UMass Boston's College of Management has announced plans to launch a new MBA concentration in Healthcare Informatics.
The specialization was developed to help students develop, integrate, and manage medical information systems.
Indeed, advances in information technology and electronic healthcare records have created a need for managers who understand what it takes to collect and store patient information. In a 2014 healthcare industry outlook report, Deloitte included "Technology" as one of the four key issues facing the sector: "The technology-enabled, transforming health care system is producing an immense volume of information and, more specifically, how to interpret and use that data will be important," the report said.
The new specialization's curriculum covers topics ranging from privacy to analytics and identity management. To complete the specialization, MBA students will have to take four courses:
- Introduction to Health Informatics
- Health Information Exchange: Management & Technology
- Health Information Privacy & Security
- Health Information Analytics
The new specialization is based on an existing certificate option, which has been available for several years in an online format. The certificate "is designed to facilitate the delivery of modern healthcare systems by focusing on concepts and tools that aid decision making in health care," according to the school.
With the new specialization, UMass Boston joins a small group of US-based business schools offering focused curriculum in healthcare informatics. Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business, for instance, offers an MBA in Healthcare Informatics, through a partnership with the university's Department of Computer Information Systems.
And last year, the North Carolina-based, AACSB-accredited Meredith College announced the launch of an MBA concentration in Healthcare Informatics.
UMass Boston's new specialization is set to launch this fall. The school also offers a specialization in Healthcare.
For more information, please see the UMass Boston news release announcing the launch of the MBA specialization in Healthcare Informatics, or see the school's full profile on FIND MBA.
You can also read FIND MBA's recent article on MBA programs in Boston.
