Syllabus

Schedule

Detailed Course Schedule

Module 1: Health Informatics — What is it and what have we been waiting for? (two weeks)

Overview: Health Informatics, sometimes called Health IT or HIT, refers to the overlap between technology and health/healthcare. In this first module we will look at the major drivers of our current state of health informatics, the history of how we got to where we are now, and some of the unique situations that have caused healthcare to remain behind other industries in terms of automation and technology advancements.

Readings:

• Hoyt, chapter 1
• Hacking Healthcare, chapters 1-7
• Federal Health IT Strategic Plan

Videos:

• Karalee Close: Will Healthcare Embrace Digital or Will We Die Waiting?
• What Is Health Informatics? – from a VA Clinic

Infographic:

• Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap: The Journey to Better Health and Care

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify areas of interest within the health informatics field to envision a career path
• Assess the Federal Health Strategic Plan to determine its effectiveness in healthcare innovation and possible areas for improvement
• Analyze the barriers to utilizing EHRs to formulate a plan for advancing digital engagement in healthcare

Discussion Board Assignment, week 1: Personal thoughts on Health Informatics

After watching Karalee Close’s video, discuss an aspect of health informatics mentioned in the video that spoke to you personally. Why did it appeal to you? How do you see yourself utilizing digital technology within the healthcare field? If you already work with digital technology in healthcare, how do you see your job changing in the future?

Discussion Board Assignment, week 2: Federal Health IT Strategic Plan

The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan states that the Federal Government has three roles in its collaboration with private sector stakeholders. After reading about this triad approach, please provide an example of a healthcare innovation that advances the mission of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan. What aspects are proving effective? Where are there potential areas for advancement? Are there any barriers to advancement? If so, what are they?

Mini-paper:

According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), 3 out of 4 hospitals now have a basic EHR system. However, it has taken years to get to this point, and 25% of hospitals still lack an EHR system. In a two to three page APA formatted paper, please address the following:

• • Looking over the past 5 years, what have been the three most significant barriers to adopting EHRs in healthcare?
  • How have some institutions managed to overcome some or all of these barriers?
  • What are the ongoing barriers to getting all healthcare organizations onto a digital platform?
  • Finally, suggest two interventions that can be done at either the state or federal level to decrease or overcome these barriers.

Module 2: Technology Platforms — it´s not just EHRs (three weeks)

Overview: For the next three weeks we will take a look at the technology platforms that are most commonly seen in healthcare: EHRs (electronic health records), bioinformatics, consumer health informatics, mobile technology, telehealth, imaging informatics, and information exchanges.

Readings:

• Hoyt, chapters 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 18, 19, 20
• Hacking Healthcare, chapters 8-13
• The Digital Doctor, chapter 1
• AMIA EHR Task-force paper
• ANIA
• Electronic Health Records and National Patient-Safety Goals

Videos:

• ONC, Regina Holliday
• HealthInfoNet video

Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze a telehealth program offered in your home state/country to gain an understanding of the current state of telehealth
• Evaluate the rules and regulations around exchanging data in your home state/country to determine what kind of medical information is shared, and under what circumstances it is shared
• Create a potential technology solution to a real life problem to demonstrate how the use of technology can improve health outcomes
• Research and analyze the positive and negative effects that Electronic Health Records have on meeting the Triple Aim to understand the complicated relationship between EHRs and the Triple Aim

Discussion Board Assignment, week 3: Telehealth

Please share an example of how telehealth is being utilized in your home state. Could more be done? How does availability (or lack) of broadband factor in? Are there grants available at the state/local level to increase the use of telehealth?

Discussion Board Assignment, week 4: Information Exchanges

Is your personal health information exchanged? Are you sure? Is your state an opt-in or an opt-out state? Is there a limitation on what data is exchanged? If so, what is the limitation?

Discussion Board Assignment, week 5: The Digital Doctor

After reading about the experience of Dr. Burton, please consider and explain how the use of a technology tool might have made a difference either in the outcome of the patient involved or in Dr. Burton’s working conditions.

Paper:

Many healthcare organizations have a perception that the use of Electronic Health Records will help them move towards the actualization of the Triple Aim, but that isn’t always the case. In a 4 to 5 page research paper, please outline how EHRs move the Triple Aim both forward and backward.

