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Health Care Informatics Concentration

  • Credits:
    16

Concentration Description

The Health Care Informatics concentration addresses key area of expertise in the emerging field of health care informatics including the fundamentals of health information systems and software, project management, and data, knowledge and information management.  A required field work project enables students to demonstrate their skills in a work setting. Work experience in health care or information technology is required to enter this program as it builds on the student’s prior knowledge. Faculty members are practitioners who work in the health care informatics field and introduce students to current trends and best practices in the field.

Learning Outcomes

In addition to the broad management skills and current practices gained from the degree program, students will:

  • Gain an understanding of the fundamentals of computer information systems and systems analysis
  • Become familiar with health information systems and software
  • Obtain skills in project management
  • Acquire the ability to work with data, knowledge and information in a health care setting
  • Gain the ability to support successful informatics initiatives within their organizations

Careers

Graduates are trained for advancement into supervisory and management positions in business, non-profit and government organizations. They will be poised to work as practice workflow re-engineers, clinician/practitioner consultants, EMR implementation and support specialists, and health information technology project managers in the full range of health care organizations and facilities. Management career opportunities include jobs in:

  • IT Management
  • Business Management
  • Project Management
  • Systems Analysis
  • Health Care Organizations and Facilities

Curriculum

Required Courses
16
Credits
Information Systems in the Organization
MMG 522 • 3 credit(s)
This course provides an overview of computer information systems. Students will be presented with the core information systems principles, offered an overview of the information systems discipline and will learn about the changing role of the information systems professional. This course will enable students, regardless of their field, to understand and use fundamental information systems principles so that they can function more efficiently and effectively as workers, managers, decision makers and organizational leaders.
Health Care Information Systems
MHC 730 • 3 credit(s)
Prerequisite: MHC 522. This course includes an overview of the health care information technology system as well as clinical information systems devoted to the direct management of the patient. It provides guidance for implementing, managing, and accessing clinical information systems in various health care settings. Discusses medical records, resource management and security, the importance of disaster planning, standards and regulatory issues as related to informatics. Also examines the current state and future of health care informatics, including tele-medicine and emerging technologies, and explores the new technology creation and adoption processes and the impact of rapidly evolving technologies in the health care arena.
Life Cycle of Information Systems in Health Care Informatics
MHC 732 • 3 credit(s)
Prerequisite: MHC 522, MHC 730. This course helps health care professionals understand the life-cycle of an information system and view it as a continuous process while maintaining the underlying support for the system. The course provides the tools needed to select a health information system based upon identified criteria in an individual health care agency and includes strategic planning, analysis, design and implementation, as well as testing and evaluation of the system.
Data, Knowledge and Information Management in Health Care Informatics.
MHC 733 • 3 credit(s)
Pre-requisite: MHC 522, MHC 730. The purpose of the course is to help health care professionals transform data into useful information for decision-making. This information is then utilized to support administrative and clinical decision-making. Course content will include the process of decision-making, securing the right information, human factors that affect the use of information, information classifications, and the human-computer interaction in health care organizations.
Project Management Concepts and Practices
MMG 710 • 3 credit(s)
In this course, students will learn how to use the concepts, tools and techniques of project management in order to successfully manage system development projects. System development project failures are generally failures of management, not failures of technology. Good management, along with an understanding of the appropriate use of technology, is therefore essential. Students will learn, in particular, how to apply the concepts, tools and techniques of project management in today's dynamic, digital business environment, where projects must be brought to completion under increasingly compressed timeframes and where decisions must be made under conditions of uncertainty.
Health Care Informatics: Fieldwork
MHC 735 • 1 credit(s)
Prerequisite: all concentration courses. The field work requirement provides the student with hands-on experience in a health care informatics setting. Students will be expected to complete an informatics project at a health care agency involving a total of 40 - 50 hours over a semester with an agency preceptor and under the guidance of a faculty advisor.
Download Program Sheet