Course Title: Healthcare Information Systems

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Healthcare Information Systems

Credit Points: 12

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
ISYS2456	City Campus	Postgraduate	620H Business IT and Logistics	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2011, Sem 1 2012

Course Coordinator: Professor Nilmini Wickramasinghe

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5783

Course Coordinator Email:nilmini.wickramasinghe@rmit.edu.au

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

This course assumes that you have:

• the ability to comprehend and communicate information in accurate, clear, concise and coherent English;
• the ability to analyse a given question or problem and to be an independent and a self-directed learner.

Course Description

This elective course addresses the use of information technologies (IT) in healthcare organizations. The focus is on the use of informatics, computers and other information and telecommunications technologies to support effective and efficient healthcare delivery.
In this course students will first understand the objectives and critical issues relating to multi-spectral healthcare operations and what is paramount to consider when trying to ensure effective and efficient healthcare delivery. From these considerations the IS/IT needs to facilitate and support superior healthcare operations will be identified. Then, the course will move to discuss appropriate IS/IT initiatives and the key success factors in health informatics. Research skills applicable to Business IT research form an integral part of the course.
 

If you are undertaking this course in Melbourne from semester 2, 2012 onwards your teacher will advise you if you require access to a computer for the course. It is recommended that you have access to a mobile computing device to allow greater flexibility in terms of where you can work on campus outside class times.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Successful completion of this course indicates that you have developed the following capabilities:

Skills in designing and developing appropriate IS/IT solutions for healthcare delivery
As a result of these learning outcomes you will develop capabilities, so that you can:
• Effectively evaluate and critique healthcare information
• Perform case analyses in healthcare informatics
• Understand and critique the use and role of technologies to facilitate medical informatics pursuits as well as be able to suggest appropriate technologies to enable the realization of the value proposition for healthcare
• Understand the role of healthcare technologies in realizing the value proposition for healthcare
• Have an appreciation of the ethical issues pertaining to health informatics

Research and analytical skills
You will learn the basic research tools for business. You will be required to integrate work and life experiences in completing this course. This will require you to consolidate your research skills by identifying, organising and managing information, determine its importance to and impact on the given task, analyse and reason logically and interpret data and reports to made effective recommendations for evaluating and assessing appropriate initiatives in healthcare contexts. You will also develop the capacity to reflect on your learning and understand the implications of your actions.

Problem solving and analytical skills
You will be able to consolidate the problem identification and solving skills you have developed throughout your program in the analysis of situations to identify problems, draw on your cross-disciplinary knowledge to reason logically and to develop plans for action. You will also need to understand the implications of your decisions and their impact on performance

Communication skills
Both written and verbal communication skills will be consolidated in this course in both class activities and assessment tasks

Interpersonal Skills
Your ability to present, discuss and defend your views, together with effective listening will be consolidated in both a class and a team-work environment
Collaboration in an effective team environment
Your ability to effectively contribute to the success of ‘real world’ face to face and virtual teams using research data will consolidate your capacity to negotiate, be flexible in your thinking and understand group dynamics
Capacity to operate independently
A major contribution to your team performance will rely on you developing and then utilising self-management skills.
 

You will be able to
• Develop an understanding of basic research skills applicable to the design, evaluation and implementation of appropriate Healthcare Information Systems (HIS) ;
• Define and analyse the impact, strengths and weaknesses of various HIS in any healthcare settings
• Write reports on the roles of HIS and their impact on facilitating superior healthcare delivery;
• Design a suitable HIS architecture;
• Use research methods and analysis together to plan the successful implementation of an appropriate HIS solution;
• Design a research project to measure the impact of and/or assess the benefit of an HIS solution;
• Design a research project to measure the effectiveness of the adoption of a particular HIS into a specific healthcare setting;
• Identify the major barriers and facilitors, strengths and weaknesses associated with a specific HIS
• Write and present reports which explain the importance of any tele-health/e-health/m-health solution.
 

Overview of Learning Activities

This course follows a seminar/lecture/ studio teaching scheme where the lecturer and students collectively resolve problems based on research tools, critical issues relating to HIS in a myriad of healthcare settings, to build and then report on resolutions to identified problems.
The learning activities may incorporate lecture, and/or seminar mode and/or studio teaching and learning with a formalised team structure and a self-directed, action-learning process. You will form teams. Each team will be responsible for analysis of specific problems on a weekly and then extended basis. Each team will work in relation to other teams and use the studio setting to work on collective and single-team based resolutions to problems. The studio will also enable students to work in a discussion/IT setting to mirror best practice in healthcare settings. All projects will be reported verbally and in writing and will involve the application of IT solutions to reporting.
You will also utilise appropriate technology to gather and analyse data and information.
 

Overview of Learning Resources

You will be advised of the prescribed text for this course and other reading materials upon enrolment.
Information will also be provided online using the Learning Hub of the Distributed Learning System (DLS). The Learning Hub gives access to important announcements; staff contacts details, the teaching schedule, assessment timelines and a variety of important teaching and learning materials. The Learning Hub can be found at http://www.rmit.edu.au/learninghub.

RMIT university will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems.
 

Overview of Assessment

The assessment for this course may consist of a combination of group work, report writing, oral presentations, examinations, virtual report writing and personal reflection. Both independent learning and collaborative group work are assessed. This breadth of assessment provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge and the development of the capabilities detailed above.

Feedback will be provided throughout the semester in class and/or online discussions, through individual and group feedback on practical exercises and by individual consultation.

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or the Disability Liaison Unit if you would like to find out more.

Your course assessment conforms to the RMIT university assessment principles, regulations, policies and procedures which are described and referenced in a single document Assessment Policies and Procedures manual. An 1.2.4 Assessment Charter section of this document summarises your responsibilities as an RMIT student as well as those of your teachers.