OU College of Law to offer new health care program for non-lawyers

The OU College of Law is launching a program designed for students wishing to learn about health care law without attending law school.

The master's of legal studies in health care law will be offered in fall 2017 as an online program that will provide graduate-level education regarding the legal and regulatory environment of health care industries, said Brian McCall, associate dean for Academic Affairs at the College of Law.

The 15-month long, 32-credit hour graduate program is comprised of 29 hours of online classes and three credits earned through both online and on-campus sessions at the OU Health Sciences Center campus, according to a press release from the College of Law.

The program presents a unique way of learning about law without law school, McCall said, and it is the third program of its kind at OU, joining Native American Law and Oil, Gas & Energy Law. 

The curriculum will focus on a general introduction to the health care system and the legal system, the structure of health care enterprises, coding and billing, fraud and abuse, and patient privacy rights, McCall said.

The program also includes its own version of a capstone course, in which students will complete simulated exercises in an investigative context, McCall said. The program is an important development of the university for people wanting to expand their educations and become better-qualified, McCall said.

McCall said in the wake of the Affordable Care Act debate, the program will allow students to learn about issues that will be relevant in the healthcare field.

“Even if the Affordable Care Act is replaced with something different, we will obviously respond in terms of what we teach to what the law is, but all of these same issues that are in our courses are going to be present. In many ways, it will make the degree even more important," McCall said.