Health Informatics Forum - A discussion forum for health informatics professionals and students

Introduction to Health IT

This free online course, Introduction to Health IT: Health Management Information Systems, is a “theory” component that provides an introduction to health care applications and the systems that use them, health information technology standards, health-related data structures, and enterprise architecture in health care organizations.

• Unit 1: What is Health Informatics?
• Unit 2: Health Information Systems Overview
• Unit 3: Electronic Health Records
• Unit 4: Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)
• Unit 5: Clinical Decision Support Systems
• Unit 6: Patient Monitoring Systems
• Unit 7: Medical Imaging Systems
• Unit 8: Consumer Health Informatics
• Unit 9: Administrative, Billing, and Financial Systems

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Installation and Maintenance of Health IT Systems

This free course, Installation and Maintenance of Health IT Systems, covers fundamentals of selection, installation and maintenance of typical Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems. Students will be introduced to the principles underlying system configuration including basic hardware and software components, principles of system selection, planning, testing, troubleshooting, and final deployment.  System security and procedures will also be introduced in this component.

• Unit 1: Elements of a Typical EHR System
• Unit 2: System Selection – Software and Certification
• Unit 3: System Selection – Functional and Technical Requirements
• Unit 4: Structured Systems Analysis and Design
• Unit 5: Software Development Life Cycle
• Unit 6: System Security Procedures and Standards
• Unit 7: System Interfaces and Integration
• Unit 8: Troubleshooting; Maintenance and Upgrades; Interaction with Vendors, Developers, and Users
• Unit 9: Creating Fault Tolerant Systems, Backups, and Decommissioning
• Unit 10: Developing a Test Strategy and Test Plan
• Unit 11: Pilot Testing and Full Scale Deployment

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Configuring Electronic Health Records

This free online course, Configuring Electronic Health Records, provides a practical experience with a laboratory component (utilizing the VistA for Education program) that will address approaches to assessing, selecting, and configuring EHRs to meet the specific needs of customers and end-users.

• Unit 1: Migration to an Electronic Health Record System
• Unit 2: Patient Care Clinical Workflow; Multiple Perspectives of Patient Care (VistA Demo)
• Unit 3: Implementing Clinical Decision Support (VistA Demo)
• Unit 4: Building Order Sets (VistA Demo)
• Unit 5: Creating Data Entry Templates (VistA Demo)
• Unit 6: Health Summary and Clinical Reminder Reports (VistA Demo)
• Unit 7: Privacy and Security in the US
• Unit 8: Meaningful Use and Implementation

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Standards, Networking and Health Information Exchange

This free online course, Standards, Networking and Health Information Exchange, will introduce the student to networking and health information exchange aspects of health IT. The course covers the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) ISO standard, EHR and health data interchange standards and privacy and security issues associated with health information exchange.

• Unit 1: ISO Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
• Unit 2: Network Media and Hardware Communication Devices
• Unit 3: National and International Standards Developing Organizations
• Unit 4: Basic Health Data Standards
• Unit 5: EHR Functional Model Standards
• Unit 6: Health Data Interchange Standards
• Unit 7: Supporting Standards for EHR Applications
• Unit 8: Enterprise Architecture Models
• Unit 9: Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security Issues and Standards
• Unit 10: Health Information Exchange

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Usability and Human Factors

This free online course, Usability and Human Factors, will discussion of rapid prototyping, user-centered design understanding effects of new technology workflow on downstream processes; facilitation of unit-wide focus groups or simulation.

• Unit 1: People and Technology, Studies of Technology
• Unit 2: Requirements Engineering
• Unit 3: Cognition and Human Performance
• Unit 4: Human Factors and Healthcare
• Unit 5: Usability evaluation methods
• Unit 6: Electronic Health Records and Usability
• Unit 7: Clinical Decision Support and Usability
• Unit 8: Approaches to Design
• Unit 9: Ubiquitous Computing
• Unit 10: Designing for safety
• Unit 11: Designing for safety
• Unit 12: Information Visualization

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Vendor-Specific Electronic Health Records (EHR) Systems

This free online course, Vendor-Specific Electronic Health Records (EHR) Systems, will provide an in-depth discussion in Vendor-Specific Systems, focusing specifically in areas such as system and database architectures used in commercial Electronic Health Records (EHRs), vendor strategies for terminology, knowledge management, ways to assess decision support capabilities in EHRs, and finally vendor-specific training (go-live strategies).

