COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Number: CS187.1

Title: Introduction to Health Informatics
Department/Program: ISCS School: Science and Engineering
Semester: 2nd School Year: 2010-2011
Instructor/s: Sandra A. Lovenia

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

Health is a complex field whose optimal operations are mostly dependent on good quality information. Yet
compared to other industries like banking, agriculture and commerce, health lags behind in the way
technology is used to enhance its operations. The result is an ineffective and inefficient health system which
underutilizes information and communications technology. This course introduces the student to the
Philippine health situation and shows how ICT can be employed to improve health care delivery.

B. COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the end of the course, the students are expected to competently:

 describe the national health situation
 define health informatics and list different examples of IT applications in Health and Medicine
 describe health information systems and their components
 list open source software alternatives for office productivity and content management
 define the important stages in developing information systems, and describe the major outputs in
each stage
 describe application of database and data mining technologies in health context
 propose a health information system solution for a given community

C. COURSE OUTLINE

TOPIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES ACTIVITIES STUDENT OUTPUT

Introduction to Define the course objectives, course Presentation of syllabus Updated student’s profile in
the Course requirements and class policies. Moodle
Orientation on Moodle
Describe and use Moodle
Introduction to describe the national health situation Lecture Internet Research Report
Health
list the different disciplines under
Informatics and Class Discussion Online Discussion entry
health informatics and cite examples
the Philippine
of applications for each
Health Situation Internet Research on IT Health Information System
list different examples of IT application in Health and Proposal
applications in Health and Medicine Medicine, Philippine Health
list trends in IT applications in Health
and Medicine Internet Research and
Online Discussion on
Philippine Health and
Informatics
 TOPIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES ACTIVITIES STUDENT OUTPUT
Information describe health information systems Lecture Hardware/Software proposal
Systems and their components
Fundamentals Class Discussion
define appropriate alternatives in
defining technology components of Case Analysis
an information system
Information Describe the different stages of Lecture Screen Design
Systems systems development process
Development Class Discussion Health Information System
List the different common approaches prototype for a community
in developing information systems Hands-On: Screen Design

Describe the major outputs in the

systems development phases
Managing Health design and create a simple database Lecture Database Design and
Information Prototype
define data mining Class Discussion

Hands-On: Database Design

and Development
Security and Discuss major security and ethical Lecture
Ethical Issues issues related to use of health
information systems Class and Online
Discussions

Internet Research

D. TIMEFRAME
Introduction to the Course Week 1
Introduction to Health Informatics and the Philippine Health Situation Weeks 1 – 3
Information Systems Fundamentals Weeks 4 – 8
Midterm Exam Week 9
Information Systems Development Week 10 – 12
Managing Health Information Weeks 13 – 15
Security and Ethical Issues Weeks 16 – 17
Final Exam Week 18
E. REQUIRED READING

E-Health care information systems: an introduction for students and professionals

by Joseph Tan, Publisher: Jossey-Bass (2005), parts available at Google Books (books.google.com)

F. SUGGESTED READINGS

Medical Informatics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications

By Joseph Tan, Publisher: Information Science Reference (2009), parts available at Google Books

Management Information Systems

By O’Brien and Marakas, Publisher:McGraw-Hill (2008)
G. COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Quizzes, Assignments, Class Activities (30%)

This includes a mix of classroom and online (thru Moodle) based activities such as class and group
discussions and group reporting. This also includes hands-on exercises on web and database development.

Projects (30%)
Students will be asked to apply lessons where they will implement an information system solution for a
given community.

Exams (40%)
Midterm and final examinations will be given to all students.

H. GRADING SYSTEM

Grading Scale
93 – 100 A 69 – 75 C
88 – 92 B+ 60 – 68 D
83 – 87 B < 60 F
76 – 82 C+

I. CLASS POLICIES
1. Turn off your mobile phones while inside the classroom.

2. Computer use during class time should be limited to use of presentation software(for lecture slides),
word/text processing software for note-taking, Moodle, unless stated by the teacher.

3. Late projects will be accepted but deductions (five percentage points per day) will be applied. (DISCS
office/ Moodle Server time will be followed)

4. Make-up exams will only be given to students who are absent due to grave reasons (e.g. illness in which
a medical certificate has to be provided, and death in the immediate members of the family).

5. A student who cheats in any course requirement will receive a grade of “0” for that requirement.

6. Refer to DISCS website (http://discs.ateneo.edu) for the Policy on Academic Integrity.

7. Check the course website (http://curry.ateneo.net/moodle) regularly for announcements, online

requirements, and project specifications.
Those caught violating policies 1and 2 will be asked to step out of the classroom and will be marked absent for that day.

J. CONSULTATION HOURS

Tuesdays, Thursdays 9AM – 1030AM; Wednesdays 930AM – 1030AM or by appointment

Email: slovenia@ateneo.edu; YM ID: sfalovenia
Course website: http://curry.ateneo.net/moodle/