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Syllabus

Master of Science in Health Informatics

HIN 620 – Database Design, Standards, Access, and Modeling – Fall 2018

Credits - 3

Description

This course explores in depth database basics such as the relational algebra and data model, schema normalization, query optimization, and transactions. The course addresses current needs in database design and use for optimized human-computer interaction, for rigorous security, and for robust modeling that can transform raw data into useful information. This course will also provide a deep exploration into data standards and what part that plays in the field of Informatics. Students will gain a solid understanding of, and extensive practice with, structured query language (SQL).

Materials

Textbook:

Murach, J. (2015). Murach’s MySQL Training and Reference (2nd ed.). Fresno, CA: Mike Murach & Associates, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-890774-82-0

Installation Guide:

MySQL Installation Guide

Installation of MySQL, MySQL Workbench, and student database files are required for this course. Note: You already completed these steps in HIN 620. Unless you need to reinstall MySQL or the student files, you can skip this step.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Program Outcome addressed by this course:

  • Apply core concepts of database design to facilitate managing the large amounts of data produced and captured in the healthcare setting

Course Outcomes:

  • Use MySQL to create a database – Week 1
  • Use MySQL to enter, run, open and save SQL statements – Week 1
  • Use various statements in SQL – Week 2
  • Code queries in SQL – Week 3
  • Design and Develop an SQL database – Week 4
  • Manipulate processes, variables and user privileges in SQL – Week 5
  • Create views in SQL – Week 6
  • Modify database to accommodate various users – Week 7
  • Discuss the seriousness of quality data and databases in healthcare – Week 8

Assignments

Please note that all times in the syllabus and in Blackboard refer to Eastern Time. The discussion board for each week will open at the start of the week for submissions.

Discussion Board Posts — These assignments will assess your ability to clearly and accurately apply concepts from your readings and from your own experiences. Each week you are expected to submit an initial post and comment on at least 2 other students’ posts. You need to follow APA guidelines for citing any sources you may reference in either your initial post or your response to others. Refer to the Discussion Rubric and discussion question for submission guidelines.

Initial post: You should submit your initial post by 11:59 p.m. ET Sunday. Your initial post should be approximately 500 words.

Response to others: You should comment on at least 2 other students’ posts by 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday. Your comments to others should be thorough, thoughtful, and they should offer some new content. Do not merely respond with “I agree” or “I disagree.” Engage directly with the ideas of your classmates and briefly mention which part of the post you are responding to.

MySQL Installation: (Note: You already completed the following steps in HIN 615. Unless you need to reinstall MySQL or the student files, you can skip this step.) As soon as possible in week 1, you will download MySQL (database server), MySQL Workbench (graphical interface) and student database files to your computer and submit screenshots to Blackboard to show the installation has been completed. This download is required to complete course assignments.

Key Assignments:

Hands-on Database Assignments: In weeks 1, 2, 3, and 5 you will use MySQL to complete exercises from the textbook. These assignments will enable you to directly apply your new database skills. It is recommended that you complete each assignment in the text immediately after reading the associated chapter. You will submit screencasts of the SQL scripts you create.

Diabetes Project: In the culminating assignment for this course, you will create a database to address an authentic problem in health informatics. This project will be completed in three parts and will enable you to demonstrate your database and structured query language skills. See assignment prompts in Blackboard for details.

Part 1: In week 4 you will research, design, and develop a database to track diabetic patients. See Diabetes Project Part 1 Rubric for submission standards.

Part 2: In week 6 you will create views (queries) in the database project you began in week 4. You will submit a screencast of the views along with the saved SQL statements. See Diabetes Project Part 2 Rubric for submission standards.

Part 3:  In week 7 you will modify your database to add different types of users. Once complete, you will create a screencast to present the database to a health board. 

