Department of Health Policy and Management Programs Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)

November 25, 2008 -- Two programs in Columbia University Mailman School of
Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management have been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). CAHME is the organization that accredits individual academic programs which offer a major course of study in healthcare management and that lead to a professional master's degree. The newly accredited programs are the full-time Management Track and the Executive MPH Program. The current accreditation runs through 2011.

CAHME is a partnership between academia and the field of practice, representing an interdisciplinary group of educational, professional, clinical, and commercial organizations. Members are devoted to accountability and quality improvement in educating healthcare management and administration professionals. To meet accreditation requirements, a program must offer a continuing commitment to assess and deliver quality education in healthcare management.

“We are delighted that we can assure our students and prospective students that we are meeting the highest quality standards in education and training in the field of healthcare management,” says Sherry Glied, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Mailman School of Public Health. “Because of this accreditation, our students now meet the eligibility requirements to apply for and obtain the most highly coveted fellowships and scholarships available.”

CAHME is committed to promoting, evaluating, and improving the quality of graduate healthcare management education in the United States and Canada. Through its partnership between academia and practice, CAHME serves universities and programs in a voluntary peer review process in order to continuously improve graduate education. In doing so, CAHME accreditation becomes the benchmark by which students and employers are able to determine the integrity of healthcare management education and establishes the standard of measurement for the community. Students entering a CAHME accredited program are assured of appropriate content, high standards of quality, and membership in a network of professional colleagues that transcends a particular university or professional association.

The accreditation process is designed to contribute directly to educational quality as well as to monitor that quality of service to the public who depend on health services. The process itself lasts about two years and includes an eligibility phase and a year- long self study with an in-depth consultant visit. The process concluded with a three-day site visit by the CAHME team.

About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 1000 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and more than 300 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences. www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu