Best Universities for Masters certificate program in Nursing and Medical Informatics

Information can be empowering – healthcare professionals equipped with up-to-date knowledge can provide better care for patients, and health consumers possessing needed information can make more informed decisions about their own care. Such empowerment, however, requires that individuals have the ability to access, understand, and use relevant and high quality information to inform their decisions. With the widespread adoption of information and communication technologies, information is increasingly born digital or being digitized, resulting in many new and exciting jobs opening up in areas such as health informatics, health information management, and electronic health records. This trend also presents new opportunities and challenges for both healthcare professionals and consumers. Leveraging the combined strengths and resources of the School of Information and School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), the Health Informatics Certificate Program is a graduate program that prepares students to be ready for the challenges and opportunities provided by these recent developments in healthcare.

The Certificate Program addresses major topics in health informatics. Representative topics may include: the management of health information; application of information and communication technologies to support health services; health informatics in the national, professional, and personal contexts (e.g., meaningful use, HIPAA, HITECH); provider-patient relationships; consumer health informatics; electronic health records; privacy and security; professional and patient education and training; e-health/tele-health/mobile health; and health literacy and health disparities in the e-health era.

Available on campus, online, and in a blended format, the Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics at Boston University’s Metropolitan College (MET) is designed to expose students to modern health IT, including health data collection, processing, and storage. The Health Informatics certificate program primarily focuses on electronic medical data generated and stored in healthcare and public health organizations. By completing BU MET’s certificate program in Health Informatics, you will develop solid knowledge of health information technology and systems, including medical algorithms, electronic health records, clinical decision support, interoperability, data privacy and security, and regulations, while gaining valuable exposure to the latest medical technologies.

The Nursing Informatics, Graduate Certificate blends nursing science with knowledge and skills in information science, business management, and healthcare to prepare the student to utilize nursing informatics concepts to support decision making, work flows, and improve healthcare outcomes; accelerate the transformation of data into information and knowledge; design, implement, and evaluate health information systems; employ evidence-based strategies to promote data integrity and security; apply business, economic, and entrepreneurial principles to advance strategic business goals; and become an innovative informatics healthcare leader to participate in efforts to improve human health.

Health Informatics refers to the study of information processing as it relates to healthcare. It is concerned with the organization, storage, and structuring of vast quantities of health-related data. In the broader sense it is the process of data-driven knowledge, and then using that knowledge to develop algorithms, models and systems for use in Healthcare delivery, Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research. Examples of Health Informatics applications include Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS), specialized software ranging from information retrieval systems, electronic prescribing linked to electronic health records systems, to more sophisticated decision support tools using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques into drug kinetics, patient risk stratification and the like.

The Healthcare Informatics Certificate Program is specifically designed to quickly build up competencies in this exciting new field especially for those seeking a career change or advancement. Graduates of the Certificate program will be able to help identify information technology needs in their work environment, select appropriate off-the-shelf technological solutions and make modifications necessary to accomplish both generic and health specialty related activities. They can effectively participate in strategic planning teams on institutional/organizational policies and investments of information technology in patient care and treatment systems, patient management systems and such.

The Health Informatics Certificate is open to graduate students in good standing, and applicants to the graduate non-degree program, who wish to complement their own disciplinary studies with foundational and applied knowledge in informatics. Students must completed a minimum of 18 s.h. for the Informatics Certificate with at least 9 hours in Foundations of Informatics, and 9 hours in Disciplinary Requirements.

If you are interested in a course for the certificate program that is not on the coursework list, first speak with your advisor and then submit the alternate course to the program coordinator for subprogram review. The approval process for a course as well as for the certificate itself should be initiated one semester prior to registering for the course or receiving the certificate.

Non-degree students will be assigned an advisor after their application and admission to the G9 program, but are encouraged to work with the IGPI Program Coordinator on their initial plan of study.

Health Informatics is "the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management and planning."

Simply put, Health Informatics allows health professionals to effectively use technology to provide superior patient care by staying organized and up to date.

Drexel's accredited online Certificate in Healthcare Informatics is designed for information professionals, clinical personnel and health care support personnel who want to increase their knowledge of health information technology and prepare for the management of the complex social and organizational issues surrounding this major change in health care.

The program provides the groundwork for improved ability to serve as a liaison to clinicians, health care administrators and other health care professionals as well as non-health care professionals in the use of current and emerging computer technologies. Upon graduating, students will be able to take on additional health care IT-related responsibilities or embark upon new careers as managers or developers of health care IT systems.

Develop a solid base of knowledge about healthcare delivery using the 4P framework: patients/people, providers, payers, and population. In this certificate program, you’ll learn the process of transforming data into information, knowledge, and then insight using informatics and analytics. Learn how to collaborate, organize projects, and develop real solutions to current healthcare industry issues, while differentiating between asking and answering research and business questions.

Finish a graduate certificate in as few as six months or take up to a year. Choose your time to completion to get a better sense of what your schedule will look like during your certificate program.

This graduate certificate program in Healthcare Informatics prepares graduates as leaders with advanced competencies essential to informatics within healthcare systems, to address healthcare quality and safety challenges and achieve optimal organizational outcomes. This program is designed for those with a graduate degree and a healthcare background (nursing, medicine, public health, dentistry, nutrition sciences, pharmacy, etc.). No previous experience in healthcare informatics is required. To be eligible to sit for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Informatics Nursing Certification exam students will need to complete the 12 credit option, including the 200 hour, 3 credit practicum.

The College of Nursing at the University of Arizona offers a variety of programs at the graduate level. Programs are available for students pursuing a first degree in nursing, as well as students interested in advancing in the professional as leaders, advanced practice nurses, and nurse researchers.

A 12-credit program for the bachelor’s prepared professionals who want to increase their knowledge of health care informatics. Informatics, a rapidly growing area in healthcare, is multidisciplinary field that integrates nursing science and information science to deliver high quality healthcare. The certificate program is open for both nursing and non-nursing professionals.

The certificate program will enhance the understanding of health care IT-related responsibilities with courses offered by the Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, Dolan School of Business, and the School of Engineering. The certificate program is also great for those who wish to embark upon new careers as man agers or developers of health care systems.

The Health Informatics Graduate Certificate in Temple’s College of Public Health is a 12-credit, online certificate that teaches students the practical skills they need to advance on their current career in healthcare or enter the rapidly expanding field of health informatics.

Health informatics is the application of information technology to healthcare professions with the aim of creating tools and procedures that facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of patients. This field includes the knowledge, skills and tools that enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of healthcare and promote health.

Courses in the program are taught by industry leaders, who will train you to use widely deployed electronic health record systems.

You can complete the certificate entirely online on a part-time basis, finishing the 12 required credits in two years or less.

Tuition rates are set annually by the university and are affected by multiple factors, including program degree level (undergraduate or graduate), course load (full- or part-time), in-state or out-of-state residency and more.