Final Reflection  —  In week 8, you will write a 3-5 page APA formatted paper reflecting on databases in healthcare.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assessment ItemPossible PointsPercent of Total Grade
Discussion Boards (7 worth 4 points each)2828%
Hands-on Database Assignments (4 worth 5 points each)2020%
Diabetes Project Part 110 10%
Diabetes Project Part 21010%
Diabetes Project Part 31515%
Final Reflection1717%
Total100 points100%

Grade Scale

Grade Points Grade Point Average (GPA)
A 94 – 100% 4.00
A- 90 – 93% 3.75
B+ 87 – 89% 3.50
B 84 – 86% 3.00
B- 80 – 83% 2.75
C+ 77 – 79% 2.50
C 74 – 76% 2.00
C- 70 – 73% 1.75
D 64 – 69% 1.00
F 00 – 63% 0.00

Schedule

Course learning modules are divided into weeks. Each week starts on Wednesday at 12:00 am Eastern Time (ET) and closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday. All assignments must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET on the due date.

Course Schedule at a Glance

Learning Modules Topics Assignments and Due Dates

Week 1
10/24 – 10/31

 An Introduction to Relational Databases

Introductory Discussion
Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 10/28, responses by Wednesday 10/31

Installation of MySQL, Workbench, and Database files – As soon as possible (may have completed this already in HIN 615)

Hands-on Database Assignments – Wednesday 10/31
Week 2
10/31 – 11/7		 Using Queries to Extract Data

Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 11/4, responses by Wednesday 11/7

Hands-on Database Assignments – Wednesday 11/7
Week 3
11/7 – 11/14		 More SQL Skills

Discussion -Initial post by Sunday 11/11, responses by Wednesday 11/14

Hands-on Database Assignments – Wednesday 11/14
Week 4
11/14 – 11/21		 Database Development and Presentation

Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 11/18, responses by Wednesday 11/21

Diabetes Project Part 1 – Wednesday 11/21
Week 5
11/21 – 11/28		 Database Administration

Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 11/25, responses by Wednesday 11/28

Hands-on Database Assignments – Wednesday 11/28
Week 6
11/28 – 12/5		 Creating Views and Presentation

Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 12/2, responses by Wednesday 12/5

Diabetes Project Part 2 – Wednesday 12/5
Week 7
12/5 – 12/12		 Finishing touches and Final Database Presentation

Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 12/9, responses by Wednesday 12/12

Diabetes Project Part 3 – Wednesday 12/12
Week 8
12/12 – 12/16		 Final Reflection on Course

Final Reflection Paper – Sunday 12/16

Weekly Course Schedule

Week 1 – Health Informatics — An Introduction to Relational Databases

Learning Outcomes:

  • Use MySQL Workbench to enter, run, open, and save SQL statements and scripts
  • Use the SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements

Course Materials:

  • Read:

    Murach, J. (2015). Murach’s MySQL Training and Reference (2nd ed.). Fresno, CA: Mike Murach & Associates, Inc.

    • Chapters 4-5

    Please Note: There are assignments due from chapters 2 – 5 which are listed below in “Hands-on Database Assignments.” It is recommended that you complete each assignment as you get to them in the text.

    Slides to accompany textbook:

Assignments:

*You already completed this step in HIN 615. Unless you need to reinstall MySQL or the student files, you can skip this step.

MySQL Installation: Follow the instructions in the MySQL Installation Guide to install MySQL (database server) and MySQL Workbench (MySQL Graphical Interface). Once the MySQL and MySQL Workbench installation is complete, open MySQL Workbench to install the necessary database files needed for this course.

Installing database files:

Download the student files

Once the file has been downloaded, navigate to page 563, step 4, and follow the remaining steps in this section to complete the installation of the database files.

If Mac OS is being used for this course, navigate to page 573, step 4, and follow the remaining steps in this section to complete the installation of the database files.

MySQL Password Reset on a Mac instructions

Submit screenshots of MySQL Workbench to BlackBoard to show the installation has been completed (A list of databases that have been installed will show up in the bottom left hand corner of the ‘Management’ pane in MySQL Workbench).

Discussion: Class Member Introductions:

Please use this forum to introduce yourselves to your instructor and classmates. Briefly share your academic and professional backgrounds. What are you most interested in learning about during this course? What questions do you hope to have answered?

Discussion Question:

Watch the video, Relational Database Concepts, then using a database administrator mindset, walk us through a routine you do on a daily basis as it relates to a database. For example, when I withdraw money from an ATM, my card is used to look up my financial institution, then my PIN is verified against a database. Once the PIN verification is complete, the account balances are loaded from a database. Once the account balances are loaded, a SQL statement is used to determine how much I can withdraw since most institutions will impose a daily limit. If the daily limit minus the returned summed amount is greater than the transaction amount, I get the money. If not, my transaction will end without receiving any cash. Once the transaction is complete, the bank’s database is updated with the new balance. As you will discover, databases are part of lives!

