HEALTH INFORMATICS CERTIFICATE
Contact: Xiaoming Zeng, 4340Q Health Sciences Building, 252-744-6176, zengx@ecu.edu
The certificate in health informatics will equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for employment and success in the emerging field of health informatics. The program is designed for health care workers who have no informatics training and for information technology workers who have no health care experience and may wish to seek employment in health care as health informaticians. The objective is to expand upon the student’s current knowledge skills to make them more capable and well trained in the field of health informatics. Students will acquire the knowledge and skills to work at the intersection of health care and information technology. In the case of current health care workers who have health care related degrees, exposure to certificate courses should increase their skill set for practice in an information intensive health care environment. For students with computer or information technology degrees, the certificate courses will expose them to the uniqueness and complexity of work processes in health care. Specifically, candidates who successfully complete the certificate should be able to understand how the U.S. health care system is organized, identify how health informatics improves health care effectiveness and efficiency, distinguish the roles of electronic health records, evaluation methods, e-Health, decision support and database systems as important information technologies for supporting health care decision making.
The Health Informatics Certificate is available to all students holding a baccalaureate degree. The certificate requires successful completion of 15 s.h. from the following COHE courses: COHE 6000, HIMA 5060, COHE 6410, COHE 6420, COHE 6430, COHE 6440, COHE 6450. Students who have not previously passed a graduate health care systems course must first complete COHE 6000 before taking any other course. HIMA 5060 is a co-requisite and should be taken before COHE 6410, 6420, 6430, 6440, or 6450. Certificate students may transfer credits to other graduate programs but acceptance into the certificate program does not guarantee acceptance into other programs and non-degree students can only apply 9 s.h. toward a graduate degree.
HIMA: Health Information Management
5060. Health Informatics (3) P: Consent of instructor. Informatics in health care delivery systems with focus on the clinical, public health, and consumer aspects.
COHE: Community Health
6000. Health Care Systems and Problems (3) P: Consent of instructor. Advanced study of contemporary health care problems. Evolution, philosophy, and present and future trends of our health care system. Emphasis on health policy and practices of community health service institutions and agencies.
6100. Community Health Administration (3) P: COHE 6000 or consent of instructor. Role and application of basic administrative theory and practice in health service institutions and agencies. Emphasis on public aspects of health service.
6300. Health Law (3) P: Consent of instructor. Process and substance of law related to organization and delivery of health services in the US. Recognition of legal issues arising in the practice of health administration, understanding of how legal system thinks, and effective communicate with lawyers practicing in health care field.
6410. Electronic Health Records (3) P/C: HIMA 5060 or consent of instructor. Principles of and approaches to EHR technology.
6420. Evaluation Methods in Health Informatics (3)P/C: HIMA 5060 or consent of instructor. Design, data collection, analysis and reporting of health information technologies.
6430. Database Systems in Health Care (3). P/C: HIMA 5060 or consent of instructor. Relational database theory and applications in health care. .
6440. E-Health Care Information Systems (3). P/C:HIMA 5060 or consent of instructor. Systematic analysis of electronic technologies in health care.
6450. Decision Support in Health Care (3). P/C: HIMA 5060 or consent of instructor. Theories and applications of decision science in health care.
6500, 6502. Independent Study (2,3) P: Approval of outline of study by student’s committee or advisor. Tutorial study or supervised research in contemporary health problems, programs, and educational methods.
6600. Management of Health Care Operations (3) P: COHE 6000. Focus on day-to-day operational aspects of managing health care organizations. Operational needs of various health care providers. Emphasis on legal, marketing, service, quality, and personnel issues.
6610. Financial Management of Health Care Organizations (3) P: COHE 6000; FINA 6144. Focus on acquisition, allocation, and management of financial resources within health care organizations. Emphasis on application of financial tools to unique problems of these organizations.
6620. Health Care Strategic Planning and Management (3) P: COHE 6600, 6610. Focus on methods for strategic planning and management health services organizations. Emphasis on techniques for determining strategies for unique services. Integrates strategy, structure, and administrative systems.
6971. Health Policy (3) Same as NURS 6971 Overview of health policy and legal issues related to delivery of health care. Emphasis on action, theory, and roles; strategies of power politics; legal foundations; and trends in policy formation with implications for health care administrators.
6990. Internship in Community Health (3) P: COHE 6000 or consent by the student’s advisor and the Department of Community Health. Professional learning experience in a work study program in community health settings. Supervised by experienced health professionals approved by Department of Community Health and student’s faculty advisor.
COHE Banked Courses
5460, 5461. Patient Education for Inter- 6400. Trends and Issues in Health Care (3)
disciplinary Health Care Providers (3,0) 6501. Independent Study (2)
6200. Community Health Education I: 6991. Internship in Community Health (3)
Concepts and Theories (3) 6992. Internship Project (1)
6201. Community Health Education II: 6993. Major Paper (4)Methods and Techniques (3) 6999. Thesis (4-6)
