Wharton School’s Health Care Management Department (HCM) graduated its first class of MBA students with a Health Care Management specialization in 1971. The department led efforts to educate healthcare executives within the general management curriculum of a business school, breaking from the traditional public health and health administration models. A doctoral program was established in the mid-1980s, as well as an undergraduate concentration.
Today, the department is comprised of internationally renowned scholars who collaborate with medical, engineering, nursing, and other faculty from around the university. Healthcare executives, entrepreneurs, and other practitioners serve as part-time lecturers, and alumni serve as guest lecturers, recruit and mentor students, and provide access to business data and practices to faculty engaged in research projects.
The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) is Penn’s hub of health system-related research, policy analysis, and education. Its more than 200 Senior Fellows analyze the medical, economic, and social issues that influence how healthcare is organized, financed, and delivered across the U.S. Conferences include The Annual Wharton Health Care Business Conference and the Annual Wharton Health Care Alumni Conference.