Syllabus

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 1/2 – 1/9	Overview of US Health Care Delivery System	Introductory Discussion Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 1/6, responses by Wednesday 1/9 RefWorks – Wednesday 1/9
Week 2 1/9 – 1/16	Health Systems Foundations	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 1/13, responses by Wednesday 1/16 Slide Presentation – Wednesday 1/16
Week 3 1/16 – 1/23	Health System Finance	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 1/20, responses by Wednesday 1/23 Data Visualization – Wednesday 1/23 Topic and Research Question – Wednesday 1/23
Week 4 1/23 – 1/30	Health Systems Processes I	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 1/27, responses by Wednesday 1/30 Annotated Bibliography – Wednesday 1/30
Week 5 1/30 – 2/6	Health Systems Processes II	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 2/3, responses by Wednesday 2/6 Research Paper Outline or Mind-map – Wednesday 2/6
Week 6 2/6 – 2/13	Survey of Health Informatics I	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 2/10, responses by Wednesday 2/13 No additional assignments due, work on final project research paper
Week 7 2/13 – 2/20	Survey of Health Informatics II	Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 2/17, responses by Wednesday 2/20 Final Project Research Paper – Wednesday 2/20
Week 8 2/20 – 2/24	Survey of Health Informatics III	Discussion – Initial post by Friday 2/22, responses by Sunday 2/24

Weekly Course Schedule

Week 1 – Overview of US Health Care Delivery System

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss the primary characteristics of the US healthcare system
• Distinguish the differences between sources of healthcare information and policy
• Utilize RefWorks for the collection of library resources

Course Materials:

• Shi, L. & Singh, D. A. (2018) Textbook: Chapters 1 and 13
• Pew Research Center website: (http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/health-care/)
• See Blackboard course for resources from UNE Library Services including links to web pages and tutorial videos
• See Blackboard course for links to RefWorks tutorials

Assignments:

Introductory Discussion: Please take a moment to introduce yourself. Where do you work/live? What do you like to do in your free time? What is your background? What, if any, healthcare experience do you have? (In this course, we hope to share perspectives from those in the trenches of healthcare but also from those that are on the outside looking in.) Feel free to post a photo of yourself or of something important to you so we can get to know you a little better.

Discussion Question: This week we will look at how healthcare and healthcare policy in the US has evolved into the system that exists today. We will consider the resources and processes that make up the current system and take a look forward to the future of healthcare delivery. For your first discussion post, please find three literature resources that pertain to any part of this week’s reading about the healthcare system or policy. Using the guide provided in the course materials, please post the links to the three resources on the Discussion board and distinguish whether you think they are scholarly, industry, or popular; explain why. Be sure to use APA format for your citations and references. Please remember to respond to at least two of your classmate’s posts. Refer to the Discussion Rubric for submission guidelines.

RefWorks: Your assignment this week is to review the tutorials in the course materials and set up a UNE RefWorks account. Once you have set up your account, practice finding a journal article in the UNE Library and save one article to your account. Take a screenshot of the All Documents page. Make sure your name and your saved document are visible in your screenshot. Please upload your Word doc with the screenshot into this weeks upload link. Refer to the resources provided in the Blackboard course for tutorials on RefWorks and taking screenshots. See the RefWorks Rubric for submission guidelines.

Week 2 – Health System Foundations

Learning Outcomes:

• Discuss the implications of competing American anthro-cultural values for healthcare delivery
• Explain the evolution of the US healthcare delivery system including resistance to national health insurance, corporatization, and the Affordable Care Act

Course Materials: Shi, L. & Singh, D. A. (2018) Textbook: Chapters 2 and 3

Assignment:

Discussion Question: How have American cultural values and beliefs affected the development of the US healthcare system? Why has universal national healthcare never become a reality in the United States? Can you give an example of another country that has national healthcare? What do you believe are the key strengths and weaknesses of a national healthcare system, when compared to the healthcare system we have today?

Slide Presentation: In this assignment, you will choose one topic: Describe the events in history that have impacted the evolution of healthcare in the American healthcare system. OR Describe how the American culture has played a part in the development of the current infrastructure. Create a 5-10 slide presentation using PowerPoint or Google Slides and use APA format for all citations. Refer to the Blackboard course for resources to assist you in completing this assignment. See the Slide Presentation Rubric for submission guidelines

Week 3 – Health System Finance

Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze the role of health care finance and the impact on the delivery of healthcare
• Evaluate the impact different healthcare payor models have on populations
• Formulate a research question to address a problem in a specific healthcare setting with a technology solution
• Construct a chart to communicate healthcare data

Course Materials:

