Online Master of Science in Health Informatics

The Data Science track provides students with the tools to analyze, extract and present data to the health care community. With these skills, graduates can help health care organizations make well informed data-driven decisions.

The Data Science Track will:

• Teach you how to extract information from large and complex datasets, visualize it and communicate it to C-suite executives and health care providers alike.
• Enable you to help health care systems and organizations with performance improvement, especially in relation to quality measurement, patient outcomes and financial performance.

The Data Science Track is for:

• Professionals who want to learn data analysis (pattern identification, hypothesis testing, risk assessment) and prediction (machine learning models that predict the likelihood of an event occurring in the future, based on known variables).
• Those who want to manage large databases with multiple types of data from different sources.
• Those who want to use data from multiple sources to guide their decision-making.

Potential Career Paths through the Data Science Track:

• Chief Information Officers, Chief Data Officers, Chief Analytics Officers, Chief Medical Information Officers, Chief Medical Officers, Chief Research Officers, Chief Quality Officers, Chief Actuaries
• Directors and Managers of Data and Analytics, Data Warehousing, Data Governance, Business Intelligence, Population Health, Clinical Research, Clinical Informatics, Clinical Decision Support, Financial Analytics, Process Improvement, Operations, Precision Medicine
• Data Analysts, Data Architects, Data Scientists, Data Stewards, Data Integration Architects
• Statistical Analysts, Medical Informaticists, Actuaries
• Database and Data Warehouse Developers, Administrators, Architects
• Health IT System Developers

The Health Informatics (HI) track prepares students for the evaluation and management of health information technologies and systems. Graduates of this track analyze, design and evaluate health information systems. They may also perform data analytics projects to improve the quality of health care and reduce the cost of health care services.

Health Care Supervision and Management (HSM), a track in the Master of Science in Health Informatics program, provides students an opportunity to acquire advanced skills in administration and supervisory management in health care, long-term care, and rehabilitation. Students in this track develop the combined skills of health care management and organizational leadership. With these skills, graduates can implement their leadership and business acumen to enact change in a complex and dynamic health care landscape.

The Registered Health Care Information Administrator (RHIA) track gives students the academic accreditation necessary to sit for the RHIA exam, which will allow students to serve as an integral link between care providers, payers and patients. With these skills, graduates can help manage protected health information, including its input, security, transmission and storage.

The RHIA track:

• Centers around health information management – including revenue cycle, privacy and security and clinical documentation requirements (content that goes into electronic health records).
• Provides graduates with the skills to create and manage databases, oversee organization of data and ultimately act as the business intelligence component of a health care organization.
• Helps professionals in any health-related area become directors, managers or team leaders in various health care settings.
• Enables graduates to develop the interpersonal and interdisciplinary skills needed to work alongside multiple people and teams throughout the healthcare organization, communicate with C-suite executives and ultimately take on leadership roles.

The RHIA Track is for:

• Professionals looking to gain specialized experience and be promoted in their field.
• Anyone whose goals include leading and supervising teams or departments, from any background (related or not).
• Those who want to work as a critical link between care providers, payers and patients, specifically:
• Becoming an expert in managing patient health information and medical records, administering computer information systems, collecting and analyzing patient data and using classification systems and medical terminologies.
• Possessing comprehensive knowledge of medical, administrative, ethical and legal requirements and standards related to health care delivery and the privacy of protected patient information.
• Managing people and operational units, participating in administrative committees and preparing budgets.
• Interacting with all levels of an organization – clinical, financial, administrative and information systems – that employ patient data in decision-making and everyday operations.

Potential Career Paths:

Job opportunities for RHIAs exist in multiple settings throughout the health care industry. These include the continuum of care delivery organizations, including hospitals, multispecialty clinics and physician practices, long-term care, mental health and other ambulatory care settings. The profession has seen significant expansion in nonpatient care settings, with careers in managed care and insurance companies, software vendors, consulting services, government agencies, education and pharmaceutical companies.

• Health administrators
• Project managers
• Systems analysts
• EHR implementation specialists
• Consultants
• Product managers
• Auditors (abuse and fraud)
• Quality control specialists
• App developer
• Executive level or leadership roles

Accreditation:

The Health Information Management accreditor of the University of Pittsburgh is the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The College’s accreditation for a Master’s degree in Health Informatics with an RHIA track has been reaffirmed through 2022-2023. All inquiries about the program’s accreditation status should be directed by mail to CAHIIM, 200 East Randolph Street, Suite 5100, Chicago, IL, 60601; by phone at (312) 235-3255; or by email at info@cahiim.org .

Results from the 2019 outcomes assessment reported to CAHIIM in the 2020 Annual Program Report (APAR) indicate:

• Graduate Program: RHIA track
• Graduation Rate: 100%
• Employment Rate: 100%
• National Certification Exam (RHIA) Pass Rate: 100%

• HI 2020 – Practical Statistics and Programming Using Python & R (3 credits – required)
• HI 2451 – Database Design and Big Data Analytics (3 credits – required)
• HI 2454 – Data Science in Health Informatics (3 credits – required)
• HI 2453 – Data Analytics and Machine Learning in Health Science (3 credits – required)

• HI 2450 – Security, Privacy, Legal & Ethical Issues in Health IT (3 credits – required)
• HI 2210 – Health Information and the Health Care System (3 credits – required)
• HI 2452 – Digital Health (3 credits – required)
• HI 2020 – Practical Statistics and Programming Using Python & R (3 credits – recommended elective) or
• HI 2650 – Practical Research and Evaluation Methods (3 credits – recommended elective)

• HI 2210 – Health Information and the Health Care System (3 credits – required)
• HI 2632 – Leadership and Project Management (3 credits – required)
• HI 2231 – Talent Management and Human Resources (3 credits – required)
• HI 2230 – Financial Management and Health Care Reimbursement (3 credits – recommended elective)

• HI 2210 – Health Information and the Health Care System (3 credits – required)
• HI 2410 – Health Vocabulary, Terminology & Classification Systems (3 credits – required)
• HI 2230 – Financial Management and Health Care Reimbursement (3 credits – required)
• HI 2452 – Digital Health (3 credits – recommended elective)