Program Overview

Systematically ensuring the best possible care and outcomes

Though health care quality and safety are paramount concerns today, the emphasis on patient safety as a mission-oriented imperative has only been common in the last 25-30 years. Medical and surgical procedures are complex undertakings involving numerous care providers, advanced equipment and ever-present risks. Ensuring that every measure has been taken to do no harm is a continuous challenge requiring specific skills.

The Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Safety program equips clinicians and clinical administrators with the operational skills and leadership vision to direct effective quality improvement and safety initiatives within their own health care organizations. 

Master of Healthcare Quality and Safety program offers both a full-time one-year option and a part-time two-year option. The model of instruction consists of a blend of traditional coursework, intensive workshops, a longitudinal seminar series and a comprehensive capstone project.

Now complementing individual learning and development, this program provides students the choice of two separate educational pathways. Students will have the choice of a Quality and Safety Pathway or a Clinical Informatics Pathway. The program will offer both didactic and experiential learning with a curriculum designed to support the learning needs of clinicians, and administrators in safety, quality, clinical informatics, risk management and health leadership.

The Master of Healthcare Quality and Safety program focuses on five key areas of study:

  1. Operational Quality and Safety
  2. Informatics: Clinical Databases, Electronic Health Records and Patient Portals
  3. Leadership and Change Management
  4. Quantitative Approaches
  5. Risk Assessment and Communication

The curriculum is tailored to help clinicians improve patient safety and health care quality in an increasingly complex and evolving health care environment.

Graduates will be well-positioned to pursue leadership roles including:  

  • Assistant or Associate Quality Officer
  • Chief Medical Information Officer
  • Chief Quality Officer
  • Clinical Risk Manager
  • Digital Health Officer
  • Director of Medical Informatics
  • Director of Nursing Informatics
  • Director of Patient Relations and Risk
  • Director of Patient Safety
  • Director of Physician Engagement
  • Manager of Global Patient Safety, Quality and Compliance
  • Senior Patient Safety Specialist

New Specialized Pathways

To complement individual learning and development, the program provides students the choice of a Quality and Safety Pathway or a Clinical Informatics Pathway

Learn About Specialized Pathways

Admissions Info Sessions

Our admissions team will host online information sessions to answer questions about the admissions process, application requirements, program acceptance criteria and more.

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  • Program Objectives and Benefits

    Upon completion of the program, you will be able to:

    • Drive strategic change and foster a culture of quality and safety
    • Generate data-driven solutions to address operational challenges
    • Measure, interpret and communicate meaningful health care outcomes
    • Identify quality and safety gaps and develop strategies to address them
    • Use data to support rational and evidence-based improvements
    • Develop and implement quality improvement initiatives within a tight budget
    • Assess and improve health care processes through evidence-based best practices
    • Identify, design and implement malpractice prevention and intervention strategies

    Program Benefits

    • Curriculum designed to accelerate your ascent to a leadership role focused on health care quality and safety
    • Distinguished faculty who are recognized leaders in some of the nation’s most prestigious health care systems
    • A learning model that combines concrete theory with applied learning
    • An accomplished community of professional peers that you can call upon long after the program ends
    • A capstone project that is aligned with your goals and interests plus one-on-one mentoring
    • The carefully designed curriculum that focuses on all operational aspects of health care quality and safety
    • Exposure to best practices within the Harvard network of hospitals, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

The Program Learning Model

Dr. Anjala Tess explains the learning model.
Program Director Anjala Tess talks about the learning model

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Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership

A one-year certificate program that consists of three, multi-day workshops; dynamic live webinars and pre-recorded lectures; and team-based peer collaboration.

Learn More About Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership