Health Informatics
Course Descriptions

The purpose of this course is to review concepts of computer programming, specifically using Python programming language, and how to develop programs to solve practical problems. This course covers Python programming libraries and advanced programming techniques, especially in relation to data science oriented application development that have practical use in health care settings. The course will also cover various Python programming techniques to connect to diverse databases, manipulate, analyze and visualize health data.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:
Admission into the program or Program Chair’s permission

This course offers the fundamental principles, concepts, and technological elements that constitute the segments of health informatics and how technology can be applied in health care delivery. This course allows students to gain general perspectives from interdisciplinary and the competencies for graduate education in informatics. The topics covered in this course will include the definitions of informatics and related terms, computational systems thinking, information science and effective use of biomedical data, application of health information technology to healthcare, understanding of technological standards and informatics terminology, current issues in informatics, approach in problem-solving, and decision-making strategies. The knowledge and skills presented in this course will prepare students to progress to more advanced courses throughout the program curriculum. Students will engage in activities to explore the techniques in assessing current information practices, determining the information needs of health care professionals and patients, and effectively managing information using computer technology.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:
Admission into the program or Program Chair’s permission

Due to advancement and wide adoption of health information technologies, there is a proliferation of health-related data generated by various sources. Successfully capturing and storing these data in electronic format play a critical role in further health related application development and decision making. This course is an overview of the fundamentals of relational database design and management. This course covers topics in entity-relationship (ER) modeling, database architecture, functional dependencies and relational design, relational algebra for basic query structure, and query design. Special emphasis is on Structured Query Language (SQL), query processing and basic database application development using Oracle relational database management systems (RDBMS).

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5001- Computer Programming for Health Informatics and Data Science or Program Chair's permission

This course aims to impart a critical perspective of, and an empirical familiarity with, the range of methods available to researchers in the field of Medical Informatics. Beginning with a review of basic issues regarding the formulation of research questions, research design, data collection and analysis, this course will provide an opportunity for you to advance your understanding of research through critical exploration of research language, ethics, and approaches. The course introduces the language of research, ethical principles and challenges, and the elements of the research process within quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. Three themes will be explored: 1) the various advantages and disadvantages of each method, 2) when the use of one method is appropriate or inappropriate for the research question, and 3) how to evaluate researchers’ claims on the basis of the evidence they present. These themes will be explored by reading examples of each of these methods as you gain experience using them on a paper that explores a topic of their choice. Emphasis is placed on identification of the core validities relating to experimental design, use of control techniques for relevant (confounding) variables and the relation between design and statistical power. The purpose of this course is to build on basic research skills and concepts.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5100 Introduction to Health Informatics

This course aims to impart a critical perspective of, and an empirical familiarity with, the range of methods available to researchers in the field of Health Informatics. Beginning with a review of basic issues regarding the formulation of research questions, research design, data collection and analysis, this course will provide an opportunity for you to advance your understanding of research through critical exploration of research language, ethics, and approaches. The course introduces the language of research, ethical principles and challenges, and the elements of the research process within quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. Three themes will be explored: 1) the various advantages and disadvantages of each method, 2) when the use of one method is appropriate or inappropriate for the research question, and 3) how to evaluate researchers’ claims on the basis of the evidence they present. These themes will be explored by reading examples of each of these methods as you gain experience using them on a paper that explores a topic of their choice. Emphasis is placed on identification of the core validities relating to experimental design, use of control techniques for relevant (confounding) variables and the relation between design and statistical power. The purpose of this course is to build on basic research skills and concepts.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5100 Introduction to Health Informatics or Program Chair's permission

Timely sharing of accurate health information plays a key role in continuation of patient care and informed decision making in clinical settings. This course provides an in-depth overview of health information technology standards and terminologies that are essential for clinical data interoperability and exchange across diverse systems. Details of clinical data structure, relevant standards, terminologies, nomenclatures and ontologies, and clinical data interchange will be explored. Students will be also exposed to current and emergent standards such as  FHIR or HL7 and how these standards are applied to achieve integrated health data interoperability and information exchange in healthcare settings. An overview of healthcare information network architecture and security as it applies to HIPAA regulation will also be provided in this course.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:
Admission into the program or Program Chair’s permission

The master’s essay is the final required course for graduation that allows students to demonstrate analytical, presentation, and interpretive skills by integrating all they have learned, as well as by applying research methods and other informatics skills. Students are allowed to either write a master’s essay based on practical experience gained from clinical internship such as evaluation of a system for usability, workflow analysis, clinical decision support, evidence-based practice, comparing efficacy of various patient-centered applications, or some other studies that involve various issues related to healthcare information system, or small-scale original research. In either case, the collection of original empirical data is a requirement. The essay should be written in an academic format that is of journal quality.

