MS in Health Informatics Degree
Prepare To Optimize Patient Care and Support Healthcare Organizations
Health informatics encompasses a wide range of activities, including electronic health records (EHR) management, health information exchange (HIE), clinical decision support systems, telemedicine, medical imaging, health data analytics, and health information privacy and security. By leveraging technology and data-driven insights, health informatics aims to streamline healthcare processes, facilitate communication among healthcare providers, empower patients, and ultimately advance the delivery of healthcare services.
The Master of Science in Health Informatics from the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions at Grand Canyon University is designed to help you use information technology, both hardware and software, for better decision-making and patient outcomes.
Earn Your Master’s Degree in Health Informatics From GCU
The master’s degree at GCU integrates faith, work and learning. The curriculum, taught by specialized faculty, introduces GCU’s Christian worldview. It teaches students the moral and ethical obligation of Christian health informatics professionals to respect and encourage others to respect, the sensitive nature of patient information and their obligation to comply with all regulations, laws and ethical standards for working with health information.
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MS in Health Informatics Course Content
The health informatics curriculum teaches you competencies and skills that can be immediately applicable in healthcare information technology settings. GCU strives to graduate health informatics professionals who are prepared to develop and implement ethical, progress-oriented IT initiatives with the goal of benefiting both patients and the healthcare system. This master’s degree course study includes:
- Healthcare research analysis
- Ethics, policy and finance
- Healthcare information systems
- Project evaluation and development
- Healthcare innovation
- Healthcare data management
- Electronic health records
- Research and population health management
- Leadership and informatics
- Database management using SQL and Python
The final 16 weeks of this health informatics MS program include a practicum that incorporates a project plan related to a major area of health informatics, such as health information management or information systems. The project is grounded in current informatics research and methods.
Career Paths for Graduates With a Master’s in Health Informatics
This health informatics program is designed to prepare graduates to tackle a range of modern healthcare challenges and projects, such as automating clinical care, building new operational data systems, training healthcare workers in the use of computer systems, and collecting and analyzing data to improve patient care. The work you perform as a health informatics professional has the potential to improve outcomes for those receiving medical treatment, as well as shape the vision and operations of healthcare facilities.
Career Opportunities:
- Computer and information systems manager
- Data scientist
- Information security analyst
- Health informatics specialist/analyst
- Clinical informatics specialist
- Health data analyst
- Healthcare IT project manager
- Health information manager
- Clinical systems analyst
- Healthcare consultant
- Healthcare quality improvement specialist
Earn a Health Informatics Master's From an Institutionally Accredited University
The Master of Science in Health Informatics program is in candidacy status, pending accreditation review by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). To learn more about CAHIIM, please visit our accreditation page.
GCU is proud to be an institutionally accredited university — a reflection of our commitment to providing quality education that can prepare our graduates for future-oriented careers. The Higher Learning Commission has continually accredited GCU since 1968. The College of Nursing and Health Care Professions shares the university’s commitment to upholding the principles and standards established by our accrediting bodies.
Health Informatics Master’s FAQs
GCU has compiled the following frequently asked questions and answers to provide guidance as you reflect upon your career pathway and degree options.
This degree can be a valuable addition to your resume when seeking health informatics positions. A graduate degree in this field strives to teach both technical competencies and soft skills, such as communication and leadership skills, all of which can be impactful assets to health informatics professionals. Furthermore, a graduate degree may empower you to position yourself to potentially pursue various advanced, specialized positions within the field beyond entry-level opportunities.
Health informatics professionals need a varied skill set that may sometimes but does not always include computer programming. Although not all related positions require computer programming, health informatics experts do generally need to know how to design, evaluate and maintain health databases and similar IT systems.3
Even though not all positions require computer programming, most informatics employers want students to have a basic understanding of programming such as SQL and Python. The MS health informatics degree includes a basic course in SQL and a basic course in Python.
Different subfields within the health informatics field include the following:
- Public health informatics
- Clinical informatics
- Research informatics
- Biomedical informatics
- Consumer health informatics
These different specialties focus on specific components of the healthcare informatics field, providing additional areas of interest for you to explore. Learn more about the types of health informatics available.
Those looking to get involved in developing and advancing healthcare information systems, improving IT security measures or managing healthcare databases may find health informatics to be a rewarding career. Because of the dependency of the healthcare industry on technology, this career area is important for using technological advances to improve patient care.1 With this comes the importance of educated healthcare informatics professionals.
Apply today for enrollment in the health informatics master’s degree program
1 While all courses are completed online, you will need to attend clinical, practicum and immersion hours in person locally.
