Why Study / Key Benefits

The Postgraduate Diploma in Health Service Management (PGDipHSM) is designed for people already working in the health or disability sector who want to develop advanced knowledge and skills for health service management and leadership roles. Massey describes the qualification as particularly relevant to managers, clinical leaders, and applicants with significant management experience in another sector who want to move towards health-service management.

Key benefits include:

• Develop advanced understanding of health systems management, health policy, economics, information management and health informatics/digital health.
• Examine contemporary issues affecting the efficient and effective delivery of health services.
• Learn tools and approaches for addressing health-service management challenges.
• Develop written and oral communication skills for presenting and communicating findings clearly.
• Build independent-working and teamwork skills relevant to healthcare organisations.
• Gain an international perspective on health-sector management, with learning applicable beyond New Zealand.
• The programme is research-led and industry-focused, drawing on staff expertise across medicine, nursing, health informatics, management and policy development.
• Courses may contribute to continuing-competence educational requirements for medical and nursing health professional groups where applicable under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003.

Programme Structure and Subjects / Topics

The qualification consists of 120 credits:

• Core courses: 60 credits
• Electives from Schedule B: 60 credits

Schedule A – Core courses

Students choose 60 credits from the following:

• 152742 Health Systems Management – 30 credits
  Examines and critically analyses healthcare systems in New Zealand and selected other countries from a management perspective.
• 157701 Health Information Management – 30 credits
  Focuses on management of information and information systems relevant to planning and delivering high-quality healthcare.

Schedule B – Elective courses

Students choose 60 credits from the approved electives, including:

• 152707 Leading and Changing Organisations – 30 credits
  Leadership practices, methods and frameworks for organisational change.
• 152743 Health Law and Policy – 30 credits
  Examines the relationship between health law and health policy, including practical healthcare dilemmas.
• 152746 Contemporary Issues in Health Service Management – 30 credits
  Examines issues affecting efficient and effective health-service delivery.
• 168711 Health Research Design and Method – 30 credits
  Covers philosophical, ethical and methodological issues in health research and selected quantitative and qualitative methods.
• 178718 Health Economics – 30 credits
  Covers healthcare economics, demand and supply, organisation of healthcare, hospital behaviour, cost-benefit analysis, public/private provision and contemporary health-policy issues.

Disciplines / Specialisations

The PGDipHSM is awarded without a specialisation. This is explicitly stated in the current qualification regulations.

The programme's academic areas include:

• Health systems management
• Health information management
• Health informatics/digital health
• Health policy
• Health law
• Health economics
• Health-service leadership and organisational change
• Health research methods
• Contemporary health-service management.

Programme Highlights

Key programme features include:

• NZQF Level 8 postgraduate qualification.
• 120-credit structure.
• One-year full-time completion option.
• Part-time study available.
• Distance and online delivery.
• International students can study online from outside New Zealand.
• Strong focus on management within health and disability services.
• Coverage of health systems, information management, policy, economics and contemporary health-service issues.
• Research-informed teaching involving expertise from health, management, informatics and policy disciplines.
• Potential progression to the Master of Health Service Management.
• A B- grade average in the PGDipHSM can support an application for credit towards the master's qualification.

Career Outcomes

The qualification is aimed particularly at management and clinical-leadership careers within the health sector.

Potential areas identified by Massey include:

• General health-service management
• Human resources management
• Operations management
• Logistics
• Digital health
• Health information technology
• Clinical leadership
• Medical leadership
• Nursing leadership
• Pharmacy leadership
• Allied-health leadership
• Management roles in health organisations
• Roles within primary health organisations
• Roles within non-government organisations.

Latest Updates / Special Requirements

The most important current requirements and considerations are:

• The programme remains listed as a current Massey qualification in 2026.
• It is NZQF Level 8 and requires 120 credits.
• Current delivery is distance and online.
• International students can study online from outside New Zealand.
• A relevant bachelor's degree or equivalent is required.
• Applicants must be working in the health industry; the regulations refer more broadly to health and/or disability sectors.
• There is no specialisation attached to the diploma.
• Official academic transcripts from other universities must be provided.
• The programme can potentially lead into the Master of Health Service Management, subject to achieving the required B- average.