Health Informatics, M.S.

Admission Requirements

1. Have earned a degree in Health Informatics, B.S. or equivalent.
2. GPA of 3.0 or higher for the last 60 hours of undergraduate course work or a cumulative 3.0 GPA.
3. Complete an interview with the Admissions Committee scheduled on a mutually agreeable date and time. International students may request an interview via telephone, Skype, or web conference.
4. All international applicants must submit official academic credentials with an evaluation from Educational Credentials Evaluation (ECE) or World Education Services (WES) and may be required to submit a minimum acceptable score on the Test of English as a Second Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Program Outcomes

The MSHI program is aiming to provide six CAHIIM-aligned program outcomes, designed to meet accreditation standards and industry leadership expectations.

Upon completion of the program, students are expected to:

1. Design & Evaluate Health Information Systems: Graduates will architect, implement, and optimize health information systems (EHRs, HIEs, CDSS) using industry standards and usability principles.
2. Advanced Healthcare Data Science: Graduates will apply machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and predictive analytics to solve clinical and operational challenges.
3. Governance & Regulatory Leadership: Graduates will develop policies for data integrity, cybersecurity, and compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and 21st Century Cures Act.
4. Interprofessional Systems Optimization: Graduates will lead workflow redesigns and interoperability initiatives to improve care coordination across teams.
5. Strategic Health IT Innovation: Graduates will assess emerging technologies (AI, blockchain, etc.) and propose scalable solutions aligned with organizational goals.
6. Executive Communication & Change Management: Graduates will articulate technical strategies to stakeholders and drive adoption of informatics solutions.

Admission to Candidacy

After admission as a degree-seeking student, a student also must apply for candidacy. Application forms are available from the student’s advisor. Application for candidacy should be made during the trimester in which the student expects to fulfill the candidacy requirements. Unsuccessful applicants to candidacy will not be permitted further registration in courses in the degree program. To qualify for degree candidacy, a student must:

1. have earned a grade of “B” or better in three of the following five courses: HLAD-7101 , HLAD-7102,  HLAD-7106,  HLAD-7109,  and MIS-6201  or CPSC-8820 ;
2. complete all prerequisite course work listed in the Required Preparation Section;
3. apply for candidacy after earning a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 15 graduate-level credit-hours;
4. demonstrate adequate oral and written communication abilities appropriate for the profession;
5. demonstrate adequate interpersonal skills appropriate for the profession; and
6. no more than one course with a grade of “C+, C, or C-” toward degree requirements. When a student made a second “C+, C, or C-” in a class, the student must repeat the “C+, C, or C-” course only once to meet the degree requirements.

Skill levels noted in items four and five above are evaluated based on the professional judgment of the faculty and administrators through regular review of student progress.

More detailed candidacy information is available from the student’s advisor.

Required Preparation

The MSHI program at GovState requires all entering students demonstrate proficiency in the following areas of study. These deficiency courses must be satisfied prior to taking MSHI core courses: 

• CPSC - 3310 Introduction To Object-oriented Programming (3)  
• HLAD - 3104 Healthcare Statistics (3)  

GovState students and alumni (within past 5 years) are eligible for guaranteed admission to the Master of Science in Health Informatics program with an overall GPA of 3.00 or in the last 60 hours of undergraduate study at GovState. Application to MSHI program admission is required with a copy of undergraduate transcript. Letters of recommendation, personal statement, and interview are waived.

To transfer from other graduate programs at GovState or other institutions, students must complete the formal application process and submit all required application materials for admission consideration. If admitted, transferring students who wish to request a transfer of credit hours must provide a copy of their earned bachelor’s degree transcript and current graduate study transcript along with the credit transfer request at least one month prior to the start of the first semester to the MSHI Program at GovState for review and approval. No transfer credit requests will be evaluated or granted if submitted more than two weeks after the first semester at GovState starts. Students may transfer a maximum of 9 credit hours for required or deficiency courses.

Degree Requirements (33 Hours)

The student must complete all course requirements and earn a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

• HLAD - 7101 Introduction to Healthcare Organizations (3)
• HLAD - 7102 Community Health and Managerial Epidemiology (3)
• HLAD - 7106 Database Design and Administration of Healthcare System (3)
• HLAD - 7109 Health Care Informatics (3)
• MIS - 6201 Information Systems Project Management (3)

• Or take

• CPSC - 8820 Planning and Management of Software Projects (3)
• HLAD - 8104 Medical Records, Information Security, and the Law (3)

• Or take

• HLAD - 8106 Legal Aspects of Health Care (3)
• CPSC - 6548 Computer Programming: Java (3)
• CPSC - 6730 Big Data Analytics (3)
• CPSC - 8720 Internet Programming (3)
• MIS - 6801 Information Security Policy and Management (3)
• HLIN - 8900 Health Informatics Field Experience (3)

• Or take

• HLIN - 8901 Health Informatics Graduate Thesis (3)

Total - 33 Hours

The degree requirements for the Master of Science in Health Informatics require that a candidate must have completed all of the coursework identified for the Health Informatics, B.S. (or equivalents) and complete at the Master Degree level the courses below. All required courses must be completed with a grade of “B” or better. Students must meet all university requirements for a master’s degree.