industry is expected to have the fastest employment growth of any sector until 2024.1  Simultaneously, the industry is facing unprecedented change from technological innovation and new regulation. The increase in regulatory oversight, as well as the demand for health care reform, is impacting the delivery of services and the health care economy. The online Master of Studies in Law, Health Law & Policy Track is designed for those in administrative, regulatory, managerial, and advocacy roles in health care to learn how to operate within the legal framework behind these changes.

The 30-credit Health Law & Policy Track includes:

30 total credits in as few as 21 months (or up to 4 years).

Who could benefit?

  • Compliance and Risk Officers
  • Hospital and Practice Administrators
  • Direct Care Providers
  • Insurance and Managed Care Professionals
  • Device Manufacturers
  • Regulators
  • Researchers

Core Curriculum Courses

Required

Business Law and Literacy 3 credits Core

This course (part of the MSL core curriculum) will familiarize you with the basics of business law and the vocabulary of business. Specifically, you will learn about the law applicable to (1) agency relationships; (2) for-profit business firms, (3) securities offerings and stock trading, (4) non-profit organizations; and (5) mixed-purpose social enterprises. Of necessity, we will sample topics in each area (such as formation of business firms, liabilities and governance powers of firm participants, duties within the firm, financing the firm, insider trading liability, tax implications, and firm dissolution). On all of these topics, you will acquire greater "business literacy."

Legal Foundations 3 credits Core

An overview of the United States legal system in the context of today’s workplace, including the judicial system, federal-state relationship, law-making processes and the role of lawyers. Specific attention to real world-centered examples, including writing and drafting assignments in various workplace settings to provide insight into the legal context of decision-making and risk management.

Private Law 3 credits Core

Most non-criminal law concerns rights and duties between persons: the legal obligations of people to each other in carrying on their day-to-day personal and business lives. This everyday law is called private law and includes an always increasing, wide range of legal subtopics and specialties. Almost all of these private law subtopics, however, derive from and are variants of three, foundational, meta-legal areas of law: tort, contract, and property. This courses introduces these three areas; explores their relationships in business and the economy; and considers how they enable free enterprise.

Public Law 3 credits Core

Introduction to federal, state, and local government systems that govern the relationship between the individual and the state. This class examines the constitutional structure of American government, the processes by which laws and regulations are made, the methods agencies use to enforce the law, and the role of the judicial system. Topics covered will include civil rights, criminal procedure, environmental law, zoning and land use regulation, health and safety regulation, health care regulation, and financial regulation.

Track Courses

Choose 12+ credits

Bioethics and the Law 1.5 credits Track

A survey of leading topics where ethical issues are prominent in health care delivery, including the “right to die,” genetic therapies and research, organ transplantation, and advances in biotechnology.

Classification in the Gig Economy 1.5 credits Track

This course covers the fundamental approach under state and federal law for distinguishing employees and independent contractors, which is the common-law control test; and it explores how this approach and variations are applied for purposes of vicarious liability, workers’ compensation immunity, and classification and joint employment determinations under various state employment laws and a range of federal laws, including FLSA, FMLA, NLRA, IRC, SSA, and federal anti-discrimination statutes.

Cybersecurity 3 credits Track

The laws and regulations that apply to data privacy, data security, and data breaches, including cybercriminal combat, privacy, and many other cybersecurity issues. Coverage will include security of sensitive information, such as employee records, financial data, and health information. After discussing the compliance requirements, students will develop a cyber risk mitigation strategy for their workplace.

Detecting Wrongdoing with Investigations, Monitoring, and Audits 3 credits Track

An introduction to the detection of wrongdoing in the workplace, with an emphasis on the following key methods: investigations, monitoring, and auditing. Coverage includes essential investigation components and pitfalls, as well as the seven basic tools of auditing and monitoring.

Healthcare Compliance 1.5 credits Track

In-depth coverage of ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements in two critical areas: 1) privacy and security of health care information under state and federal law, including HIPAA, HITECH Act, cybersecurity issues, and state breach notification laws; and 2) billing for health care services, including exposure under the federal False Claims Act and compliance audits under Medicare.

Paying for Healthcare 3 credits Track

The changing landscape of how we pay for health care, consisting of Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and health insurance reform. Analysis of the current fee-for-service system and its alternatives, as well as the policies behind these models.