• Unit 1: Common Commercial Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems Used in Healthcare
• Unit 2: Certification of Commercial EHRs
• Unit 3: How Do Organizations Select an EHR? Lessons From the Front Lines
• Unit 4: Electronic Health Record Functionality
• Unit 5: System and Database Architectures Used in Commercial EHRs
• Unit 6: Vendor Strategies for Terminology, Knowledge Management, and Data Exchange
• Unit 7: Assessing Decision Support Capabilities of Commercial EHRs
• Unit 8: EHR Go-Live Strategies

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Working with Health IT Systems

This free online course, Working with Health IT Systems, is a laboratory component. Students will work with simulated systems or real systems with simulated data.  As they play the role of practitioners using these systems, they will learn what is happening “under the hood.”  They will experience threats to security and appreciate the need for standards, high levels of usability, and how errors can occur.

• Unit 1: Introduction & Overview: Components of HIT Systems
• Unit 2: Under the Hood
• Unit 3: Understanding Information Exchange in HIT Systems
• Unit 4: The Effective HIT System
• Unit 5: Fundamentals of Usability in HIT Systems—What Does It Matter?
• Unit 6: HIT Facilitated Error—Cause and Effect
• Unit 7: Protecting Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality in HIT Systems
• Unit 8: HIT System Planning, Acquisition, Installation, & Training: Practices to Support & Pitfalls
• Unit 9: Potential Issues with Adoption and Installation of an HIT system.
• Unit 10: HIT and Aspects of Patient-Centered Care
• Unit 11: Health IT in the Future

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Working in Teams

Working in Teams is an experiential course that helps trainees become “team players” by understanding their roles, the importance of communication, and group cohesion.

• Unit 1: Health IT Teams: Examples and Characteristics
• Unit 2: Forming and Developing a Team for HIT
• Unit 3: Initial Tools for Teaming: Ground Rules & Action Plans for HIT Teams
• Unit 4: Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety: TeamSTEPPS
• Unit 5: Leveraging Integration Techniques: Power of HIT Team Dynamics
• Unit 6: Articulating Feedback and Feedforward: Tracking Success and Change
• Unit 7: Leadership: All Members as Leaders—Leaderful Teams
• Unit 8: Sharing Resources and Information: Tools to Optimize Performance of HIT Teams
• Unit 9: Positioning for High Performance Teaming: Challenges and Opportunities in HIT
• Unit 10: Barriers to Success: Reading Early Warning Signs of HIT Team Failure
• Unit 11: Life Cycle of HIT Teams: Reforming and Repositioning Techniques

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Professionalism/Customer Service in the Health Environment

This free online course, Professionalism/ Customer Service in the Health Environment, develops the skills necessary to communicate effectively across the full range of roles that will be encountered in healthcare and public health settings.

• Unit 1: Customer Service in Healthcare IT
• Unit 2: Professional Behavior in the Healthcare Environment
• Unit 3: Overview of Communication Relevant to Health IT
• Unit 4: Key Elements of Effective Communication
• Unit 5: Regulatory Issues: Standard Precautions and HIPAA
• Unit 6: Team and Small Group Communication
• Unit 7: Conflict Resolution
• Unit 8: Ethical and Cultural Issues Related to Communication and Customer Service
• Unit 9: Personal Communications and Professionalism

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Planning, Management and Leadership for Health IT

This free online course, Planning, Management and Leadership for Health IT, targets those preparing for leadership roles, principles of leadership and effective management of teams.  Emphasis on the leadership modes and styles best suited to IT deployment.

• Unit 1: Introduction to Leadership
• Unit 2: The Management and Leadership Distinction
• Unit 3: Key Concepts Associated with Leadership
• Unit 4: Effective and Ineffective Leaders
• Unit 5: Overview of the IT Strategic Planning Process
• Unit 6: Achieving External Alignment
• Unit 7: Team and Small Group Communication
• Unit 8: Conflict Resolution
• Unit 9: Purchasing and Contracting
• Unit 10: Change Management

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Quality Improvement in Health IT

This free online course, Quality Improvement in Health IT, introduces the concepts of health IT and practice workflow redesign as instruments of quality improvement.  It addresses establishing a culture that supports increased quality and safety. It also discusses approaches to assessing patient safety issues and implementing quality management and reporting through electronic systems.

