Health Informatics
Mission
The Bachelors of Science in Health Informatics program ensures that all graduates are fully prepared for a career in health informatics using technology to improve the patient experience of care, to improve the health of populations, and to reduce the cost of health care for all.
Major Description
The Bachelor of Science in Health Informatics offers undergraduate students the foundation and theories they will need to use advances in technology to improve health and healthcare knowledge, practice, and outcomes. Students will develop expertise and insight in many areas, including healthcare quality, database management, project management, leadership, and finance. Students will apply these skills in a cumulative practical experience at the end of their program.
The Bachelor in Health Informatics is a degree-completion program comprising the equivalent of 60 credit hours delivered in a Competency-Based Education format. To be eligible for admission to the program, students must have completed 60 credit hours, either in individual credits or a conferred associate or baccalaureate degree, including 20 credit hours of general education coursework. The program consists of 120 competencies designed to comprehensively prepare students for a career in Health Informatics by teaching the skills at the core of health informatics as well as a deep understanding of the processes and theories underlying those skills. Students earn one-half credit hour upon completion of each competency, culminating in the completion of the bachelor’s degree. Students must demonstrate mastery of each competency in order to earn their degree.
Curricular Requirements
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The Healthcare Landscape |
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301.1 |
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Define key historic influences on healthcare delivery and the impact that has on the evolution of healthcare today. |
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301.2 |
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Summarize major moments in the historical formation, and the current organization, of health institutions and of the overall health system in the US. |
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301.3 |
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Outline the impact of laws, regulation and accreditation on the American healthcare system |
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301.4 |
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Examine and differentiate between the disciplines of public health and population health |
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301.5 |
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Summarize the needs of underserved populations |
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301.6 |
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Describe current trends in healthcare delivery to include value-based purchasing, nationwide interoperability, telehealth and patient engagement |
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Introduction to Health Informatics |
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| 302.1 |
| Summarize the history and theories of Health Informatics |
| 302.2 |
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Describe the elements of health informatics history |
| 302.3 |
| Articulate understanding of technology applications commonly used in healthcare |
| 302.4 |
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Research and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the major components of Electronic Health Records (EHR) |
| 302.5 |
| Describe the concept of consumer informatics and the impact they have on consumers |
| 302.6 |
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Describe the professional organizations and disciplines central to Health Informatics |
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Health Information Technology |
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| 303.1 |
| Explain the function of basic computer hardware components |
| 303.2 |
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Describe the different types of software and operating systems commonly used in healthcare |
| 303.3 |
| Describe the structure and function of computer networks, especially those used in delivering health care |
| 303.4 |
| Describe the relationships between the internet and the World Wide Web, also considering HTTP and HTML |
| 303.5 |
| Define what a database is, explain what querying languages are, and identify commonly used database systems |
| 303.6 |
| Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of common ways computers are used to support collaboration, networking, and information exchange in health care |
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Healthcare Quality, Pro-CSS Improvement and the Triple Aim |
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| 304.1 |
| Outline the history and fundamental concepts of healthcare quality and measurements in different healthcare settings |
| 304.2 |
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Assess findings from quality reviews of reported events to design and implement system improvements through root cause analysis |
| 304.3 |
| Prepare examples of performance improvement concepts, including tools like LEAN, process mapping and gap analysis work |
| 304.4 |
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Critically analyze the workflow processes in a selected healthcare setting to determine their effectiveness |
| 304.5 |
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Debates the advantages, disadvantages, and efficacy of common quality improvement concepts and the role of public policy as a driver of improvement including financial incentives in public reporting |
