Program Overview
Health Informatics Master of Science Degree
Overview
RIT’s MS in health informatics prepares you to manage health data and apply IT solutions in the fast-growing health care industry.
Program Highlights
- Employers are seeking professionals who can investigate the needs of real people, manage and structure data to fairly represent the world, connect people and data across devices and networks, visualize patterns to support decisions, and ensure that technologies are evaluated with real users.
- Health Informatics is the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption, and application of IT-based innovations in health care services delivery, management, and planning.
- This degree program is designed to equip health care professionals with vital skills to fill emerging health information technology roles.
- This degree program prepares you for success in today's complex health care field through the interplay of people, information, and technology.
Key Features
- Comprehensive foundation in health informatics
- Practical use of data in the health care setting
- Clinical faculty from Rochester Regional Health
- Study with board-eligible practicing physicians
Curriculum
Health Informatics, MS degree, typical course sequence
- First Year
- HCIN-610: Foundations of Human-Computer Interaction (3 credits)
- MEDI-701: Introduction to Health Informatics (3 credits)
- MEDI-704: Practice of Health Care (summer) (3 credits)
- MEDI-735: Clinical Information Systems (3 credits)
- Track Elective (3 credits)
- Second Year
- CINT-628: Introduction to Applied Informatics (3 credits)
- ISTE-764: Project Management (3 credits)
- MEDI-788: Capstone in Health Informatics (3 credits)
- Track Elective (6 credits)
- Total Semester Credit Hours: 30
Admissions and Financial Aid
Application Details
- Complete an online graduate application.
- Submit copies of official transcript(s) (in English) of all previously completed undergraduate and graduate course work, including any transfer credit earned.
- Hold a baccalaureate degree (or US equivalent) from an accredited university or college. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (or equivalent) is recommended.
- Satisfy prerequisite requirements and/or complete bridge courses prior to starting program coursework.
- Submit a current resume or curriculum vitae demonstrating a minimum of three years of experience in a health care, health-related, or information technology organization.
- Submit a personal statement of educational objectives.
- Submit two letters of recommendation.
- Entrance exam requirements: None
- Complete an interview with the program chair (applies to applicants without health care or IT work experience).
- Submit English language test scores (TOEFL, IELTS, PTE Academic), if required.
English Language Test Scores
- TOEFL: 88
- IELTS: 6.5
- PTE Academic: 60
Cost and Financial Aid
- An RIT graduate degree is an investment with lifelong returns. Graduate tuition varies by degree, the number of credits taken per semester, and delivery method.
- View the general cost of attendance or estimate the cost of your graduate degree.
- A combination of sources can help fund your graduate degree. Learn how to fund your degree.
Online Delivery
- This program is offered exclusively online. Courses are fully asynchronous designed to accommodate working professionals that wish to complete program coursework at a time that suits their personal schedule.
- Coursework deliverables and assignments are typically due by a specific date/time during each week of the course.
Online Degree Information
- Courses in the online Health Informatics MS are all asynchronous and are designed to accommodate working professionals that wish to complete program coursework at a time that suits their personal schedule.
- The program is cohort-based with students starting their studies in the fall, and moving through the course sequence together by taking two 7-week courses and two summer courses.
- This 100% online degree can be completed in two years.
- This degree also includes a three-day in-person immersion on-site at a Rochester healthcare facility.
Online Tuition Eligibility
- The online Health Informatics MS is a designated online degree program that is billed at a 43% discount from our on-campus rate.
- View the current online tuition rate.
Online Study Restrictions for Some International Students
- Certain countries are subject to comprehensive embargoes under US Export Controls, which prohibit virtually ALL exports, imports, and other transactions without a license or other US Government authorization.
- Learners from the Crimea region of the Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria may not register for RIT online courses.
- Nor may individuals on the United States Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the United States Commerce Department’s table of Deny Orders.
- By registering for RIT online courses, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.
Program Outline
With an increase in the application and use of computing in the health care industry, there is an unprecedented need for professionals who can harness the creative power of information technology to make an impact on the acquisition, storage, management, and retrieval of patient data, as well as access medical data needed to improve patient care, research, and education. A health informatics masters provides professionals with an understanding of formal medical terminology, clinical processes, and guidelines; and an understanding of how information and communication systems can be used to successfully deliver patient information in various health care settings.
RIT’s Master’s in Health Informatics: Offered Exclusively Online
The MS in health informatics applies the creative power of information technology to the information and data needs of health care.
The program is designed for working professionals in diverse health care clinical and technology settings. The curriculum consists of core courses that focus on software development, system integration, data analysis, data intelligence, clinical application building, systems analysis, and project management. The MS in health informatics draws upon the interdisciplinary strengths of the colleges within RIT, along with its health care partner, Rochester Regional Health System (RRH).
The online health informatics MS program includes a three day in-person immersion sesson held onsite at Rochester Regional Health (RRH), a Rochester area health care provider. This valuable, applied learning experience allows you to shadow RRH clinicians to understand disease processes, clinical workflows, and the use of clinical information technology in a real-world health care setting. This onsite component typically occurs in mid-June. If you have questions or concerns about this unique opportunity, please contact the program coordinator.
Program Highlights
Employers are seeking professionals who can investigate the needs of real people, manage and structure data to fairly represent the world, connect people and data across devices and networks, visualize patterns to support decisions, and ensure that technologies are evaluated with real users.
