Students may take this course and Bus 40206 (Healthcare Business Analytics) either concurrently or sequentially in any order. These courses are organized similarly to typical college-level science courses, with both a lecture component (Bus 40206) and a lab component (Bus 40721). Thus, students who take both receive the complete educational experience, but students may also choose to take only one. Students in Bus 40206 receive foundational learning in the healthcare industry through the lens of business analyses using data, as well as training in conducting business analyses in an interface that does not require prior coding or data analysis experience. Students in both courses use Data Science Studio (DSS) by Dataiku, while students who take Bus 40721 also use Tableau to create data visualizations.
Students who choose to take Bus 40721 without having had Bus 40206 will need to complete trainings in both DSS and Tableau. Typically, teams include at least some members who have taken Bus 40206, and thus they are able to share any material from that course that is directly relevant to the project with other team members. Students who choose to take Bus 40206 without taking Bus 40721 will not benefit from reinforcing and applying their learnings to a real-world project and sponsor. Students who take both courses will benefit from having a broad understanding of how business analyses are conducted in the healthcare industry, and how their lab project fits into the broader industry landscape. They will be fully prepared to conduct business analyses in the healthcare industry from day one of employment as a consultant, analyst, or manager.
Depending on the project students are assigned to, other courses may be helpful. Some projects require only basic statistics, but others require more advanced statistics at the level of Bus 41201 (Big Data), Bus 41100 (Applied Regression Analysis), or Bus 41204 (Machine Learning). For some projects, it is helpful to have a background in operations management (Bus 40000) and/or cost accounting (Bus 30001). Occasionally, a project uses concepts covered in Bus 36106 (Managerial Decision Modeling). Programming experience at the level of Bus 32100 (Data Analysis in R and Python) is helpful but not required. Not every student is required to have all of these recommended pre/co-requisites. Teams will be comprised of members having a variety of complementary skills and backgrounds.
Students should also be prepared to work collaboratively within a highly energized, self-managed work team, and be interested in developing their personal skills around team and individual behavior.