2 Indeed. (2023, Oct. 23). 10 jobs for health informatics professionals with master’s degrees. Retrieved Feb. 29, 2024.
3 PublicHealthDegrees.org. (n.d.). Health informatics careers and jobs. 2U, Inc. Retrieved Feb. 29, 2024.
Core Courses
Course Description
This course is designed to prepare students for the graduate learning experience at Grand Canyon University. Students have opportunities to develop and strengthen the skills necessary to succeed as graduate students in the health care professions. Emphasis is placed on utilizing the tools for graduate success.
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to prepare students in mathematical, probability, and statistical concepts for their upcoming studies in quantitative methods. The course is intended for those students who have not had any prior statistical education, although students who have had statistics should also consider taking the course as a refresher.
Course Description
This course introduces fundamentals of the U.S. health care system and the role and value of informatics in the practice of evidence-based research and medicine. Students learn key concepts of health care information infrastructure, systems, technologies, applications, and data standards that are critical for optimizing patient care. Students also examine how health care providers and caregivers use technology, information, and knowledge to improve patient care, administration, research, and education across the rapidly evolving health care system.
Course Description
This course examines the application of information systems in health care settings, beginning with an analysis of the broad meaning and nature of information and systems. The focus narrows to utilization of computer technologies, configurations, and applications as tools to benefit health care environments. Emphasis is placed on the challenges related to the development and implementation of effective information systems in light of a rapidly and continuously changing health care model, evolution of technology team member roles and responsibilities, and advancement of technological requirements within the health care system.
Course Description
This course examines health care information resources and their impact on administrative functions, interfaces, data security and integrity, and business processes. Topics include use of relational database management software to construct tables, develop forms, create and execute queries, design and deploy reports, and advance database concepts to automate contemporary business processes. Learners are able to distinguish between various network hardware technologies and associated data communications protocols in order to direct how organizations design and implement data networks. Prerequisites: HIM-515, HCI-600, or NUR-514; and HIM-615.
Course Description
This course prepares learners to evaluate, implement, and optimize electronic health record (EHR) technology to support the management and use of clinical data. Learners examine the architecture of EHRs and analyze the challenges of their design and use, including system integration requirements, distributed user bases, storage of complex data, high security requirements, and the diverse information needs of various end users. Learners also apply project management techniques to the planning and implementation of EHRs. Prerequisite: HIM-650.
Course Description
This course introduces techniques for extracting data and creating knowledge from health care data sets. Learners examine methods for describing, summarizing, and presenting data. There is specific focus on understanding the needs of information users, identifying organizational objectives, and ensuring that the analytical methodology chosen meets those needs. Prerequisite: HIM-650.
Course Description
This course examines the security, privacy, and compliance issues that guide the design and use of health information systems and health care data. Learners analyze the regulatory environment and differentiate the regulations, laws, and ethical practices that guide information governance and the uses of data with particular emphasis on patient confidentiality and privacy. Information security tools and strategies for risk assessment, third-party risk management, and audits are also examined. Prerequisite: HIM-615.
Course Description
In this course, learners apply principles of human factors engineering to the design of optimal user interfaces that improve clinical processes. Learners examine clinical decision support and clinical workflow analysis, modeling, reducing data entry errors, and usability testing in efforts to improve the experience of end users while prioritizing patient safety and the delivery of quality health care.
Course Description
In this course, learners study key leadership principles and skills critical to their development as health care professionals capable of leading change initiatives that align with the strategic vision of health care organizations and the evolving landscape of health care. Learners assess their own leadership qualities, an organization's readiness for change, and barriers that may affect the adoption of innovations and quality improvement processes. The course emphasizes systems thinking while learners work toward honing problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills necessary for leading initiatives within health care organizations.
Course Description
This course provides learners the opportunity to integrate what they have learned in the program in an applied project related to a major area of health informatics, such as health information management, information systems, or health informatics. Learners are expected to demonstrate leadership and advanced critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in the development of a comprehensive and professional project plan and solution that is grounded in current informatics research and methods. Practicum/field experience hours: 150. Prerequisite: Successful completion of all previous coursework in the program.
- GCU cannot and will not promise job placement, a job, graduate school placement, transfer of GCU program credits to another institution, promotion, salary, or salary increase. Please see the Career Services Policy in the University Policy Handbook.
- Please note that this list may contain programs and courses not presently offered, as availability may vary depending on class size, enrollment and other contributing factors. If you are interested in a program or course listed herein please first contact your University Counselor for the most current information regarding availability.
- Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Programs or courses subject to change
Pursue a next-generation education with an online degree from Grand Canyon University. Earn your degree with convenience and flexibility with online courses that let you study anytime, anywhere.
Grand Canyon University’s evening programs cater to the demands of working professionals who prefer an in-person learning environment. Our night classes meet just once per week and offer the interaction and discussion of a typical college classroom.