Managerial epidemiology in the health administration curriculum.

With the rapid changes in health care delivery systems an appreciation and specialized understanding of epidemiology is a necessary requirement for health care administration practitioners. Managed care compels health care managers to focus on delivering health care services to populations and not individuals. The health care administrator today must focus on population-based management, and no longer can afford to ignore epidemiologic measurements. This article presents the development and implementation of a specialized course in managerial epidemiology. The specific phases of course development, course content, and course framework are presented and discussed.