Hands-on Database Assignments:

Complete the exercises in Chapter 2 beginning on page 70 to become familiar with MySQL and Workbench before working on this week’s assignments.

Complete the exercises below, following the instructions in the textbook (be sure to save each SQL by using the ‘Save Script As’ menu option):
 
Chapter 4: Complete the exercises beginning on page 146.
Chapter 5: Complete the exercises beginning on page 164.

Week 2 – Using Queries to Extract Data

Learning Outcomes:

  • Use various statements and data extraction functions in SQL.

Course Materials:

Read:

Murach, J. (2015). Murach’s MySQL Training and Reference (2nd ed.). Fresno, CA: Mike Murach & Associates, Inc.

  • Chapters 6-9

Please Note: There are assignments due from chapters 2 – 5 which are listed below in “Hands-on Database Assignments.” It is recommended that you complete each assignment as you get to them in the text.

Slides to accompany textbook:

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

Now that you have been exposed to SQL statements, you can have a little bit of fun creating SQL statements from your personal and/or professional lives. Using proper SQL format, write a SQL statement to describe an accomplishment, a feeling, or an event that you do not mind sharing with your colleagues.

Hands-on Database Assignments:

Do the following exercises, following the instructions in the textbook (be sure to save each SQL by using the ‘Save Script As’ menu option):

Chapter 6: Complete the exercises beginning on page 184.
Chapter 7: Complete the exercises beginning on page 212.
Chapter 8: Complete the exercises beginning on page 239.
Chapter 9: Complete the exercises beginning on page 272.

Week 3 – More SQL skills

Learning Outcomes:

  • Code queries in SQL

Course Materials:

Read:

Murach, J. (2015). Murach’s MySQL Training and Reference (2nd ed.). Fresno, CA: Mike Murach & Associates, Inc.

  • Chapters 10-12

Please Note: There are assignments associated with these chapters which are listed below in “Hands-on Database Assignments.” It is recommended that you complete each assignment as you get to them in the text.

Slides to accompany textbook:

Watch: Video explaining relational databases (5.5 minutes).

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

You have learned what relational databases are, and looked at how these databases can be used to collect and organize data in a central location through multiple tables and unique IDs. Now think about an instance when you wished you had all the information needed to complete a project in one location. Describe how you could organize this database. How many tables would it take to organize the information, and why? Would queries be used? If so, how and why?

Hands-on Database Assignments:

Do the following exercises, following the instructions in the textbook (be sure to save each SQL by using the ‘Save Script As’ menu option):

Chapter 10: Complete the exercises beginning on page 311.
Chapter 11: Complete the exercises beginning on page 351.
Chapter 12: Complete the exercises beginning on page 370.

Week 4 – Database Development and Presentation

Learning Outcomes:

  • Design and Develop an SQL database for use in further assignments.

Course Materials: Review materials from previous weeks and use the MySQL Reference Manual to assist with completing your assignments.

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

This week you will begin creating a database that you will add to in weeks 6 and 7. As you work through creating your database this week, use this space to seek advice from classmates or to offer help to others. By mid-week please post a short statement about how it is going for you. Are you encountering any problems? If so, what are they or what were they (if you have solved them)? If you aren’t encountering problems, what advice can you offer? Or can you comment on something interesting that you discovered as you worked on your database?

Diabetes Project Part 1:

In the culminating assignment for this course, you will create a database to address an authentic problem in health informatics. This project will be completed in three parts and will enable you to demonstrate your database and structured query language skills.

You have just been promoted to the position of HIT coordinator. In your new role, you have been asked to develop a diabetic registry using a database. The purpose of the diabetic registry is to provide a snapshot of the patients’ progress to providers an easy to read format. It will allow providers to determine if further intervention is needed for their patients. First, research diabetic registries to determine what data to capture and how to effectively monitor diabetic patients. After researching diabetic registries, develop and create a database with a minimum of three tables using a unique identifier as a link. For example, create a table for demographics, a table for glycemic control, a table for coronary risk factors, and a table for microvascular end-organ disease.