• Unit 1: Introduction to Quality Improvement and Health Information Technology
• Unit 2: Principles of Quality and Safety for HIT
• Unit 3: Introduction to Reliability
• Unit 4: Reliability and Culture of Safety
• Unit 5: Decision Support for Quality Improvement
• Unit 6: Workflow Design
• Unit 7: HIT Design to Support Teamwork and Communication
• Unit 8: HIT and Infecting a Patient Safety Culture
• Unit 9: HIT Implementation Planning for Quality and Safety
• Unit 10: Measuring Quality
• Unit 11: Data Quality Improvement
• Unit 12: Learning from Mistakes: Error Reporting and Analysis and HIT

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Health Workflow Process Analysis & Redesign

This free online course, Health Workflow Process Analysis & Redesign, covers fundamentals of health workflow process analysis and redesign as a necessary component of complete practice automation.  Process validation and change management are also covered.

• Unit 1: Concepts of Processes and Process Analysis
• Unit 2: Process Mapping Theory and Rationale
• Unit 3: Interpreting and Creating Process Diagrams
• Unit 4: Acquiring Clinical Process Knowledge
• Unit 5: Process Analysis
• Unit 6: Process Re-design
• Unit 7: Facilitating Meetings for Implementation Decisions
• Unit 8: Quality Improvement Methods
• Unit 9: Leading and Facilitating Change
• Unit 10: Process Change Implementation and Evaluation
• Unit 11: Maintaining and Enhancing the Improvements

Enrol on this Course for Free!

Public Health IT

This free online course, Public Health IT, is specifically for individuals interested in a career in public health. This component will provide an overview of specialized public health applications such as registries, epidemiological databases, biosurvelliance, public health reporting alerts, quality reporting, and how to adopt/use of population health functions for electronic health records and consumer functions for personal health records. In addition, this component will address the potential of public health information technology for health promotion and chronic disease prevention.

• Unit 1: Overview & Contribution to Public Health Through Electronic Health Record Use
• Unit 2: Privacy, Confidentiality and Security of Public Health Information
• Unit 3: Data Standards in Public Health Information Technology
• Unit 4: Public Health Enabled Electronic Health Records
• Unit 5: Epidemiology Databases and Registries-Public Health Information Tools
• Unit 6: Biosurvelliance, Situational Awareness and Disaster Response
• Unit 7: Public Health Reporting, Alerts and Decision Support
• Unit 8: The potential of public health IT for health promotion and chronic disease prevention
• Unit 9: Quality Reporting
• Unit 10 Encouraging Adoption/Use of Population Health Functions for Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Enrol on this Course for Free!

History of Health Information Technology in the U.S.

This free online course, History of Health Information Technology in the U.S., traces the development of IT systems in health care and public health, beginning with the experiments of the 1950s and 1960s and culminating in the HITECH act, including the introduction of the concept of “meaningful use” of electronic health records.

• Unit 1: Evolution of Health IT: The Early Years
• Unit 2: Evolution of Health IT: The Modern Era
• Unit 3: Evolution of Health IT: The HITECH Act
• Unit 4: Evolution of Public Health Informatics
• Unit 5: Evolution of Nursing Informatics and HIT Tools Used By Nursing
• Unit 6: History of Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
• Unit 7: History of Clinical Decision Support Systems
• Unit 8: History of CPOE and E-Prescribing
• Unit 9: History of Health Information Exchange
• Unit 10: History of Privacy and Security Legislation
• Unit 11: Software Certification and Regulation
• Unit 12: History of Mobile Computing
• Unit 13: History of Telemedicine
• Unit 14: History of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety
• Unit 15: Payment-Related Issues and the Role of HIT
• Unit 16: History of Health IT Organizations

Enrol on this Course for Free!

What is Health Informatics?

Nursing Informatics Salary

Health Informatics Salary

Health Informatics Careers

Health Informatics Jobs

Health Informatics Courses