Module 3: Data — What’s the big deal? (one week)

Overview: With more data being entered into Electronic Health Records we have seen a surge in available health data. In this module we will explore the concept of health data, how we obtain it, and how it is useful in impacting the Triple Aim.

Readings:

• Hoyt, chapters 2, 3
• The Digital Doctor, chapters 2-11
• Four Use Cases for Healthcare Predictive Analytics, Big Data
• Northshore University Health System leverages predictive modeling through EHR data

Video:

• Hans Rosling: The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen

Infographic:

• Infographic: Big Data and Your Health

Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze different types of data to determine how they affect data analytics
• Create an infographic to diagram the flow of data as it cycles from a consumer through the healthcare system and back to the consumer

Discussion Board Assignment, week 6: Data Analytics

How does the concept of structured vs unstructured data affect the quality of data analytics? Why does it matter?

Infographic assignment:

Create an infographic that diagrams how data can cycle from a patient through the healthcare system (to the population or public health level) and then back again to the patient in the form of health education. Your audience is the general public, so be sure to include enough detail for them to understand your infographic. There are a number of tools you can use to create your infographic. You can create a one-slide presentation using Google Slides or Powerpoint or you can create a one page graphic using a diagramming tool such as Lucidchart or Gliffy.

Module 4: Why it’s so difficult — Laws, rules, regulations, privacy, security, and standards (one week)

Overview: Healthcare rules and regulation in the United State are often designed in institutional silos. The rules are necessary to protect the public, but the isolated manner in which they are created can give rise to conflicting information. Privacy and security regulation can cause similar problems, and as a result, can hinder the easy transmission of important clinical data. As healthcare leaders, we must be mindful that regulations for the greater good often result in slower progress in HIT.

Readings:

• Hoyt, chapters 8, 9, 16, 17
• The Digital Doctor, chapters 12-19
• Changing the rules of health care: Mobile health and challenges for regulation
• HIPAA Turns 10, Analyzing the Past, Present and Future Impact
• Health Information Policy Issues
• Health IT Legislation and Regulations

Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze the current state of Meaningful Use to evaluate both prior and future states of engagement
• Analyze rules, regulations, laws, and standards to see how they impact technology engagement in American healthcare.

Discussion Board Assignment, week 7: Meaningful Use

After doing the readings for this week’s topic, please comment on why you believe the original Meaningful Use standards (2009) have proven difficult, if not impossible, to meet. Where are we now in relation to their implementation and what do you predict for the future? Why?

Paper:

What are the challenges in regards to regulation, law, rules, standards and privacy/security that make it so difficult to leverage technology to help move us towards the Triple Aim? In a 5 to 7 page research paper, please describe the challenges of implementing technology in the regulatory-heavy United States. Propose a balance between regulation and achievement of the Triple Aim.

Preview of week 8, country assignment:

This week you will be choose a country. You should begin researching the healthcare system of your assigned country in preparation for the slideshow project you will submit next week.

Module 5: Health Informatics around the World — What is the rest of the world doing with healthcare and technology? (one week)

Overview: Now the we have some understanding of US Health IT, we need to consider other countries. In this module we will explore other global communities and how they are, or are not, using technology. We will explore developed and developing countries.

Readings:

• The Digital Doctor, chapters 20-29
• Technology at the Margins, chapter 2
• Management of Patient Information: Trends and Challenges in Member States
• Health Information Systems in Developing Countries

Video:

• Mobile Telemedicine for Cervical Cancer Screening

Optional Resource:

• Atlas eHealth Country Profiles

Learning Outcomes:

• Effectively communicate opinions of The Digital Doctor to document your understanding
• Create a visual representation to share HIT information from another country

Discussion Board Assignment, week 8: The Digital Doctor

What was the most compelling chapter you read from The Digital Doctor? Why?

Slide Presentation:

In week 7 you chose a country and began to research it. This week you will create your presentation and post it. In a short slide presentation (3-6 slides) highlight the health technology systems from the country you have chosen. Your presentation should include the following: a clear presentation of the country’s health information system, visually pleasing slides, and well organized information. Include at least two references.

Student Resources

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APA Style Guide

• https://www.apastyle.org

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• MSIN Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/health-informatics/
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Technology Requirements

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

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

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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.

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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.

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Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.

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.

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UNE Online Student Handbook

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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.