Privacy in the Workplace 1.5 credits Track

An overview of the balancing of employers’ legitimate monitoring and regulation of employees’ use of technology and other behavior, including off duty conduct, and individuals’ legally protected rights to privacy. Coverage includes issues relating to drug and alcohol testing, criminal and other backgrounds checks, technology, social media, and the cloud, inquiries regarding medical and other personal identifying information, and other inquires, searches, testing and monitoring.

Telemedicine 1.5 credits Track

This course is an introduction to the legal landscape governing the use of digital information and telecommunication technologies in patient care delivery. Coverage will include licensing and credentialing, technology, business models, contracts and governance issues impacting the rapidly growing global digital health industry.

The Business of Healthcare 3 credits Track

An analysis of the corporate forms unique to health care, including liability and tax implications, as well as various certification and accreditation issues and Certificate of Need laws. Also covered are antitrust laws governing health care market participants, including direct care providers, hospitals, and other institutional providers, pharmaceutical companies, and other sellers of health care products, as well as insurers.

The Provider-Patient Relationship 1.5 credits Track

The core duties and liabilities in treatment relationships, including formation and termination of the relationship, informed consent, and malpractice liability, as well as licensure and scope of practice.

Elective Courses

Choose up to 6 credits

Compensation and Benefits 3 credits Elective

The legal landscape governing employee pay and benefits, broadly defined, including insurance, retirement plans, educational resources, flexible spending accounts, wellness programs, and other perks. Students explore employee leave policies, health care reform, and executive compensation.

Experiential Capstone 3 or 6 credits Elective

Integrate theory and practice to solve a real-life workplace issue, under the supervision of a faculty advisor.

International Compliance 1.5 credits Elective

An overview of risk-based compliance strategies, policies, and procedures relevant to domestic businesses operating outside of the United States. This course will cover economic sanctions, import issues and export controls, anti-bribery (under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)), foreign investment, and anti-boycott regulations, with a focus on addressing the necessary diligence required for international transactions. Coverage will include the relevant government agencies regulating international business transactions.

Labor Law 3 credits Elective

An introduction to U.S. labor history and federal legislation, administrative decisions, and court rulings that shaped U.S. labor relations and collective bargaining in the private and public sectors. The course covers legal rights and obligations of employers, employees, and unions under the National Labor Relations Act, along with Union/Management relations topics including: collective bargaining, grievance administration and arbitration, and union organizing and representation. Also covered are recent shifts in legal precedent and emerging issues, and an overview of international labor relations issues, practices, and trends.

Managing Talent and Preventing Discrimination 3 credits Elective

An analysis of the relevant laws that regulate the hiring, classification, evaluation, discipline, and discharge of employees. Also covers the law prohibiting workplace discrimination on any basis under state and federal statutes and regulations, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Students will also cover the EEOC administrative process.

Regulation of Securities Offerings 3 credits Elective

An introduction to the regulation of securities offerings – both on public trading markets and through private placements. The course focuses on (1) the registration process for newly issued securities, (2) civil liability for deficiencies and misrepresentations in the registration materials, (3) exemptions from registration – including for private placements, crowdfunding and international offerings, and (4) exemptions for post-offering transactions. To provide context, the course begins by considering the genesis of US securities regulation and the financial transactions regulated as 'securities.'

Vendor Contracts 1.5 credits Elective

To increase efficiency and cost effectiveness, businesses increasingly outsource a widening range of services to third party vendors. These relationships involve reputational, operational, transactional, and financial risks that can be mitigated through contracts with vendors. This course is an in-depth look at contract law that focuses on drafting, interpreting, modifying, and enforcing third-party vendor contracts. The course begins with contract creation and covers the entire lifecycle of legal issues involved in vendor contract management, including alternative ways of resolving disputes.

Wage and Hour Law 1.5 credits Elective

An exploration of the federal and state wage and hour laws that impact today's business operations, including laws impacting timekeeping, overtime, wages, and equal pay, and how laws around meal/rest breaks, leaves, and scheduling impact an employer's obligations to pay wages. Students analyze how failure to comply with these laws increase risks around litigation, agency charges, and internal compliance audits. Throughout, students consider how to address the day-to-day scenarios HR professionals face in the workplace.

This list includes all courses within the Health Law & Policy Track. Actual course offerings vary per semester.

1 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htm
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections: 2014-24 Summary, December 8, 2015

Partnership

Emerging Leaders Program

A cross-disciplinary sequential degree program offered in partnership with the Wake Forest School of Medicine in which students can earn a Master of Studies in Law (MSL) and Master of Medical Science (MMS) in Physician Assistant Studies.

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