The class time will consist of meetings initially to cover research and evaluation methods and then a final meeting at the end of the semester where students will present their work.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5112 – Medical Decision Making

HINF 5101- Database System Applications in Biomedicine

HINF 5111- Research Methods and Biostatistics

HINF 5202 Human Computer Interaction in Healthcare

Program Chair's permission

This course provides an overview of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Focusing on AI’s relevance in health informatics, this course will cover basic concepts, current applications, ethical considerations, and future trends. AI is beginning to transform healthcare and offers great promise to greatly enhance decision making and revolutionize treatment discovery. It also raises significant ethical concerns about accuracy, privacy and equity. The fundamental aim of this course is to enhance literacy in AI within the healthcare sector, an essential competency for future professional advancements and innovations in this rapidly evolving field.

This course is an overview of theoretical, development, design and assessment models and techniques in the field of human-computer interaction, user-interface design, utilizing an interdisciplinary approach (computer science, psychology, cognitive science and artificial intelligence). Students will have the opportunity to learn the fundamental principles of human-computer interaction and learn how to apply them to real world problems through class projects, homework and design activities. The focus is on learning how to characterize and evaluate information technologies from a human-centered perspective.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5100 Introduction to Health Informatics
HINF 5205- Healthcare Information System or instructor’s permission

This course provides conceptual and practical knowledge of the healthcare information systems (HCIS), emphasizing the implementation of electronic health record systems (EHRs), infrastructures, evaluation methods, and maintenance approaches in diverse healthcare delivery settings. The breadth of material covered in this course includes reviewing and analyzing the EHRs project planning, vendor selection, design, implementation, maintenance, associated clinical information system components, health information exchange and regulatory provisions, application of decision support systems, and interface methods standards. Also, students will engage in practical clinical workflow analysis, evaluation methods, and provision of different healthcare users’ roles in the EHR implementation. The course will highlight leadership concepts and communication models in EHR systems operations.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5100 Introduction to Health Informatics
or Program Chair's permission

The clinical internship course exposes students to the practice of health informatics in commercial, research, clinical and medical settings. This course consists of 60 clock hours of clinical internship, which is required for the program. This course is designed to prepare students to meet the challenges of integrating computer systems into the  framework of hospital administration, patient care and medical practice. Students evaluate healthcare information systems and their integration in the clinical facility. 

Students will review the types, use, integration, and clinical value of healthcare information systems at an assigned clinical facility. Student assigned to a clinical site will devise evaluation criteria and tools, interview stakeholders, evaluate system interfaces, and analyze the integration of the systems in the overall patient care effort of the clinical facility.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: 
Completion of at least 18 credit hours in the program or permission of the Program Chair

This foundational course introduces the US health care system, its historical roots, current features, and evolving changes. This course will explore the health status and needs of national and local populations. The organization, financing, and quality of US health care for specific groups will be a focus. Students will also explore the legal and ethical issues for healthcare institutions and for providers. A focus of discussion will be the emerging roles and skills needed for models of care.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: None

The role of the patient and consumer as a full partner in health promotion and disease management has never been of greater importance in the wake of the pandemic. Consumer health informatics (CHI) is the branch of medical informatics that: a) analyses consumer needs for information, b) studies of making information accessible to consumers and c) models and integrates consumers’ preferences into health information systems and a broad-range of patient applications. A central tenet of consumer health informatics is that although not all patients will participate, patients participating in their health care leads to higher quality care than that which is achievable without patient participation. In this course, students will become familiar with a range of CHI applications across platforms. The course emphasizes a multi-disciplinary and user-centered approach for designing eHealth interventions using theories and principles from communication, information science, human-computer interaction, medicine, psychology, and public health. Students will also learn to assess the needs and technology practices of potential users, with a particular focus on groups that experience health disparities.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5100 Introduction to Health Informatics