Once the database has been created, populate the tables with at least twenty (20) patients using various results for their labs. After data has been entered, use Screencast-O-Matic (or another screencasting tool) to present the database you created. During the presentation, describe how the tables are linked, what type of fields used in each table, e.g., date/time, numeric, text. Upload the screencast to YouTube, and submit the link in BlackBoard.

Week 5 – Database Administration

Learning Outcomes:

  • Use MySQL Workbench to kill processes and view status variables and system variables
  • View and manage log files
  • Create both admin and end users, and grant privileges to a user
  • Backup a database so that it can be restored to any point in time
  • Restore a database to any point in time
  • Create views, including read-only and updatable views

Course Materials:

Read:

Murach, J. (2015). Murach’s MySQL Training and Reference (2nd ed.). Fresno, CA: Mike Murach & Associates, Inc.

Slides to accompany textbook:

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

System administrators such as database administrators, network administrators, and server administrators use system logs to determine the cause of system errors, user account access (when a user accessed their account), or for general system maintenance. If you think about it, logs are part of our lives. For example, I use my phone to track my daily steps, workouts, etc… When have you looked back at any documentation to determine a trend, or use documentation to help remember specific events? Think of a time when documentation was used in either your personal or professional life to make a decision. Next, tell us if a database was used to track the data stored in these logs. If so, how? If not, explain how a database could be used to better organize these data.

Hands-on Database Assignments: Once the exercises are completed, upload the saved SQL scripts to BlackBoard.

Chapter 17: Complete the exercises beginning on page 490.
Chapter 18: Complete the exercises beginning on page 525.
Chapter 19: Complete the exercises beginning on page 557.

Week 6 – Creating Views and Presentation

Learning Outcomes:

  • Create views in database, including read-only and updatable views

Course Materials: Review materials from previous weeks to assist with completing your assignment.

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

Patient portals are often driven by databases through the use of views that have been created in a database. In fact, most portions of an EHR use views to display specific data for specific users. However, mistakes can be made, and the integrity of a database can become compromised if unauthorized personnel are able to access data that is confidential. Part of being a database administrator is to guarantee data is only available to those who are authorized to view it. Use the internet to research database breaches in the health field, then write a brief summary about the article you found. In the summary, discuss what could have been done to prevent unauthorized access.

Diabetes Project Part 2:

Using the database you developed in part 1, create a view in your database project to compare A1Cs between male and female patients. Next, create another view to display patients with an A1C of 6.5 or higher. Use Screencast-O-Matic (or another screencasting tool) to demonstrate the views that were created. Upload the screencast to YouTube and submit the link to the screencast along with the saved SQL statements used to create the views.

Week 7 – Finishing touches and Final Database Presentation

Learning Outcomes:

  • Modify database to add different types of users

Course Materials: Review materials from previous weeks to assist with completing your assignment.

Assignments:

Discussion Question:

User management is a requirement to ensure appropriate access is given to any system by managing what end users are able to access and modify. Without thinking about user management for an electronic system such as a database application, think about how users were managed before the use of electronic systems.

How did your place of employment (or a place you are familiar with) ensure information was accessible only by authorized personnel? If your place of employment is not currently using an electronic storage system, how are records stored, and how is access controlled?

Diabetes Project Part 3:

For the final part of your Diabetes Project, you will modify your database to add different types of users and create a screencast to present your diabetic registry database to a Health Board. Use the database you developed and create at least four (4) users with different access levels to the database. Of course, one of the users will be the root, or administrator, then create a user that can perform database backups, a user who can enter and modify data (but not delete data), and a user who can only access the views that were created last week.

Once the finishing touches have been completed, use Screencast-O-Matic (or another screencasting tool) to create a presentation to propose your database to a health board. Upload the presentation to YouTube and submit the link to the presentation along with a copy of the database backup.

Week 8 – Final Reflection

Learning Outcome:

  • Discuss the seriousness of quality data and databases in healthcare

Final Reflection Assignment: Using the knowledge and skills you have obtained throughout this course, write a 3-5 page APA formatted paper reflecting on databases in healthcare:

  • Discuss the importance of databases in healthcare
  • Discuss the importance of entering quality data and assigning appropriate privileges in databases
  • Discuss the applications used to access databases

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Questions? Visit the Student Support Health Informatics page

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Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

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