Overview

This course is the continuation of the Health Informatics for Healthcare Professionals course. If you have not yet taken the introductory course, it is recommend that you complete that course prior to this course. The foundational knowledge from the introduction is carried through in this deeper dive into informatics in healthcare. In this course, you will have an opportunity to explore concepts and topics related to the design and management of health information systems. This course covers cybersecurity, privacy, risk mitigation, data blocking, and the role of health information exchanges. It provides an overview of IT budgeting best practices. It also distinguish between pipeline and platform thinking in healthcare information technology and describes healthcare systems’ approaches to creating digital solutions for the future. Throughout this course, you will be given the opportunity to evaluate your understanding through engagement in course discussions, application of course concepts to course assignments, and through completion of content quizzes along the way.

Syllabus

Cybersecurity & Patient Privacy

In this module, the focus will be on the importance of privacy and security in healthcare. Privacy is about respecting patient decisions regarding data usage, access, and purpose, while security is about enforcing those privacy constraints through technology. The module includes case studies and examples of the risks associated with privacy breaches and the importance of enforcing regulations like HIPPA and European regulations to protect patient data while still allowing for innovation in healthcare technology. By the end of this module you will take away lessons in mitigating and preventing security risks to an organization.

Assessing IT Effectiveness & Spending

While learning about various health information systems is important for allowing organizations to improve their clinical outcomes and workflow efficiencies, budgeting is a crucial component to the implementation of new technologies. This module will explore how budgeting occurs for health information systems and how strategic financial planning impacts how organization’s reach goals. You will compare operating and capital expenses and analyze the processes and practices for successful planning of both types of budgets. Finally, you will reflect on how to form successful budgeting teams.

Emerging Technologies & Challenges

In the healthcare industry, emerging technologies can be used to greatly improve clinical outcomes and operational efficiencies. However, with these new technologies come may potential risks and challenges that need to be understood and explored prior to implementation. In this module, we will explore the emerging frontier of healthcare technology with emphasis on wearables and home-based care. As we are learning throughout this course, collecting data from many different sources provides a more holistic approach to healthcare. This module will cover more data types such as patient-sourced data and exposome data and how these can help healthcare organizations provide better patient care.

The Future of Health IT: Digital Transformation

Healthcare Information Technology is facing a digital transformation as we look toward the future of information systems. Organizations are pivoting away from a pipeline approach to a platform approach when implementing organizational strategy and incorporating new innovations. This module will explore these approaches and highlight this shift towards platform thinking through examples from the Mayo Clinic Platform. Finally, this module will conclude discussing the global transformation that is being seen across healthcare systems worldwide and what these changes mean for healthcare as we know it.