Due to advancement and wide adoption of health information technologies, there is a proliferation of sources of biomedical and health related large data in electronic format. Timely and efficient processing of these data, and accurate interpretation and representation of analysis results play critical roles in health related decision making. The purpose of this course is to prepare students in identifying, collecting and analyzing big data in healthcare setting.  The course will explore the role of analysts and analytics in healthcare organizations.  The course is designed to provide students hands-on use of analytical tools for data extraction and analysis. This course will also introduce students to the various data collection and processing methods in the delivery of meaningful data from patients to healthcare providers, administrators, etc. The course will begin with introduction to “big data” and then focus on how big data helps in informing healthcare analytics in ways not possible before.  The course will also emphasize on diverse sources and uses of health related big data, various data types, classification procedures, and basic applied statistical methods and procedures commonly used in health related data analysis. Students will use software such as SAS, Tableau, or R to gain hands on experience in data acquisition, analysis, and reporting.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:  HINF 5100  Introduction to Health Informatics
HINF 5101 Database System Applications in Biomedicine or Program Chair's permission

This course focuses on the science of data visualization with the art of graphic design using Tableau to help communicate complex information effectively. It gives students the ability to articulate the theory, principles, methods, and techniques in data visualization while acquiring the visualization knowledge needed to solve real-world health problems. Students will be exposed to best practices on transforming data sets into visual graphics such as charts, bar graphs, scatter plots, and heatmaps and learning storytelling in presenting complex data to different audiences, which empowers decision-making. Through several hands-on activities, students will explore the different types of data presentations that provide insights to the users. Industry-level data visualization software such as Tableau will be used throughout the semester for the hands-on exercises.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:  HINF 5100  Introduction to Health Informatics
HINF 5101 Database System Applications in Biomedicine or Program Chair's permission

Recent advancements in integrating health information technology (HIT) to transform healthcare delivery require a unique approach for the management and administration of health information technology and informatics projects. To prepare students for such challenging integrated project management and seamless operation of healthcare, this course covers an overview of knowledge areas and tools necessary for successful management and completion of HIT related projects. Starting from project pre-initiation and selection process, this course also stresses on the life cycle of health care information technology (HIT) projects and how to apply appropriate knowledge areas during various phrases of HIT project's life cycle while ensuring seamless operation of healthcare services. Students will learn relevant topics necessary to understand healthcare information systems and their design, integration and implementation in clinical practice. Students are expected to complete a semester long team project relevant to HIT.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:  HINF 5100  Introduction to Health Informatics
HINF 5101 Database System Applications in Biomedicine

GIS provides an effective way to visualize, organize and manage a wide variety of information including administrative and medical data, social services, and patient data as it relates to population health. Public health agencies are also using GIS to map health-related events, identify disease clusters, investigate environmental health problems, and understand the spread of communicable and infectious disease. This course focuses on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and its various applications in public health domain. This course uses a hands-on approach for teaching GIS in health care by focusing on how to use GIS software in the context of carrying out projects for visualizing and analyzing population health related data. Each week’s activities include a lecture and hands-on tutorial that focuses on a health care issue which uses the software to analyze data or solve a problem. Through weekly assignments, project, and case studies, students will not only learn how to use the software but will also learn the many distinctive advantages of using GIS for public health related decision making and planning.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES: HINF 5100 Introduction to Health Informatics
HINF 5101 Database System Applications in Biomedicine

This course provides a timely way to explore cutting edge topics of interest to students and faculty. The varying content may include topics such as: artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, data mining and machine learning, cyber security, emerging topics in public health surveillance systems, imaging informatics, telehealth, mHealth, or any other informatics-related emerging topics. This course will have an in-depth exploration of at least one selected topic and a team-based project. Topics may vary from year to year course offering depending on availability of instructor and/or required resources.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:   
HINF 5100 Introduction to Health Informatics
HINF 5001 Computer Programming for Health Informatics and Data Science
Or Program Chair's permission for Postbaccalaureate Certificate students

This is a project-based independent study course which requires the completion of a project assigned and supervised by an assigned instructor(s). The project may vary from term to term depending on the mutual interest of a student and supervisor instructor. End product of the course will be a project portfolio or a research paper.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES/COREQUISITES:   Program Chair's permission

Note: In addition to this course, students must also take HINF 5103 or HINF 5209 o fulfill elective requirement