UMBC Graduate Health Information Technology Program

Program Overview June 5, 2014

Dr. Koru Interim Program Director

www.umbc.edu/hit

4/23/2014

Agenda

• UMBC

• Program Director and Faculty

• Why Health IT?

• Opportunities

• Why Health IT at UMBC

• The M.P.S. Degree

• UMBC Graduate School Policies and Designations

• Application Process

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University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)

UMBC = An honors university • Attracts motivated students and rewards them with all the resources and

attention they need to succeed. • Encourage interaction between faculty and students in research activates • One of the most diverse universities in the U.S. • Recognized for its research and technology programs

US News and World Report Best Colleges

• No.1 “Up and Coming University” for five years running (2009-2013). • “Up-and-Coming Schools", like #1 UMBC, are “making the most promising and

innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty, and student life.” • UMBC has been named the top national university for “promising and

innovated changes.”

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Health IT Interim Program Director Dr. Koru (gkoru@umbc.edu)

• Graduate Program Interim Director | Associate Professor of Information Systems • PhD in Computer Science (2004) • MS in Software Engineering (2002) • MS in Computer Engineering (1998) • BSc in Computer Engineering (1996)

Some Career Highlights: • Research area: Health Information Technology • Member of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) • Serves in the Policy Board for Health Information Exchange organized by the

State of Maryland’s Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) • Specific research interests: health IT in home healthcare and hospice, health IT

supported healthcare quality and process improvement, health data analytics, health information privacy and security, user interface design for health IT, and software engineering.

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Our Faculty

• Instructors prominent in the Health IT industry, Academia, and Government fields.

• Information Systems Department Members

• Conduct cutting edge research in Health IT funded by Department of Health and Human Services

– Health IT Lab @ UMBC http://hit.umbc.edu

• Have real-world experience in industry and research

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Why Health IT?

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Why Health IT? • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

– HITECH: Health Information Technology for Economical and Clinical Health

– Incentives through Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for Electronic Health Records Adoption

– Affordable Care Act and Associated Changes

• Patient Centered Continuum of Care

• Value-Based Payment

• Accountable Care Organizations

• All of these with technological innovations such as big data, mobile computing, cloud computing, social networking, etc. raised expectations on Health IT to meet the needs of this changing landscape.

• But, is it so straightforward?

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Health IT: Opportunities and Challenges

• Expectations from politicians and public are high.

• Leveraging information technology in healthcare has never been straightforward: See healthcare.gov example.

• Reasons are not only technical:

– Complex workflows and data models

– Difficulty with demonstrating usefulness and ease of use

– Continuous stream of changes and managing them

– High stakes and lack of agreement among stakeholders

• Health Information Exchange, e.g., is a non-technical problem in its core.

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Health IT Adoption

• Success relies on understanding various aspects:

– People

– Organizations

– Technology

– Environment

• Health IT MPS Degree is designed to build up knowledge in all of the above aspects.

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Job Opportunities • Health IT Implementation in Healthcare

• Health IT Development

– Clinical settings, ambulatory care, home & hospice

– Consumer health IT (e-health)

• Medical Devices

• Business Process Intelligence (BPI)

– Insurance Sector

– Public Health

• Legal Firms

• Local, State, and Federal Governments

• Entrepreneurial Initiatives

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Why Health IT at UMBC?

• UMBC is uniquely positioned to provide education and training that respond to the state’s need for qualified technical professionals in the field of healthcare.

• Employers in the Baltimore, DC, and Northern VA region exhibit greater growth in health informatics and Health Information Technology positions than employers nationally; the region experienced a 44 percent increase in the total number of positions of Health Informatics and Health Information Technology positions from 2007-2012.

• UMBC’s Health IT program is sensitive to working professionals and work life balance

• UMBC’s Department of Information Systems has a long tradition, history and success in Health IT

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The M.P.S. Degree This degree is aimed at current professionals and not necessarily entry-level recent graduates or career-changers.

• Mission: Empowering professionals to leverage information technology for quality healthcare.

• Existing IT/health care experience

• Leadership/supervisory/managerial aspirations.

• Takes an interdisciplinary approach encompassing both discipline and ‘soft’ skill development necessary to function effectively in the workplace.

• Willingness and ability to learn in different areas

• Does NOT require a formal masters’ thesis.

• On-campus currently

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MPS Health IT: For Whom?

• Healthcare professionals

• Computer Science professionals

• Information Systems professionals

• Other experienced professionals in the Health Information Technology field

• Private and public sector professionals

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M.P.S. in Health Information Technology

Six Required Core Courses (18 credits):

• Health Informatics – I

• Health Informatics – II

• Health IT Law & Ethics

• Health IT Policy & Administration

• Health Data Analytics

• Capstone Project

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M.P.S. in Health Information Technology

Four Elective Courses (12 credits) -- choose four, such as:

• Health IT Implementation

• Health Information Exchange and Interoperability

• Health Information Privacy & Security

• Public Health Informatics

• Patient Safety & Health IT

• Human Centered Computing in Health IT

• Personalized Medicine

• Quality of Life Technologies

• Process & Quality Improvement with Health IT

• Other Graduate courses approved by Health IT Graduate Program Director

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Important Policies & Designations • Enrollment Classification

– 9 Credits full time, part-time 1-8 credits

• Continuous Registration

– Enrolled every semester in the academic year (fall and spring)

– Leave of Absence is allowed with advisor approval

• Academic Standards

– Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 during course of study

• Transfer Credit

– UMBC’s Graduate School will allow a maximum of 6 graduate credits (two courses) of transfer credits.

– Consent of the program director is required

– Accepted only if there is equivalency

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Admission Requirements

• An undergraduate degree in Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Health Education or a degree related to healthcare professional practice or healthcare management is recommended.

• Statement of Purpose necessary

• Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale

• International students need appropriate visa, TOEFL and GRE (if applicable)

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How To Apply

Apply to UMBC Graduate School:

• Complete and submit the application online at www.umbc.edu/gradschool/admissions/apply.html

• Submit official college transcript(s) to Graduate School

• Experience Data Form

• Application fee ($50 for online application, $70 for paper application)

• Letters of recommendation helpful but not required

• Fall 2014 Application deadline: August 1, 2014

• For more information contact Renee Eisenhuth (reisen@umbc.edu)

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Thank you for Participating!

Program/Academic/Career questions:

Dr. Koru

Interim Program Director

gkoru@umbc.edu

Application/Administrative questions:

Renee Eisenhuth

Interim Program Coordinator

reisen@umbc.edu

4/23/2014