Health Informatics

(Slashed with EMAT 41510) This course introduces students to the basic elements of project management as it relates to software development and the corporate environment. Although not formally endorsed by The Project Management Institute (www.PMI.org), the course will align with the project management lifecycle approach endorsed in The Project Management Book of Knowledge.

Prerequisite: HI 60401

Provides a practical survey of clinical decision support systems that collect clinical data and enable the transition to clinical knowledge in real world applications intended to improve quality and safety of patient care. Students become familiar with the basic requirements for clinical decision support systems and the challenges associated with the development and deployment of new applications within the healthcare setting.

Prerequisite: HI 60401

Designed to cover the process of change management in large healthcare organizations in light of current trends. Topics related to technology requirements, technology implementations, risk assessment and buy-in are among those covered.

Prerequisite: HI 60401, with a minimum grade of C

Provides a foundation for understanding research in health informatics with a focus on user and experience design research. Through lectures, readings, discussions and assignments, students review user research methods, data collection techniques and communication strategies within the healthcare context. Students then apply this knowledge to creating a research plan for assessing health information technology and communicating results to key organizational stakeholders.

This course uses a policy analysis lens to critically examine issues related to the use of information technology in healthcare from an ethical, political and regulatory perspective. The primary focus will be on the United States, but international approaches will also be discussed. Legislation affecting the health information technology area will be examined including the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, HITECH section; the Affordable Care Act; and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Topics and issues related to health informatics including the structure of health administrative and delivery systems, the assessment of population health, models of health care delivery, access and quality of care will also be discussed.

Public health informatics (PHI) is an emergent, interdisciplinary field that focuses on the systematic management and dynamic application of information resources to enhance public health practice, education and research. As an emerging subset of health informatics, PHI is practiced by individuals, government agencies and nongovernmental organizations at the international, national, regional, state and local levels. PHI deals with the collection and analysis of vital statistics data through surveillance; information creation; information storage and retrieval; visualization and graphics; dissemination; and the use of information for policy, decision-making and trend tracking. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introductory overview of the vast and dynamic field of PHI, including definitions, approaches, competencies, applications and informatics principles applied in public health settings.

(Repeatable for credit) Advanced research by students who are qualified to examine problems of certain special areas related to concentrations of study in health informatics.

Supervised work experience in health informatics of a professional nature of not less than 100 clock hours (for 2 credit hours) or 150 clock hours (for 3 credit hours) with directed preparation of a reflection paper. In-progress (IP) mark permissible. Satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) graded.

(Repeatable for credit). Offered irregularly as resources and/or opportunities permit. Topics could include current or emerging issues in health informatics. Specific topics are announced in the Schedule of Classes.

(Repeatable for credit). Research or individual investigation in areas not covered by the existing curriculum for master’s level students. A maximum of six credit hours may be applied to the Master of Science in Health Informatics degree. In-progress (IP) mark permissible.

This course covers an introduction to: historical roots for knowledge and knowledge management; theories/definitions of knowledge; theories, applications tools and practices of KM; knowledge management life-cycle framework and models; significant issues in KM—best practices, culture, economics, strategy, intellectual capital, sustainable innovation.

Introduction to business process management and workflow management. BPM will describe how organizational business processes (internal, external, manual and automated) can be transformed and managed to increase efficiency and effectiveness and positively affect performance. Topics include the discovery, analysis, modeling and automation of workflow processes.

Introduces students to the practical contexts, methods and tools associated with semantic analysis. Focuses on early life cycle aspects of semantics, including identification and modeling of semantic problems, design of semantic solutions, and the identification and implementation of appropriate semantic technologies. Covers natural language processing, rule-based and grammar-based concept extraction, rule-based and dynamic classification, and automated summarization. Students work with a variety of semantic technologies.

Introduction to the fundamental concepts and practices of information architecture (IA). Students develop practical skills for comparing, analyzing, critiquing and designing information architectures. Major topics include organization, navigation, labeling, search and other core IA concepts. Students learn to create blueprints, wireframes, process flows and other documents used to communicate an information architecture design.

