Program Overview
Health Informatics, MS
The master's in health informatics provides students with a graduate education to advance careers as leaders and innovators in health informatics. The program combines healthcare, medical, and information technology domains, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration between these fields. The goal is to prepare graduates to analyze complex health data, manage evolving health information systems, and support the adoption and use of electronic health records.
Program Overview
This 30-36 credit graduate degree program prepares students to become health information systems specialists, health data analysts, healthcare managers, and consultants. Graduates may be employed in health information technology firms, healthcare organizations, and public health entities. The program provides a basis for students who wish to continue their education toward a doctoral degree in health informatics or a related field.
Concentrations
The program consists of four concentrations:
- Health Data Analytics
- Health Informatics Management
- Population Health Informatics
- Quality Analytics
Concentration Details
Health Data Analytics Concentration
Provides students with a deep understanding of health data, analytic methods, and data mining, as well as data science skills applied to clinical, administrative, and consumer-generated health data.
Health Informatics Management Concentration
Provides students with knowledge and skills needed to manage evolving health information systems and support the increased adoption and use of electronic health records.
Public Health Informatics Concentration
Provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to collect, analyze, and manage population-level data and understand electronic tools used in public and population health.
Quality Analytics Concentration
Prepares analysts to work on quality of care, using electronic health records, and applies analytical methods for measuring severity of illness and conducting root cause analysis.
Admissions
Requirements
Applicants must hold a BA or BS degree or equivalent from an accredited institution. Although the field or major is not a criterion for admission, applicants are expected to have taken basic-level computer science/technology, mathematics, and statistics. An undergraduate grade point average of 3.25 or above is preferred. Applicants with at least 1 year of professional work experience in a medical or health-related organization or information technology are preferred.
Policies
Transfer of Credit
Students may transfer a maximum of 12 credits from graduate courses taken at other institutions or at Mason in non-degree status, subject to university and college policies.
Degree Requirements
Total Credits
30-36 credits are required for the program.
Core Courses
- HI 618: Computational Tools in Health Informatics (3 credits)
- HI 670: Introduction to Health Informatics (3 credits)
- HI 671: Health Care Databases (3 credits)
- HI 672: Health Data: Vocabulary and Standards (3 credits)
- GCH 500: Foundations of Public Health (3 credits)
Concentration Courses
Each concentration has specific course requirements:
Health Data Analytics Concentration
- HI 719: Advanced Statistics for Health Informatics (3 credits)
- HI 780: Data Mining in Health Care (3 credits)
- HI 823: Causal Analysis Comparative Effectiveness (3 credits)
- Electives (6 credits)
Health Informatics Management Concentration
- HAP 602: Statistics in Health Services Management (3 credits)
- HI 613: Project Management in Health Information Technology (3 credits)
- HI 677: Health Care Security Policy (3 credits)
- Electives (6 credits)
Public Health Informatics Concentration
- HI 717: Population Health Informatics (3 credits)
- HI 718: Consumer Health Informatics (3 credits)
- HI 719: Advanced Statistics for Health Informatics (3 credits)
- Electives (6 credits)
Quality Analytics Concentration
- HI 719: Advanced Statistics for Health Informatics (3 credits)
- HI 725: Statistical Process Control in Healthcare (3 credits)
- Electives (9 credits)
Practicum or Thesis
After completing coursework, students choose between the Capstone Practicum and Master's Thesis, both requiring two semesters to complete.
Bachelor's Degree (any)/Health Informatics, Accelerated MS
Highly-qualified undergraduates may be admitted to the bachelor's/accelerated master's program, obtaining a bachelor's degree in any discipline and an MS in Health Informatics in an accelerated timeframe after completing a minimum of 141 credits.
BAM Pathway Admission Requirements
Applicants must meet the admission standards and application requirements for graduate study, with a minimum of 60 credits completed and two letters of recommendation from a faculty member.
Accelerated Master's Admission Requirements
Students already admitted to the BAM Pathway will be admitted to the MS program if they have met specific criteria, including a 3.25 overall GPA and a 3.50 GPA in major coursework.
Accelerated Pathway Requirements
To maintain the integrity and quality of both undergraduate and graduate degree programs, undergraduate students may take advanced standing courses or reserve credit courses with approval from the program director.