This course will provide an overview of health informatics focused on five themes: health informatics foundations; clinical decision support; human factors/organization factors; public health informatics and current issues in health informatics including best practices.

The application of the information system development life cycle in the design, selection, and implementation of health information technology applications will be examined. Human computer interactions and emerging technologies will be explored for their impact on patient and safety. The role of legal, regulatory, ethical and security issues will be discussed as they apply to clinical and consumer information technologies.

Data science concepts and database theory as related to healthcare settings will be introduced. Simple database modeling, design, and manipulation will be explored using a database management system and a query language. Key data science methods, such as data wrangling and visualization, will be leveraged for decision making.

The information system development life cycle process is presented with emphasis on determination and analysis of information system requirements and system design that meet the identified healthcare information requirements. Object-oriented techniques, such as Unified Modeling Language and Unified Modeling Methodology, will be introduced to facilitate process analysis and design proposal development.

Knowledge management is the creation, communication, and leveraging of a healthcare organization's knowledge assets. Defining knowledge, describing the knowledge creation cycle, and the identification of the knowledge workers and their impact on the organization are discussed. Information technology and communities of practice are presented in a balanced approach to support a systematic viewpoint of the knowledge management process. Knowledge management theory is enhanced with the performance of a knowledge audit and the development of knowledge management tools. It is recommended that students take IPHI 820 prior to this course.

In collaboration with health informatics faculty and preceptors, students design an experience to facilitate the application of theories and research related to health informatics. Emphasis is on the application of the information system development life cycle. Students analyze the leadership and technical behaviors of various informatics roles and negotiate an informatics project to be completed within the practicum.