HIP 520 Medical Informatics

Credits: 2
Medical informatics is described as “the rapidly developing scientific field that deals with the storage, retrieval, and optimal use of biomedical information, data, and knowledge for problem solving and decision making.” An understanding of medical informatics is crucial to clinical researchers. The widespread adoption of electronic medical records and the emerging standards on which they are based will influence how researchers acquire and use patient data; the revolution in bioinformatics may fundamentally alter how we view and research disease; and growing concerns over confidentiality of health information, most notably HIPAA regulations, determine how patient information is stored and used. Course topics include fundamentals of medical computing, electronic medical records, data interchange and terminology standards, information retrieval from databases, security and confidentiality, and bioinformatics. The course consists of readings and online lectures with assignments that include hands-on use of electronic medical records, decision support applications, and information retrieval systems.

Graded: Pass/No pass
May be taken only once for credit