3 semester credits

There is an increasing need for improvement in the quality of patient care and healthcare management practices, which organizations can now address through the use of information systems and information technology. Through the review of traditional and topical resources, students in this course learn how integrated, computer-based information systems can enable the assessment and documentation of costs and quality. They also learn how these systems can inform decisions that improve care, allow for better management of medical records, enhance supply inventory and management, and improve vendor contracting and management. Students engage in weekly discussions and assignments designed to provide practical applications of content, focusing on electronic medical records and computerized physician order entry, linked information systems across episodes of care, integrated financial and clinical information systems, linkages among electronic information access systems, web-based systems for increasing consumer knowledge, confidentiality of information systems, organizational compliance, and data sets.