CS6440

Introduction to Health Informatics

Fall 2017

Welcome to CS6440: Introduction to Health Informatics!

Welcome! This is the landing page for the Georgia Tech CS6440 course on Health Informatics.

This page provides general information about the course as a whole. Specific information about a given semester’s assignments, grading, or scheduling can be found under that semester’s page.

Welcome to Health Informatics!

Welcome to the Fall 2017 offering of CS6440: Health Informatics! We are thrilled to be instructing this experimental course in the computer science program. Over the past several semesters of working with Campus and OMSCS students, we’ve been amazed at the passion, experience, and qualifications that so many people bring. We’re excited to have the opportunity to channel that excitement into a topic with so much potential for real-world impact. Computers are integrating themselves more and more into every industry and field, but the true impact often comes when the benefits of those systems are extended to healthcare. From domestic to remote care, from PCP to specialists, Health Informatics is at the heart of many world-changing endeavors.

The goal of this page is to give you a high-level overview of what this class entails. For specific information on the schedule, assignments, or grading of a particular semester, please see that semester’s dedicated page.

Readiness “Questions”

For this course, students must have at least a basic computer science background, however NO previous knowledge of Health Informatics is required. Any student qualified enough to be admitted in the traditional or OMS CS programs – and willing to put in the necessary time for course work – should be prepared for this course.

Technical requirements include:

  • Individual students should have C++/C# or Java as well as XML or JavaScript proficiency. At least one team member must have proficiency in web programming languages such as Python, PHP, SQL, Java or .NET(C#) or any web development languages.
  • Browser and connection speed: An up-to-date version of Chrome or Firefox is strongly recommended. We also support IE9 and the desktop version of IE 10 and above (not the metro versions) – however not recommended. Internet speeds should be at least 2+ Mbps and at minimum 0.768 Mbps download speed.
  • Operating Systems: PC: Windows 7 or higher with latest updates installed. Mac: OS X 10.6 or higher with latest updates installed. Linux: Any recent distribution that has the supported browsers installed. Chromebooks are acceptable as long as you can perform all required coursework.

Course Description

This course is an introductory course on health informatics. It does not presuppose any earlier knowledge of health informatics or healthcare. Health informatics encompasses the application of computing to healthcare delivery; population and public health; community-based clinical research; and the potential for big data and analytics to transform the field. This is distinct from the related field of bioinformatics, which explores the role of computing in understanding the genomic and proteomic processes within cells.

During CS 6440 students will follow a make-believe patient, Marla Dixon, whose digital record they will use to complete a variety of exercises and projects designed to provide a hands-on experience with state-of-the-art health informatics tools and systems. They will apply the knowledge and skills they learn to work with a team of their course-mates on a real world clinical challenge.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

There are three broad learning goals for this course. At the end of this course, you will understand:

  • The principles and characteristics of health informatics, such as direct manipulation, usability affordances, and interaction design heuristics.
  • The workflow for designing and evaluating patient-centered designs, from symptom to evaluation.
  • The current state of research and development in health informatics, such as system interoperability, patient-centered care and FHIR.

Connected to those three learning goals are three learning outcomes. The learning outcomes are subsumed under the general learning outcome, “To design effective interactions between humans and computers”. At the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Design user interfaces and experiences grounded in known principles of usability and human-computer interaction.
  • Iteratively prototype, evaluate, and improve user-centered designs with user feedback.
  • Apply those skills to open or new areas of development in human-computer interaction.

Course Structure

This course is broken into five units:

  • Unit 1: Introduction. The first unit serves as your introduction to the field of Health Informatics.
  • Unit 2: Principles. The second unit covers many of the fundamental principles of Health Informatics.
  • Unit 3: Core. The third unit covers the health care system.
  • Unit 4: Systems & Applications. The fourth unit is an open-ended exploration into the systems and tools in health informatics.
  • Unit 5: Conclusion. The fifth unit wraps up our conversations about Health Informatics.

Semesters

The above information is general to the OMS CS6440 class. Immediately following this fall semester, we will have a course library for students to refer to from prior semesters.