The University Senate of Michigan Technological University

Proposal 8-12
(Voting Units: Academics)

“Proposal for a Master of Science in Medical Informatics”

Submitted by the Computer Network &
System Administration Program School of Technology

1. General description and characteristics of program

This proposal recommends the establishment of a Master of Science in Medical Informatics at Michigan Tech. Medical informatics, also known as health informatics, is an interdisciplinary field of study that emphasizes the use of computer technology to help organize, analyze, and manage information to improve health care.

Healthcare is currently the nation’s largest industry, and its fastest growing field. Medical informatics has been a formal field of study since the early 1970s. Given its complexity, there are several different ways to organize and approach this field. Academic programs generally approach the field from an applications perspective. Medical and health informatics are based upon (a) clinical informatics, with a principal focus on patient care, and (b) general health information systems, with a principal focus on institutional administration. Thus, issues range from storage, retrieval, and interpretation of information in patient care to implementation and management of the complex information systems used in the administration of healthcare. However, as electronic format has become more prevalent in the medical field, security of storage and exchange of sensitive information is critical and enforced by federal regulations. Therefore, designing a medical informatics curriculum with a focus on the security of these systems and data is desirable. The natural environment of medical informatics includes hospitals, physician networks and practice groups, third-party payers and regulatory agencies, and industry suppliers such as pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, and vendors of hospital equipment and medical supplies.

Marquette General Health System (MGHS), a prominent teaching medical institution located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, is expected to partner with the School of Technology to provide a comprehensive education and research entity for the Medical Informatics Graduate Program. Some of the benefits from this partnership include:

· Enhanced validity of research outcomes through application to the current health environment

· Collaborative opportunities for highly competitive research funding that draw on expertise from both academia and the healthcare sector

· An up-to-date Medical Informatics curriculum that reflects current practices and examples within the healthcare field

· Faculty and medical personnel have the opportunity to work together to promote improvements in patient safety

Michigan Tech also plans to collaborate with other academic institutions, healthcare agencies, and insurance companies to conduct research aimed at using technology to help promote better health.

2. Rationale

Medical informatics is the intersection of information science, computer science, and healthcare. This field deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. Established regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) include specific security and compliance provisions for the healthcare sector. The advancement of technology in the medical field, accompanied by the requirement to keep sensitive data confidential, creates the need for a graduate program that offers medical informatics education, and provides coursework and study in the critical area of data security.

Michigan Tech University has established strong and growing research in the areas of medical informatics. Likewise, the university has recently made a significant commitment to education and research in this field by supporting the strategic faculty hiring initiative in the area of Health. The addition of the Medical Informatics Graduate Program would strongly support the Health initiative and align with the strategic plan of the university.

The Masters of Science in Medical Informatics is designed to:

1. deepen students' understanding and knowledge of medical informatics and computer/information security;

2. provide students with research opportunities within the field of medical informatics ;

3. provide a flexible curriculum to allow for both traditional and nontraditional graduate students.

Graduates of this program will be qualified in areas such as, hospital and healthcare systems, health informatics firms, research laboratories, computer/information security firms, medical technology firms, public health organizations, medical software companies, insurance companies, and government organizations.

3. Related Programs

Graduate programs in medical informatics or closely related fields exist at a few other institutions, including South Dakota State University, Drexel University, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and the University of Illinois Chicago. Most of the mentioned programs focus strictly on management and technical aspects of medical informatics. Johns Hopkins provides a similar security infrastructure to accompany their health related courses, but our program has a stronger emphasis on patient records, the electronic medical records system, and the interoperability of these systems. Michigan State University offers online graduate certificate in Public Health Informatics[1], while University of Michigan is currently developing a broad program in health informatics and has identified our proposed medical informatics and referenced the upcoming Michigan Tech’s Medical Informatics Program in their Proposal to Launch a Master’s Degree and Graduate Certificate Program in Health Informatics[2]

4. Projected enrollment

We estimate the Graduate Program to have 10-15 degree-seeking students and 10 non-degree seeking students enrolled over the first three years with an anticipated steady-state enrollment of 20-25 students. We expect 25% of the degree-seeking students in the program to be traditional students and the remainder to be nontraditional students enrolled strictly through distance learning. Non-degree seeking students would take courses that can be applied to professional certifications such as the Certified Professional in Heath Information Technology (CPHIT). The courses are highlighted in the next section.

We strongly believe that the unique structure of the proposed graduate program curriculum and the availability of online course delivery will attract both degree seeking and non-degree seeking students.

5. Scheduling plans

The classes will be taught on the Michigan Tech campus with the majority also offered online. Online courses will be a mix of recorded lectures, virtual labs, webinars, and eLearning (e.g., Adobe Connect). This type of blended learning course meets the needs of distance and on-campus traditional students. Distance education students pursuing Plan B and C programs will be able to complete all the course requirements online, if they choose to do so. The courses not currently selected for online delivery are more suitable for on-campus students who have chosen Plan A and intend to write a thesis.

6. Curriculum design

The Medical Informatics Graduate Program requires 30 credits of course work and research for the MS degree.

Table 1 outlines options and requirements for the proposed Master of Science degree in Medical Informatics. Participating faculty members from across campus will be able to advise Plan A & B students as their schedules permit. Appendixes provide detailed information of recommended course sequence for Plans A, B, and C.

Table 1: MS Degree Requirements

Program	Option	Coursework	Research Credits	Total Credits
MS	Plan A	≥20	≥6-10	≥30
MS	Plan B	≥24	2-6 (to be completed under SAT 5999)	≥30
MS	Plan C	≥33		≥30

Course work – Minimum of 27 credits must be taken from the following Medical Informatics (SAT) courses:

1. SAT 5111 - Security and Privacy (2 credits) * +

2. SAT 5121 - The Healthcare System (2 credits) * +

3. SAT 5131 - System Analysis and Design (3 credits) * +

4. SAT 5141 - Electronic Health Records and e-Health Implementation (3 credits) * +

5. SAT 5151 - Application Integration and Interoperability (3 credits) * +

6. SAT 5161 - Database Management and Security (3 credits) * +

7. SAT 5211 - Java Security (3 credits) +

8. SATEE 5723 - Computer and Network Security (3 credits)

9. SAT 5231 - Intrusion Detection Analysis (3 credits)

10. SAT 5241 - Designing Security Systems (3 credits) +

11. SAT 5251 - Advanced Topics in Network Security (3 credits)

12. SAT 5261 - Health Informatics Decision and Support (3 credits) +

13. SAT 5271 - HIPAA Implications for Public Health (3 credits) +

14. SAT 5281 - Healthcare Security Management (3 credits) +

* CPHIT Certification course

+ Course offered online

Special Topics – 1-3 credits

15. SAT 5990 – Special Topics in Medical Informatics

Graduate Research or Practicum – 6- 10 credits

16. SAT 5998 – Graduate Practicum

17. SAT 5999 - Graduate Research

7. Course descriptions

1. SAT 5111 Security and Privacy

Examines key health information security, policy and procedures. Investigates how to distinguish elements of a security audit and key security policies. Analyzes the roles of people maintaining health information security and explains elements of these roles within the organization. (delivery: G. Hembroff)

Credits: 2.0 Lec-Rec-Lab: (2-0-0)

Semesters Offered: Fall (course offered online)