• Shi, L. & Singh, D. A. (2018) Textbook: Chapter 6
• See Blackboard course for multiple resources for research and writing support

Assignments:

Discussion Question: This week you learned about the financial system integrated with healthcare. Please choose one of the following discussion questions for your initial post: What provisions has the federal government made for providing health care to military personnel and veterans of the US armed forces? Make sure to describe what services are offered, to whom and the payment model. Also, analyze the effectiveness of this model and any gaps you identify in your research. OR Discuss the current insurance reimbursement model for telehealth services. Make sure you include at least one example of a reimbursement model and another example of insurance that does not reimburse for telehealth service. Compare and contrast the impact of telehealth services when reimbursed and when not reimbursed. Provide an example of a special population who may benefit from insurance covered telehealth and discuss why.

Data Visualization: This week you will explore the healthcare payor models in your state and gain insight into this important public policy topic and how it impacts the state’s economy and well-being of the population. Using the keywords given, perform an internet search on the data for your state and create a pie or bar chart that includes the percentage of recipients whose healthcare is funded through employer, non-group, Medicaid, Medicare, other public, and uninsured. You may use any software you prefer to create your chart such as Word, Excel, Google Sheets, etc. Based on the data in your chart, consider how the healthcare funding in your state may impact the greater state’s socio-economic situation. Write one-page offering your perspective (opinion) on the results you found. Your submission should include your pie or bar chart, one written page, and an APA formatted reference page listing your data source(s) used. Refer to the Data Visualization Rubric for submission guidelines.

Topic and Research Question: In preparation for the final project, you will begin creating the parts that go into writing a research paper. Each week moving forward you will submit a component that will build upon itself until the end. Make sure to review the Instructor feedback for each component and integrate that into your final paper. This week you will identify a topic and formulate a research question. To begin, identify a healthcare challenge or problem. This challenge or problem can be something you have encountered in your professional career, experienced as a healthcare consumer, or a topic of interest. Once the challenge or problem is identified, then you must be specific about the setting where this problem occurs. Is it a primary care issue, an Intensive care unit, lab service, etc.? Lastly, choose a potential technology solution (based on research) that may help solve the challenge or problem in the defined healthcare setting and formulate a research question (see the Blackboard course for examples). Submit your topic and research question in a word document. Your submission will be graded as Complete or Partially Complete. A grade of Partially Complete requires a resubmission of your topic and research question. Refer to the Topic and Research Question Rubric for submission guidelines. Please wait to get feedback and approval of topic and research question before moving forward with the paper.

Week 4 – Health Systems Processes I

Learning Outcomes:

• Evaluate the differences between the ways healthcare is delivered
• Discuss the evolution of hospitals in the United States
• Create an annotated bibliography from peer-reviewed sources

Course Materials:

• Shi, L. & Singh, D. A. (2018) Textbook: Chapters 7 and 8
• See Blackboard course for multiple resources to assist with completing an annotated bibliography

Assignment:

Discussion Question: In this week’s discussion, you will appraise your own community or state’s situation in regards to local healthcare services provided. List the challenges in your state or community and consider how that’s related to resources. What are the closest hospitals and/or clinics to where you live? What services do they offer? How do these services and location(s) or lack thereof impact your community? Give an example from your community or state of how a hospital has evolved.

Annotated Bibliography: In this week’s assignment you will start gathering, assessing, and organizing peer-reviewed articles that address your topic and research question. From your research, you will select 5 scholarly articles, one of which directly addresses your topic’s defined healthcare delivery setting, the other four should be related to the research for your paper. For each of the five articles write a brief summary of the article and how it relates to your topic and research question and evaluate the quality of the research/article and write a couple of sentences on your findings. Submit an APA style, Annotated Bibliography as a word document. Refer to the resources provided in the Blackboard course to assist you in completing this assignment. See the Annotated Bibliography Rubric for submission guidelines.

Week 5 – Health Systems Processes II

Learning Outcomes:

• Create a research paper outline or mind map to organize ideas
• Assess the challenges and barriers for special populations in the United States

Course Materials:

• Shi, L. & Singh, D. A. (2018) Textbook: Chapters 10 and 11
• See Blackboard course for resources on using an outline or mind map before writing a draft

Assignments:

Discussion Question: There are two parts to this week’s discussion. In part 1, identify the specific health concerns at both your state level and the national level for the following populations: the mentally-ill, children, and the elderly. For part 2, choose one of the specific health concerns you identified in Part 1. Find one resource (can be scholarly or industry focused) that describes a solution. Describe the resource and explain how the solution is tied to the issue.