Prerequisite: UXD 60001 and UXD 60002; and graduate standing.

Provides a conceptual and practical overview of the processes and methods of usability testing, such as Think Aloud protocols, performance measurements and eye-tracking analysis. Actual usability testing is performed, using quantitative and qualitative methods and employing current and emerging software tools to facilitate data collection and analysis.

Supervised work experience of an advanced professional nature that concentrates on developing skills in areas of health informatics and integrates students’ knowledge from all HI courses and experiences. Satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) graded. In-progress (IP) mark permissible. Students must have completed a minimum of 30 credit hours toward the health informatics major within the master of science degree.

Provides a means for the application of the knowledge, research and competencies learned through study in health informatics to the development of an information system, product, setting or service. Students must have completed a minimum 30 credit hours toward the MS-HI program prior to registration. Satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) graded.

Under the advisement of a faculty member, students will complete a research paper that serves as a capstone experience for the MS-HI degree. Cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required prior to enrolling in the course.

Satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) graded. Students must have completed a minimum of 30 credit hours toward the MS-HI program prior to registration.

Thesis students must register for a total of 6 hours, either in a single semester or distributed over several semesters with a minimum of 2 hours per semester, if desired. Satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) graded. Students must have completed a minimum 30 credit hours toward the MS-HI program

Kent State University is an affiliate of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association. (https://www.kent.edu/tusc/accreditation). While neither certification nor external accreditation are required to successfully work in health informatics, we are in the process of pursuing CAHIIM accreditation for the HI program and plan to apply in academic year 2022-2023. Students may also pursue certification after graduation; for more information about HIMSS certification, please visit: www.himss.org/health-it-certification.

The capstone experience is a course taken after completing at least 30 hours in the program. It is the final opportunity to meld together everything that you learned in the classroom and apply it in practice. You may take this course alone, or along with another final elective course.

A project is an independent or dependent activity completed to operationalize some aspect of HI. You may propose a project on your own, have a project assigned to you by your employer, or work on a project with a faculty member. A research paper is simply research on some aspect of HI that is of interest to you. You must have a thesis statement and the paper should prove or disprove the thesis through research. You may or may not be using human subjects. A research paper can also be a comprehensive and integrated literature review of a particular aspect of HI. An internship places you in an organization where you will receive education and training in the role of the HI specialist. You will be assigned a preceptor and will complete activities that help you integrate the concepts you learned in class. You will be eased into the role of the HI specialist.

All of the options require a log of completed hours (minimum 150) to be turned in at the end of the term and a 30-50-page paper summarizing the experiences, answering the research questions and explaining project deliverables. You will have a preceptor for each of the options. In some cases, you may have an on-site preceptor as well as a supervising faculty member.

It is optional. It is not required to obtain a position unless it is specified in the job description.

Depending upon what your final goal is, you may take electives from any area that is related to HI. You must have the approval of your academic advisor before registering for any elective not on the approved list.

It is not required to complete the capstone experience at Kent and we encourage you to do your capstone experience where you live or hope to live. If you wish us to arrange this for you, you need to make your academic advisor aware of this the semester prior to doing the capstone experience. With out-of-town capstone experiences, it may take up to two months to make arrangements.

If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident, all required application materials should be sent to the Division of Graduate Studies at gradapps@kent.edu or by mail to:

Division of Graduate Studies
Kent State University
Cartwright Hall
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242

Please be sure to include your full name and Kent State ID (9-digit number starting with 8) on all submitted documents. For questions, contact Graduate Admissions at +1 330-672-2661 or gradapps@kent.edu.

If you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident, all required documents should be submitted to the Office of Global Education at intladm@kent.edu or by mail to:

Office of Global Education
Kent State University
106 Van Campen Hall
625 Loop Rd.
Kent, OH 44242
USA

For questions, contact International Admissions at +1 330-672-7970 or intladm@kent.edu.