Health Informatics is the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption, and application of IT-based innovations in health care services delivery, management, and planning. This degree program is designed to equip health care professionals with vital skills to fill emerging health information technology roles. This degree program prepares you for success in today's complex health care field through the interplay of people, information, and technology. In this program, you will learn how information is used to advance knowledge and improve health care, preparing you for future computing careers that require more than just programming. Our unique blend of RIT informatics faculty and Rochester Regional Health clinical experts provides students with the data analytics, programming, and clinical experience to combine theory and practice.
Key Features
- Comprehensive foundation in health informatics
- Practical use of data in the health care setting
- Clinical faculty from Rochester Regional Health
- Study with board-eligible practicing physicians
Designed for working professionals, this 100% online degree may be completed in two years. We offer two 7-week courses per semester and two summer courses. An optional 7-week onsite immersive session at Rochester Regional Health provides the opportunity for experiential learning.
A Health Informatics Curriculum Packed with High-Demand Skills
- Data Science: Demand for data science skills will grow 112% and machine learning by 102%.
- Data Analytics: Data analysis skills will grow 82% and big data skills by 22%.
- Process Design: Quality assurance and control skills are growing by 40%.
Students are also interested in: Data Science MS, Business Analytics MS
Curriculum for Health Informatics MS
Health Informatics, MS degree, typical course sequence
| Course | Sem. Cr. Hrs. | |
|---|---|---|
| First Year | ||
| HCIN-610 | Foundations of Human-Computer Interaction |
3 |
Human-computer interaction (HCI) is a field of study concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them. This course surveys the scope of issues and foundations of the HCI field: cognitive psychology, human factors, interaction styles, user analysis, task analysis, interaction design methods and techniques, and evaluation. This course will focus on the users and their tasks. (This class is restricted to degree-seeking graduate students or those with permission from instructor.) Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring). | ||
| MEDI-701 | Introduction to Health Informatics |
3 |
This course provides a rigorous introduction to the principles of medical informatics. The focus of this course is on the study of the nature of medical information and its use in clinical practice and clinical quality improvement. Key topics include: the electronic medical record (EMR) and its impact on health care delivery, the Internet and mobile computing as sources of medical information, Health care information systems, the software development lifecycle, the importance of the informatics specialists in medicine and the various roles they can play, and government economic incentives and policy issues in healthcare such as privacy, confidentiality, including health care regulatory and accreditation issues and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Students will participate in online discussion of medical informatics. They will also investigate several topics of interest in the field and provide presentations. (This class is restricted to degree-seeking graduate students or those with permission from instructor.) Lecture 3 (Fall). | ||
| MEDI-704 | Practice of Health Care (summer) |
3 |
This course is an introduction to clinical practice for graduate students in medical informatics. It consists of the study of six medical specialties including shadowing of clinicians in these areas. Students in this course will be part of a team of health care professionals in the selected specialties. They will round with providers, assist with information gathering and dissemination, and observe specialty specific disease process, diagnosis and treatment. They will observe and note clinical workflow and technology usage. They will interact with team members and assist with the acquisition of reference knowledge as appropriate. They will keep a log of cases during the rotation and use this as the basis for their research project and case presentation. (Prerequisites: MEDI-701 or equivalent course and graduate student standing.) Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer). | ||
| MEDI-735 | Clinical Information Systems |
3 |
A study of the component approach to clinical information systems. Students will learn about the evolution of Health Information Systems, and the variety of systems offered by vendors at the present time. The importance of the Electronic Health Record (EHR), the Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and Clinical Decision Support will be stressed as they become the focal points in clinical information systems. The following components will be studied in detail: patient, activity, health record, knowledge, and security components. The role of imaging management and integration will also be reviewed. (Prerequisites: MEDI-701 or equivalent course and graduate student standing.) Lecture 3 (Spring). | ||
Track Elective |
3 | |
| Second Year | ||
| CINT-628 | Introduction to Applied Informatics |
3 |
Informatics is about systems that store, process, analyze, and communicate information. Information begins as data – and of particular interest today is the large data sets that are evolving in many fields. Data sets are acted upon by tools can be applied to a variety of problems across many fields. This course provides an overview of issues within informatics, and common solutions. Through hands-on examples, the course demonstrates a general problem-solving approach from problem identification, algorithm selection, data cleaning, and analysis. Lecture 1 (Spring, Summer). | ||
| ISTE-764 | Project Management |
3 |
Information technology projects require the application of sound project management principles in order to be developed on time, on budget, and on specification. This course takes students through the nine knowledge areas of modern project management and the utilization of project management principles in both traditional and agile environments. Lecture 3 (Fall). | ||
| MEDI-788 | Capstone in Health Informatics |
3 |
This team-based course provides students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned in coursework to design, develop, and implement a solution to a real problem in the medical informatics domain. Project teams also will be responsible for submitting a final project report, and for making a final presentation to project stakeholders. (Completion of first year courses) (Prerequisite: MEDI-701 and MEDI-705 and MEDI-735 and MEDI-704 and HCIN-610 and Graduate standing.) Lecture 3 (Summer). | ||
Track Elective |
6 | |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 30 |
|
Note for online students
The frequency of required and elective course offerings in the online program will vary, semester by semester, and will not always match the information presented here. Online students are advised to seek guidance from the listed program contact when developing their individual program course schedule.