| 304.6 |
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Propose ways which quality improvement methods, tools and Health IT can be applied to improve health outcomes as directed by the Triple Aim |
Database Systems |
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| 305.1 |
| Identify basic concepts of data, databases, and data management. |
| 305.2 |
| Constructs a relational model of data. |
| 305.3 |
| Acquire basic comprehension of SQL concepts. |
| 305.4 |
| Describe appropriate strategies to normalize data. |
| 305.5 |
| Demonstrates an understanding of the concepts involved analytical processing. |
| 305.6 |
| Provide examples of storage technologies. |
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Data Management |
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| 306.1 |
| Analyze information needs of customers across healthcare organizations |
| 306.2 |
| Analyze the relationship between healthcare applications and clinical classifications and coding |
| 306.3 |
| Apply knowledge of dictionary interconnectivity meet organizational needs |
| 306.4 |
| Propose clinical indices/databases/registries |
| 306.5 |
| Analyze the importance of data governance to facilitate and manage the quality of your organization's health data |
| 306.6 |
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Advocate for the operability and exchange of health information |
Healthcare Law and Policy |
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| 307.1 |
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Discuss laws and regulations applicable to healthcare |
| 307.2 |
| Analyze legal concepts and principles to the practice of HIM |
| 307.3 |
| Appraise current laws and standards related to health information initiatives |
| 307.4 |
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Summarize the fundamental elements of a Corporate compliance program |
| 307.5 |
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Compare and contrast the effects policy-making has had on domestic and global healthcare delivery systems |
| 307.6 |
| Comply with ethical standards of practice |
Statistics for Health Informatics |
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| 308.1 |
| Apply fundamental statistical concepts and application in healthcare today |
| 308.2 |
| Demonstrate examples of a variety of statistical methods |
| 308.3 |
| Explain how to organize, manage and present data |
| 308.4 |
| Produce and interpret graphical summaries of data |
| 308.5 |
| Give examples of the properties of the normal curve |
| 308.6 |
| Illustrate the relationship between two quantitative variables |
Health IT Security and Privacy |
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| 309.1 |
| Analyze privacy, security and confidentiality policies and procedures for internal and external use and exchange of health information |
| 309.2 |
| Distinguish the security and privacy implications specific to mobile health technologies |
| 309.3 |
| Recommend elements included in the design of audit trails and data quality monitoring programs |
| 309.4 |
| Collaborate in the design and implementation of risk assessment, contingency planning, and data recovery procedures |
| 309.5 |
| Create policies and procedures to manage access and disclosure of personal health information & Protect electronic health information through confidentiality and security measures, policies and procedures |
| 309.6 |
| Develop educational programs for employees in privacy, security, and confidentiality |
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Networking, Web Architecture and Health Information Exchanges |
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| 310.1 |
| Identifies the basic concepts and principles of networking systems in healthcare |
| 310.2 |
| Create examples of effective web architecture |
| 310.3 |
| Outline the technology fundamentals of how Health Information exchanges pass information from one system to another |
| 310.4 |
| List and explain the standard languages used to successfully transmit healthcare data to another entity |
| 310.5 |
| Construct a debate on the Legal and ethical dilemma is exchanging data. Who's data is it anyway? |
| 310.6 |
| Summarize the Challenges and Barriers to a HIN |
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Usability and Human Factors |
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| 401.1 |
| Articulate a systems approach to usability and human factors as it applies to health information technology. |
| 401.2 |
| Identify the consequences of suboptimal design in the delivery of healthcare. |
| 401.3 |
| Apply methods of cognitive research, sources of usability evidence, and principles of user-centered design to decisions regarding systems evaluation, technology evaluation, and iterative design, given a population of users. |
| 401.4 |
| Demonstrate concept knowledge of cognition and human performance models in their relevance to systems evaluation methods. |
| 401.5 |
| Apply principles of usability and design to critiquing ER systems and to making recommendations for iterative improvement. |
| 401.6 |
| Describe the impact of usability concepts on mobile and ubiquitous computer in healthcare. |
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Consumer, Mobile and Public Health Informatics |
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| 402.1 |
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Apply knowledge of basic concepts of Consumer Health Informatics (CHI) |
| 402.2 |
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Analyze how CHI application meets needs for a chosen healthcare domain. |
| 402.3 |
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Analyze the Design and Usability of currently available Consumer Health Applications |
