Health Informatics, B.S.

Mission

The 2+2+1 concept allows students to begin coursework at the Associate level at a participating community college, transfer that coursework into a Bachelor’s in Health Informatics to GSU, and then ultimately apply that coursework toward a Master’s in Health Informatics. The 2+2+1 Master of Science in Health Informatics (MSHI) program seeks to provide students at Governors State University (GSU) with a complete education in understanding the role of informatics (i.e. the application of technological devices, resources, methods/techniques) in transforming the healthcare delivery field. This program is designed to assist students in developing their academic and professional skills through their general education experiences at GSU or the local Community Colleges; through upper-division and graduate courses at GSU; and through opportunities to participate in civic engagement.

The College of Health and Human Services undergraduate major in Health Informatics is a program devoted to understanding how information technology (IT) can be used to transform the way that healthcare is delivered. It influences patients, providers, payers, policy-makers, and technology vendors. The health informatics program’s central academic objectives are:

Academic Objective 1: To enable students to understand the inter-relationships between information technology and healthcare services delivery, and the ways in which they mutually influence and transform each other.
Academic Objective 2: To provide students with technical skills necessary to succeed in an entry-level health informatics role.

The curriculum is structured as follows:

Year 1 is heavily centered on the GSU themes related to the cohorts of civic engagement, global citizenship and sustainability. Students will choose appropriate courses based on their interests and input from their academic advisors. From the standpoint of the BSHI degree, during the first year students will take the healthcare vocabularies course.

Year 2 entails more courses centered on the GSU themes and several health informatics courses including an introduction to health informatics, healthcare organization and administration, statistics, introduction to computer literacy and a finance course. These courses chiefly address Academic Objectives 1 and 2.

Year 3 contains courses in healthcare operations management, health information technology / systems analysis and design, economics, clinical foundations, health IT standards, project management, healthcare ethics, statistics and healthcare information systems. These courses address Academic Objectives 1 and 2.

Year 4 contains courses in human computer interaction, networks and database technology, health IT leadership, concepts of research methods, knowledge management, IT security, legal issues in technology and a capstone course. These courses address Academic Objectives 1 and 2.

In the GSU design a student can earn: 1) a Bachelor of Science in Health Informatics at the end of year 4, and then complete 2) a Master of Health Informatics at the end of year 5. A total of 123 credit hours are required for the BS in Health Informatics degree. For completion of the MS in Health Informatics degree a total of 155 credit hours are required (123 BS + 32 MS).

Admission Requirements

Persons may be eligible for admission as undergraduate degree seeking first year students if they:

Have earned a high school diploma or equivalent.
Provide an official high school transcript showing a minimum 2.75 GPA on a 4.0 scale. In absence of a high school diploma and/or high school GPA, the following admission requirements apply:
- For those with General Education Equivalency (GED) credentials, a minimum score on the GED of 410 on each of the five tests and an Average Battery score of 450.
- For those with a home school history, applications will be reviewed for evidence of meeting the minimum high school curricular and achievement criteria.
Provide an official score report of a minimum ACT composite score of 18 or SAT equivalent (minimum SAT score range of 860-890 when combining Critical Reading plus Math)*.
- * Students 21 years and older who do not submit ACT or SAT scores will be admitted based on high school GPA and other elements of the admission criteria
Submit a personal letter of application articulating their interest in pursuing the health informatics degree.
Have satisfied any collegial and/or major criteria, if applicable, for undergraduate study in a specific major.
Applicants must show successful completion of the minimum high school subject requirements of 4 years of English, 3 years of Math, 2 years of Lab Sciences, 2 years of Social Sciences, 2 years of Fine Arts or 2 year of a Foreign Language and 2 years of Elective Academic Units.
Conditional admission will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Conditions may include, but are not limited to, successful completion of Early Start sessions.

Undergraduate transfer students may be entered into the program if they meet the requirements in the university’s standard admission policy. Students will be able to transfer credits up to the equivalent of the first 2 years of the program. Students with an AAS degree wishing to enter the BSHI program in year 3 will need to have completed the following courses (or their equivalent) for a minimum of 33 credit hours prior to entry into the BSHI program:

Healthcare Organization
Healthcare Vocabularies
Introduction to Computer Literacy
Healthcare Operations Management
Healthcare Information Technology and Systems Analysis & Design
College mathematics (including algebra)
Economics
Basic Finance
College level written communications
College level oral communications
Statistics I

Program Outcomes

Upon completion of the program students are expected to:

Have knowledge to access health data, use it to describe current performance and apply it to healthcare organizations to forecast trends and patterns to improve operations.
Develop leadership and change management skills.
Explain the conceptual models of healthcare informatics and how they are used in healthcare organizations to transform care.
Demonstrate the capacity to make sound and ethical decisions related to healthcare informatics.
Gain insight into the resources needed to optimize the use of information technology in areas of healthcare research and clinical services delivery.
Be eligible for entry-level administrative / coordinator positions in healthcare delivery systems, consulting firms, governmental organizations and research organizations.

General Education Requirements (37-38 Hours)

The GE requirements are completed during Year 1 and 2 of college - either at Governors State University or a partnering Community College. At GSU the General Education Coursework is taken as part of a themed cohort. The General Education requirements include completing the following courses distribution with a grade of “C” or better in each course and a total of 37-38 semester hours:

Communication: three courses including two courses in written communications (6 semester hours) and one course in oral communications(3 semester hours);
Mathematics: one course (3 semester hours);
Physical and Life Science three to four courses (7 to 8 semester hours) with one course selected from the life sciences, one course from the physical sciences, and at least one laboratory course;
Humanities and Fine Arts: First Year Seminar (3 semester hours), one additional course in the humanities (3 semester hours), and one course in the fine arts (3 semester hours); and
Social and Behavioral Sciences: Three courses (9 semester hours) from at least two disciplines.

Completed during Year 3 and 4 within the major 6 semester hours:

A Junior Seminar course within the major (HLAD - 3109 Ethics in Healthcare Admin (3) )
A Senior Capstone/Internship course (HLAD-5099 Health Informatics Capstone - 3 semester hours)

Health Informatics Application (67 Hours)

Electives (12 Hours)

One elective must include a 3 semester hour Basic Finance course; additional 9 hours of elective credit may come from HLAD or CPSC courses.