Master of Science in Health Science, Concentration in Healthcare Informatics Online
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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Master of Science in Health Sciences (MSHS) Program, with a concentration in Healthcare Informatics (HI) is an online program preparing graduates to manage, evaluate, and use health data to support informed decisions, with the goal of improved patient outcomes. Increased demand for health informaticists is a result of the need for expanded, improved healthcare access and quality, while reducing costs. Health informatics professionals interpret health information using information technology and can hold various professional titles, such as application or systems analyst, clinical informatics analyst, information technician, business intelligence analyst, and informatics nurse. Please note some health informatics roles might require previous professional experience in addition to educational or certification credentials. The MSHS HI Program will provide students with the team building, reasoning, analytical, and applied skills needed to succeed in the field of health informatics.
Graduates of this program will be qualified to:
- Work with physicians, nurse, and other healthcare professionals to assess and analyze the healthcare team’s technology needs
- Assist with the design and testing of information systems
- Implement federal privacy laws and organizational policies/standards to ensure healthcare data security
- Organize and categorize data to help healthcare organizations improve quality and patient outcomes
- Advance healthcare knowledge for data-driven problem-solving and decision making
MSHS Healthcare Informatics Student Testimonials
Andrea Castillo
Emily Salinas
Curriculum
The MSHS HI concentration is part of the MSHS accelerated, completely online degree program. The program is taught in a unique interdisciplinary format with graduate students from five different concentrations (or specializations) enrolled: Health Care Administration, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nutrition, Health Professions Education & Technology, and Healthcare Informatics.
Students are required to complete 12 courses to earn the MSHS HI degree. All enrolled students complete six core courses related to legal and ethical issues in healthcare, research, proposal writing, introduction to health care systems, health policy, and introduction to healthcare information systems.
Just MSHS HI students are enrolled in the six HI specialization courses which focus on leadership, HI specific legal and ethical issues, healthcare project management, database management, clinical information systems, and information management technology.
Upon graduation from UTRGV’s MSHS HI Program, students will be able to identify information science and technology concepts, methods, and tools necessary to solve problems with an informatics-based solution. Key healthcare informatics concepts, including creating, acquiring, storing, representing, accessing, merging, organizing, processing, transferring, analyzing, reporting, and visualizing healthcare data, information, and knowledge are integrated throughout the curriculum.
Job Outlook
The health informatics job outlook is bright. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for Medical and Health Services Managers (Health Information Managers) is projected to grow by 28% until 2031. In 2021, the median annual wage for Medical and Health Services Managers was cited as $101, 340 per year.
Depending on need and geographic location, salaries vary throughout the country for those with a master’s degree in health informatics. However, according to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the average salary for a nonsupervisory healthcare informaticist is over $63,000 per year, while those in supervisory levels have an average salary of over $79,000 per year. The best-paying jobs are usually related to health information technology (IT) roles such as software developer, database administrator, network architect or system integration engineer.
Accreditation
UTRGV is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges to award associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. For questions about the accreditation of UTRGV, please contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, or call 404-679-4500.
The MSHS HI program is not yet accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).
Certification Eligibility
Graduates from UTRGV’s MSHS HI may be eligible* to apply to take certification examinations. Eligibility to sit for any certification examination is dependent upon both educational and professional experience. However, having a graduate degree typically reduces the professional experience requirements.
The following information is about informatics related certification examinations offered by various informatics-related professional organizations. Please make sure to visit each organization’s website for the most up to date certification candidate information.
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) – http://www/ahima.org
AHIMA offers many certification examinations. Most of them require the candidate to have graduated from a CAHIM accredited institution. However, MSHS HI graduates with healthcare data experience may apply to sit for AHIMA’s Certified Health Data Analyst (CHDA®). Please see the AHIMA website form more information.
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) - https://amia.org
The AMIA Health Informatics Certification (AHIC) enables health informatics professionals to demonstrate competence and commitment to excellence. It is intended for individuals seeking to document mastery of health informatics knowledge and readiness to apply this knowledge to real world healthcare challenges. The AMIA website recommends all prospective candidates to visit with AMIA Health Informatics Certification staff for details on eligibility and the application process.
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) – https://nursingworld.org/ancc
For Registered Nurses (RN), ANCC offers the Informatics Nursing Certification (RN-BC®) credential award. ANCC’s Informatics Nursing (RN-BC®) credential is earned by successfully completing a competency-based examination that provides a valid and reliable assessment of the clinical knowledge and skills relevant to the specialty of health informatics. Please see the ANCC website for more information.
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) – https://www.himss.org
HIMSS provides two different certifications graduates of the MSHS HI program might be eligible to sit for depending upon past or current professional experience, CPHIMS and CAHIMS. In addition, HIMSS has a relatively new certification examination called the CPDHTS. Please see the HIMSS website for more information.
Project Management Institute (PMI) - https://www.pmi.org
The Project Management Professional (PMP)® is the world's leading project management certification. To successfully complete this examination knowledge about predictive, agile and hybrid approaches is needed in addition to professional experience. Please see the website for eligibility criteria and the multiple other certification examinations offered by PMI.
*Students must meet all certification examination eligibility requirements as outlined by each organization. Note, eligibility to sit for specific certification examinations is determined by the organization, not the educational institution from which the student graduates.
Why UTRGV?
UTRGV has earned numerous awards and has ranked among the best universities within Texas and the United States. A few notable recognitions include:
- #1 In Texas for Best Public National Universities (Degree Choices, 2023)
- #1 In Texas for Most Affordable Public National Universities (Degree Choices, 2023)
- #1 In Texas for Best National Universities with Lowest Student Debt (Degree Choices, 2023)
- #2 For Awarding Bachelor’s Degrees to Hispanic/Latino Students (Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine, 2022)
- #4 For Awarding Master’s Degrees To Hispanic Latino Students (Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine, 2022)
- #5 Total Enrollment of Hispanic/Latino Students (Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine, 2022)
Please visit the university’s webpage (https://www.utrgv.edu/) for more detailed information.