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Department of Health Informatics

Health Information Management

BINF4311 - Electronic Health Records

Course Description

In this course, students will learn why Electronic Health Records (EHR) are seen as one of the most effective ways to improve healthcare, what information technology infrastructure is needed to support the EHR. Students will obtain hands-on experience to gain an understanding of a comprehensive picture of a patient encounter with an emphasis on quality assurance, legal, and ethical practices of documenting the clinical and administrative tasks that take place. Students will examine how the EHR will affect clinical outcomes and disease management today and into the future. In addition, students will learn about the federal government's efforts to accelerate EHR adoption.

Credits/Modes of Instruction

Credits: 3

Modes of Instruction:
Lecture via PowerPoint
Discussion Forums
Exercises via Canvas
Videos
Online Simulation Labs

Prerequisites

This course is open to students who have completed all 3000 level courses.

Course Goals and Outcomes:

Goals

The goal of the course is to provide students with a broad understanding of the challenges facing healthcare organizations in selecting and implementing an electronic health record system. The course is also designed to introduce the student to components and requirements for an EHR. Topics include meaningful use, COPE, and health information exchange.

Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
Define the EHR according to the federal government definition.
List in the sequence most often implemented the applications contributing to an EHR.
Compare and contrast structured vs. unstructured data.
Distinguish between installation and adoption of EHR.
Describe the input, output, and process components of general systems theory and how these help achieve EHR goals.
Identify the risks and benefits of using open systems for an EHR.
Identify other ways data quality can be incorporated into an EHR, distinguishing between fixed and variable data.