Health Informatics
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The Master of Health Informatics (MHI) program is a comprehensive program that prepares students for professional roles in the field of health informatics within the healthcare organizations. The program is offered through the School of Health Sciences in the College of Health and Human Sciences.
Master of Health Informatics (M.H.I.) in Health Informatics
To earn the MHI, students must complete 39 credit hours of the core MHI courses including: MHI 510, MHI 511, MHI 515, MHI 525, MHI 531, MHI 536, MHI 551, MHI 566, MHI 580, MHI 581, MHI 583, MHI 584, MHI 585, and MHI 593 - Advanced Research (3-6 CH)
To complete the health informatics program, the course of instruction consists of 42 credit hours.
Course material covers topics specific to the healthcare informatics field including, but not limited to, healthcare systems, knowledge management, personnel development and oversight, electronic health records, strategic leadership and marketing, legal and ethical foundations, health promotion and evaluation, systems design, modeling, database management, security, privacy, health information exchange, and health economics. Upon completion of the program, students are expected to be equipped to operate effectively in administrative roles in healthcare organizations. Special project assignments, case readings, presentations, and journal article reviews are an integral part of the curriculum. Course delivery may be via synchronous and asynchronous methods.
All students graduating from the MHI program will be required to meet the qualifications of the Graduate School at SIUC. Students will be required to complete a culminating scholarly work which includes a research paper.
Students must earn a “B” in all required MHI courses. If a student earns less than a B in any MHI course, they may retake it only once. If they earn less than a “B” the second time, they are dropped from the MHI program due to unsatisfactory academic performance. Students dropped due to unsatisfactory academic performance will not be allowed re-entry into the MHI program at a later date.
On-campus MHI courses are restricted to on-campus students in the graduate programs within the School of Health Sciences with MHI advisor approval. Online MHI courses are restricted to online students within the School of Health Sciences with advisor approval. The MHI program strictly prohibits students from changing delivery formats unless there is a well-documented medical reason presented to the Program Director to do so.
Transfer courses from other academic institutions are not permitted as equivalencies to the core MHI courses.
A 2.7/4.0 GPA (SIU calculation) from the student’s undergraduate program is required for admission to the MHI program. Students with a 2.5-2.7/4.0 undergraduate GPA (SIU calculation) may enter as a non-declared student, following Graduate School policies, and will be allowed to take up to 9 credit hours of MHI courses. At the end of the 9 credit hours, the student must hold a 3.0/4.0 GPA to be then admitted to the MHI program. Students not meeting the 3.0/4.0 GPA at the end of the 9 credit hours will not be allowed to take any other MHI courses.
All international applicants must demonstrate proficiency in the English language by submitting an approved English Language Competency Test score with their application. These applicants must have one of the following minimum scores for consideration:
- 550 on the paper-based TOEFL
- 80 on the internet-based TOEFL
- 6.5 on the IELTS
- 105 on the Duolingo English Exam
This applies to all international applicants. No waivers or exemptions will be provided. Students must provide a copy of their scorecard, verifying test results, with their application to the MHI. Given the accelerated nature of the MHI, the academic program does not agree to or approve late arrivals.
M.H.A./ M.H.I. Concurrent Degrees
The Masters in Health Informatics (MHI) program offers the student an excellent opportunity to earn two Masters degrees for just 21 additional credit hours. For the student who is interested in advancing their career by also earning the Masters in Health Administration (MHA), additional courses beyond the MHI that the student must successfully complete with a “B” or higher include:
- MHA 520 – Healthcare Policy (3 CH)
- MHA 555 – Theories of Health Promotion and Evaluation (3 CH)
- MHA 556 – Individual Research in Healthcare (3 CH)
- MHA 575 – Current Events Seminar in Healthcare (3 CH)
- MHA 582 – Healthcare Economics (3 CH)
- MHA 593 – Advanced Research in Healthcare (3 CH)
-AND-, one of the following:
- HCM 463 – Environment of Care (3 CH), -OR-
- HCM 464 – Infection Prevention Informatics (3 CH), -OR-
- HCM 465 – Infection Prevention & Control Operations (3 CH).
Students interested in the concurrent degree option must meet with the program’s graduate advisor to design a plan for completing both degrees. All Graduate School policies and procedures apply as well as program policies and procedures for each the MHA and MHI as noted in the Graduate Catalog, and/or each individual program’s Student Handbook, and/or each individual program website.
Certificate in Healthcare Informatics
The Certificate in Healthcare Informatics is open to post-bachelor level students holding a degree in healthcare management/administration (or closely related field) and/or a bachelor’s level degree and license in a clinical specialty. It is designed to provide the knowledge and skills as germane to healthcare informatics in patient care environments. Well suited as a graduate preparatory certificate, courses are specific to the collection, analysis, and interoperability of data in patient care environments for the purposes of improving operations, patient care delivery, and supporting regulatory expectations specific to the field of healthcare. Students must complete 18 credit hours of graduate level study, all at SIUC, with a "B" or above in all required courses which includes:
- MHI 510: Effective Healthcare Operations (3 CH) (Same as MHA 510)
- MHI 515: Systems Analysis, Design, and Database Management in Healthcare (3 CH)
- MHI 525: Health Informatics Applications and Project Management (3 CH)
- MHI 566: Managing Health Information (3 CH) (Same as MHA 566)
- MHI 581: Health Information Exchange (3 CH)
- MHI 584: Consumer Informatics (3 CH)
Students earning a grade lower than a "B" may retake individual courses only once. If a grade of "B" or higher is not received on the second attempt of an individual course, the student is removed from the certificate program due to unsatisfactory academic performance.
For more information contact:
School of Health Sciences
Phone: 618-453-7211
Email: health.sciences@siu.edu