Health Care Information Systems, B.S.

Health Care Information Systems (HCIS) entails a wide array of skills needed to use and support computer systems used by hospitals, clinics, and health systems to provide care to the sick and injured. The field calls for professionals with knowledge of the health care industry, network administration, database administration, data querying and analysis, and support of clinical information systems, including the electronic medical record (EMR). Graduates will be qualified to take a leadership role in the information systems services of a health care organization, a health data analysis team, or an entrepreneurial venture in the health care industry. All courses specified in the major must be completed with a grade of “C” or better. A minor is not required to complete this degree program.

Graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Health Care Information Systems degree program will be able to demonstrate ability in the following key competencies:

• Describe the various components of the health care system in the United States and the interrelationships between such components;
• Demonstrate the ability to assess, prioritize, and formulate a management response to issues in legal compliance, human resources, financial management, and formulate a strategic plan for a health care organization;
• Define the various components of the information systems used in a health care organization, the data they gather, their use in providing patient care and supporting administrative functions, the interrelationships between applications, and how combinations of data from various applications can be used to address management challenges in today’s health care organization;
• Demonstrate basic skills in computer device networking, telecommunications, information systems security, database administration, clinical information application support, and business web site design; and
• Synthesize understanding of a business or clinical issue in a health care organization and formulate a plan of action to use information systems resources to address that issue.

Advising

• Students can contact the Department of Health Professions at 303-556-3130 or the Department of Computer Information Systems at 303-556-3122 for advising.
• New or transfer students interested in the Bachelor of Science in Health Care Information Systems can also seek advising through the College of Professional Studies Advising Office at 303-556-3304.

The B.S. in Health Care Information Systems (HCIS) major consists of the following components: