Course syllabus for Health Informatics

Course syllabus adopted 2021-02-10 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameHälsoinformatik
  • CodeSSY115
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPBME
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyElectrical Engineering
  • DepartmentELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 10116
  • Maximum participants60
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsYes

Credit distribution

0107 Project 7.5 c
Grading: TH
7.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

Go to coursepage (Opens in new tab)

Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

The courses SSY180 Medicine for the engineer and SSY090/SSY091 Biomedical instrumentation are highly recommended as background to this course. Health Informatics applications and solutions rely to a very large extent on ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and therefore personal interest and courses related to this area are valuable as background. Group project work and home assignments are important parts of the course. Therefore it is strongly recommended that the students have previous experience from project work and report writing.

Aim

The overall aim of the course is to provide healthcare providers and healthcare related industry with people having skills and prerequisites to design and implement Health Informatics solutions, inside as well as outside the hospital environment.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

  • Explain the concept of the term Health Informatics, emphasizing its wide and cross disciplinary nature, and discuss concepts like eHealth, mHealth, digital health, digitalization and assistive technology.
  • Explain the role and implications of Health Informatics in today's and tomorrow's health care environment.
  • Describe possibilities and challenges of Health Informatics systems, and its impact on the society as a whole.
  • Describe the importance of ethical considerations, legislation and patient integrity when designing and implementing Health Informatics solutions.
  • Describe some major existing international standards applicable to Health Informatics, and explain the needs for standardization and interfacing between various systems.
  • Describe, plan and design a generic Health Informatics solution on a basic level, and identify the procedures and challenges of implementing such a system in a healthcare environment.

Content

1. Health Informatics - Fundamentals, Applications, Devices and International Outlook: An overview of Health Informatics fundamentals and review of existing applications and some lessons learned. Examples of commercially available devices, systems and solutions. Introduction to central Health Informatics applications, e.g. EPR (Electronic Patient Records), CDSS (Clinical Decision Support Systems) and mHealth. An overview of international initiatives, research programs and state of the art. Planning and designing Health Informatics applications.

2. Health Informatics Technology and Standards: Covers some of the technology and standards involved in implementing Health Informatics applications. Overview of protocols and standards, e.g. HL7, SNOMED CT and DICOM. 

3. Healthcare Organization, Legislation, Clinical, Patient and Ethical Perspectives: Considers the perspective of the clinician and the patient, as well as the impact on the healthcare process, from various Health Informatics solutions. Overview of the local and the national Healthcare organization. Overview of relevant national law and regulations. Consideration of advantages and disadvantages of Health Informatics systems and their impact on organizational issues, change management and ethics.

Organisation

The course is based on compulsory lectures with invited expert speakers from industry, academia and other healthcare related stakeholders. A quiz is provided for each lecture. A supervised group project work and a task to design an Health Informatics app are also essential parts of the course.

Literature

Lecture notes, hand-outs/distributed material and recommended articles, reports and other sources.

Examination including compulsory elements

To pass the course, attendance at lectures, approved app task and an approved group project are required. There will also be a voluntary home exam. The examination grade will be calculated according to an equation weighting the different parts of the course: attendance, quizzes, app task, project, and home exam.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.