Syllabus

Schedule

Please notice that the length of the modules in this course vary from week to week. Some modules are one week long and some are three weeks long. Each module starts on Wednesday at 12:00 am Eastern Time (ET) and closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Module 5 (5 days), which ends on Sunday. All assignments must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET on the due date. Please review the following schedule carefully for assignments and due dates.

Course Schedule at a Glance

Learning Modules	Topic	Assignments and Due Dates
1 (2 weeks) 2/28 – 3/14	Health Informatics — What is it and what have we been waiting for?	Week 1 Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 3/4, responses by Wednesday 3/7 Week 2 Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 3/11, responses by Wednesday 3/14 Week 2 Mini-paper – Wednesday 3/14
2 (3 weeks) 3/14 – 4/4	Technology Platforms — It’s not just EHRs	Week 3 Discussion -Initial post by Sunday 3/18, responses by Wednesday 3/21 Week 4 Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 3/25, responses by Wednesday 3/28 Week 5 Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 4/1, responses by Wednesday 4/4 Week 5 EHR Paper – Wednesday 4/4
3 (1 week) 4/4 – 4/11	Data — What’s the big deal?	Week 6 Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 4/8, responses by Wednesday 4/11 Infographic – Wednesday 4/11
4 (1 week) 4/11 – 4/18	Why it’s so difficult — Laws, rules, regulations, privacy, security, and standards	Week 7 Discussion – Initial post by Sunday 4/15, responses by Wednesday 4/18 Week 7 Triple Aim Paper – Wednesday 4/18
5 (1 week) 4/18 – 4/22	Health Informatics around the World — What is the rest of the world doing with healthcare and technology?	Week 8 Discussion – Initial post by Friday 4/20, responses by Sunday 4/22 Final Slide Presentation – Sunday 4/22

Detailed Course Schedule

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

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

Course Materials:

• Read Hoyt & Yoshihashi Textbook, chapter 1
• Read Trotter & Uhlman Textbook, chapters 1-7
• Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). (n.d). Federal Health IT Strategic Plan. Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/9-5-federalhealthitstratplanfinal_0.pdf Federal Health IT Strategic Plan

Videos:

• TED Institute. (2014, December 22). Karalee Close: Will healthcare embrace digital or will we die waiting? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LebeRBlL8E

• U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. (2011, Mar 3). What is Health Informatics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D9GvfYUuVY

Infographic:

• HealthIT.gov. (n.d.) Shared nationwide interoperability roadmap: The journey to better health and care [Graphic]. Retrieved from HealthIT.gov: https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/shared_nationwide_interoperability_roadmap.pdf

Assignments:

Discussion: Class Member Introductions

Week 1 Discussion — 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?

Week 2 Discussion — 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?

Week 2 Assignment — 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)

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

Course Materials:

• Read Hoyt & Yoshihashi Textbook, chapters 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 18, 19, 20
• Read Trotter & Uhlman Textbook, chapters 8-13
• Read Wachter Textbook, chapter 1
• Payne, T. H. et al. (2015). Report of the AMIA EHR-2020 Task Force on the status and future direction of EHRs. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 22(5), 1102–1110. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocv066
• ANIA Board of Directors. (2015). Addressing the Safety of Electronic Health Records. Retrieved from ANIA https://www.ania.org/about-us/position-statements/addressing-safety-electronic-health-records
• Sittig, D. F., PhD Singh, Hardeep, MD, MPH. (2012). Electronic Health Records and National Patient-Safety Goals. The New England Journal of Medicine, 367(19), 1854-60.

Videos:

• Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. (2011, October 10). EHRs Can Save Lives [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msBYOYYeHPw

• HealthInfoNet. (2010, December 19). How Provider’s use Maine’s Health Information Exchange [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNvSy1AHMTQ

Assignments:

Week 3 Discussion — 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?

Week 4 Discussion — 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?

Week 5 Discussion — 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.

Week 5 EHR Paper Assignment: 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)

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

Course Materials:

• Hoyt & Yoshihashi Textbook, chapters 2, 3
• Wachter Textbook, chapters 2-11
• Bresnick, J. (n.d.). Four use cases for healthcare predictive analytics, Big data. Retrieved from http://www.predictiveanalyticsworld.com/patimes/four-use-cases-for-healthcare-predictive-analytics-big-data-0422153/5218/
• McCarthy, J. (2016, January 18). Northshore University Health System leverages predictive modeling through EHR data. Retrieved from http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/northshore-university-health-system-leverages-predictive-modeling-through-ehr-data

Video:

• Rosling, H. (2006, February). The best stats you’ve ever seen [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen

Infographic:

• Healthcare IT Connect. (n.d.). Infographic: Big data and your health [Graphic]. Retrieved from http://media.navigatored.com/images/Understanding-How-Big-Data-Flows-in-Healthcare-Infographic.jpg

Assignments:

Week 6 Discussion — Data Analytics: How does the concept of structured vs unstructured data affect the quality of data analytics? Why does it matter?

Week 6 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. Be sure to include specific examples of HIEs in your graphic. Your audience is the general public, so 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)

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.

Course Materials:

• Hoyt & Yoshihashi Textbook, chapters 8, 9, 16, 17
• Wachter Textbook, chapters 12-19
• Fellay, S. (2014). Changing the rules of health care: Mobile health and challenges for regulation. American Enterprise Institute. Retrieved from https://www.aei.org/publication/changing-the-rules-of-health-care-mobile-health-and-challenges-for-regulation/
• Solove, D. (2013) HIPAA Turns 10, Analyzing the past, Present and future Impact. Journal of AHIMA 84(4), 22-28. Retrieved from http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_050149.hcsp?dDocName=bok1_050149
• US Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Health Information Exchange Policy Issues. Retrieved from https://healthit.ahrq.gov/key-topics/health-information-exchange-policy-issues
• Health IT Legislation and Regulations. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/health-it-legislation

Assignments:

Week 7 Discussion — 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?

Week 7 Assignment Triple Aim 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 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.k.

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

Learning Outcomes:

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

Course Materials:

• Wachter Textbook, chapters 20-29
• Chutani, Aalami, & Badshah Textbook, chapter 2
• Management of Patient Information: Trends and Challenges in Member States. (2012). Retrieved from World Health Organization http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/76794/1/9789241504645_eng.pdf?ua=1
• Vital Wave Consulting. (2009) Health information systems in developing countries: A landscape analysis. Retrieved from http://www.minsa.gob.pe/ogei/conferenciaops/Recursos/43.pdf

Video:

• Mobile Telemedicine for Cervical Cancer Screening. (2009). The World Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZmPWZmRgNc

Optional Resource:

• Atlas eHealth Country Profiles. (2011). World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44502/1/9789241564168_eng.pdf

Assignments:

Week 8 Discussion – The Digital Doctor II:What was the most compelling chapter you read from The Digital Doctor? Why?

Week 8 Assignment Final 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

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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 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.

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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.

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.

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UNE Online Student Handbook

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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.
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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.

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