| 402.4 |
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Analyze the relationship between big data and social media-based consumer healthcare applications, and its effect on healthcare consumers. |
| 402.5 |
| Defend the rationale for moving forward with mobile technology and the impact on those with limited access to technology |
| 402.6 |
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Create a model for future technology to improve the healthcare consumer applications currently available to consumers |
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Evidence-Based Practice and Decision Support |
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| 403.1 |
| Examine the foundation between of evidence-based practice and how informatics contributes to health care decision making |
| 403.2 |
| Describe how informatics techniques facilitate healthcare decision-making. |
| 403.3 |
| Extract healthcare data to support evidence-based practice decision making. |
| 403.4 |
| Evaluate administrative reports using appropriate software |
| 403.5 |
| Evaluate analytical results to facilitate decision-making |
| 403.6 |
| Select data and research to support decision making using evidence-based healthcare, clinical practice guidelines and/or standards of care. |
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Leadership Roles |
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| 404.1 |
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Choose between leadership styles using contemporary leadership theory and principles |
| 404.2 |
| Apply personnel management skills |
| 404.3 |
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Engage in effective professional communication |
| 404.4 |
| Demonstrate effective negotiating and use influencing skills |
| 404.5 |
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Use team and leadership theory to fix teams from within |
| 404.6 |
| Develop and build effective teams |
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Healthcare Finance |
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| 405.1 |
| Comprehend concepts of financial information and how decisions and strategy are based on analysis |
| 405.2 |
| Apply concepts of the complex payer system in US healthcare |
| 405.3 |
| Demonstrate understanding of basic accounting concepts |
| 405.4 |
| Explain healthcare purchasing concepts |
| 405.5 |
| Deconstruct the details of healthcare expense management |
| 405.6 |
| Summarize the legal and regulatory requirements of healthcare finance |
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Information System Lifecycle |
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| 406.1 |
| Analyze the technology needs of an organization |
| 406.2 |
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Select an effective technology tool using industry standards |
| 406.3 |
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Customize processes involving the tool to fit organizational needs |
| 406.4 |
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Support and maintain technology solutions in healthcare |
| 406.5 |
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Analyze the effectiveness of the technology by testing and evaluating processes |
| 406.6 |
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Create and communicate an effective training program |
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Data Analytics and Visualization |
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| 407.1 |
| Describe the limitations of datasets |
| 407.2 |
| Create, manipulate and analyze healthcare datasets |
| 407.3 |
| Translate clinical outcome data into graphical representations |
| 407.4 |
| Create visual communication of data and information (e.g... Tableau) |
| 407.5 |
| Illustrate how Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are used in understanding population health |
| 407.6 |
| Educate consumers on patient-centered health information technologies |
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Strategic and Organizational Management |
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| 408.1 |
| Identify the different types of organizations, services, and personnel and their interrelationships across the health care delivery system |
| 408.2 |
| Apply general principles of management in the administration of health information services |
| 408.3 |
| Facilitate the use of enterprise-wide information assets to support organizational strategies and objectives |
| 408.4 |
| Identify departmental and organizational survey readiness for accreditation, licensing and/or certification processes |
| 408.5 |
| Implement a departmental strategic plan |
| 408.6 |
| Collaborate in the development and implementation of information governance initiatives |
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Project Management |
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| 409.1 |
| Propose a project and identify tools used in project management |
| 409.2 |
| Demonstrate workflow concepts |
| 409.3 |
| Survey the effectiveness of differing project management strategies |
| 409.4 |
| Construct performance management measures |
| 409.5 |
| Analyze workflow processes and responsibilities to meet organizational needs |
| 409.6 |
| Evaluate project management techniques to ensure efficient workflow and outcomes |
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Informatics Practicum |
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| 410.1 |
| TBD |
| 410.2 |
| TBD |
| 410.3 |
| TBD |
| 410.4 |
| TBD |
| 410.5 |
| TBD |
| 410.6 |
| TBD |
Academic and Technical Standards
All students must pass all 120 competencies outlined in the program to be considered for graduation. Students complete 100% of their work online utilizing the Motivis Learning Management System (LMS).