The A.A.S. degree program in Healthcare Informatics focuses on the management, analysis and reporting on data and information from healthcare systems including hospitals, medical offices, health insurance plans, government healthcare providers and medical research, with the goal of using such data to improve patient care delivery.  Students are prepared to turn healthcare data into useful information which will help improve patient care and enhance fiscal and system efficiencies.  This is accomplished by creating or implementing databases and other technology systems, recommending informatics solutions, and effectively collecting, storing, and accessing medical data for operational assessment.  Students will understand and use data interfaces within and amongst healthcare departments and providers.  They will operate in a support role to existing systems and workflows within health informatics settings.

Graduates of this program will develop skills leading to positions as Healthcare Informatics Data Analysts, Research Assistants and Systems Analysts.

Admission Requirements:

• High school diploma with a minimum overall average of 80% or a GED with a score of 2625.

• High school courses in Biology and Algebra. Those lacking one or more of the high school courses must take a college equivalent course and receive a grade of 2.0.  These courses must be taken prior to the start of the first semester or within the first semester of study.

• A 2.0 GPA is required for transfer credit.
• All incoming students will be required to purchase and bring to class a laptop computer running the most current version of Windows software or its equivalent.  As computer specifications change rapidly, the exact specifications for the laptop computer will be provided to students at the time of their admission into the program.

Minimum Degree Requirements:

• A total of 71/73 academic credits, 12 of which are in the academic major with 32 credits in Liberal Arts. Up to 15 credits can be transferred into the program for the academic core courses and 15 credits for Liberal Arts.  Candidates who hold a baccalaureate degree have no limit on the number of Liberal Arts course credits for transfer based on individual transcript review.

• Candidates who have work experience in the fields of computer science, engineering, business, or healthcare may qualify for course credit.

• A student may earn up to 15 credits through the college level examination program. (CLEP), Excelsior Exams and DSST exams.  A student cannot duplicate earned credit though an exam.  In sequential courses a student who has taken a higher level course cannot earn credit by taking an exam for a lower level course.