Research Paper Outline or Mind-map: Drawing on your previous week’s work and Instructor feedback, it’s time to organize your thoughts around the final paper before writing the first draft. There are several strategies for organizing ideas, you will choose between creating an outline or a mind-map. Submit an outline or mind-map for your topic and research question. Your submission should include enough detail to make your thoughts on the organization of this paper explicit. Refer to the Outline/Mind-map Rubric for submission guidelines. Your Instructor will provide feedback and considerations for you to incorporate into your research paper submission in week 7. Please note, if you are requested by your instructor to redo your outline or mind-map, there will be a link to resubmit in the Blackboard course in week 6.

Week 6 – Survey of Health Informatics I

Learning Outcomes:

• Define the concept of health informatics
• Evaluate the different technology tools involved in health informatics

Course Materials:

• Hoyt, R. E., & Yoshihashi, A. (2014) Textbook: Chapters 1, 4 ( pp. 76-83), and 5
• See Blackboard course for specific links to several videos and an infographic
  

Assignments:

Discussion Question: From this week’s readings, evaluate what you read about the different health informatics applications. What did you find most surprising? What was most frustrating? What made you feel excited about the future? Finally, can you explain how the different tools and applications tie back to the definition of health informatics?

Week 7 – Survey of Health Informatics II

Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze the relationship between telehealth and consumer health informatics
• Analyze the complexities of healthcare settings, problems and technology tools

Course Materials: Hoyt, R. E., & Yoshihashi, A. (2014) Textbook: Chapters 10, 11, and 18

Assignments:

Discussion Question: Please share an example of how telehealth is being utilized in your home state? How is the use of telehealth engaging the use of consumer health informatics?

Final Project Research Paper: In this research paper, you will fully integrate the Instructor feedback received on previous assignments into the final draft. Your research paper should be between 5-6 pages long (not including the title, abstract, and reference pages) and include the following elements:

• Describe a challenge or problem in a defined healthcare setting (ambulatory care, critical care, lab service, etc.). Explain the significance of the problem including relevant background information to provide context for the reader.
• Identify a potential technology solution based on research. State the solution and a summary argument in a thesis statement.
• Appraise the research and provide evidence to support your main points and arguments.
• Develop a conclusion that makes the final “argument” for the technology solution (thesis statement) and connects back to the importance of addressing this topic in the defined healthcare setting.
• Include at least 5 peer-reviewed journal articles published within the past 5 years

Use APA Style citations and paper formatting. Refer to the Final Project Research Paper Rubric for submission guidelines. Use the sample APA formatted paper in the Blackboard course as a model of APA style.

Week 8 – Survey of Health Informatics III

Learning Outcomes:

• Justify the ongoing funding for the Healthy People 2020 Initiative

Course Materials:

• Hoyt, R. E., & Yoshihashi, A. (2014) Textbook: Chapters 19 and 21
• Review Website Healthy People 2020, (section on Disparities) (https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-health-measures/Disparities)from Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Assignments:

Discussion Question: One initiative mentioned in this weeks reading, Healthy People 2020, seeks to increase equitable access to healthcare across all socioeconomic groups. However, implementing this aspect of the initiative is extremely difficult given the political and cultural climate in the US. Please comment on one of the following questions: What would the effects be on the healthcare system if the initiative were to be fully implemented? How would you justify the ongoing funding? OR What are the areas in which you see (or would expect to see) the results of the partial implementation of the initiative? How would you prioritize which parts of the initiative to implement?

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Health Informatics page

APA Style Guide

• https://www.apastyle.org

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
• MSIN Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/health-informatics/
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, please visit:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Online Peer Support

Togetherall is a 24/7 communication and emotional support platform monitored by trained clinicians. It’s a safe place online to get things off your chest, have conversations, express yourself creatively, and learn how to manage your mental health. If sharing isn’t your thing, Togetherall has other tools and courses to help you look after yourself with plenty of resources to explore. Whether you’re struggling to cope, feeling low, or just need a place to talk, Togetherall can help you explore your feelings in a safe supportive environment. You can join Togetherall using your UNE email address.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

Students should notify their Student Support Specialist and instructor in the event of a problem relating to a course. This notification should occur promptly and proactively to support timely resolution.

ITS Contact: Toll-Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673.

Career Ready Program

The College of Professional Studies supports its online students and alumni in their career journey!

The Career Ready Program provides tools and resources to help students explore and hone in on their career goals, search for jobs, create and improve professional documents, build professional network, learn interview skills, grow as a professional, and more. Come back often, at any time, as you move through your journey from career readiness as a student to career growth, satisfaction, and success as alumni.

Policies

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

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.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Attendance Policy

8 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Sunday at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

16 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Friday at 11:59 pm ET of the second week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.