Program Description

The Healthcare Management and Informatics curriculum prepares students for many potential career paths, including healthcare information technology and management or leadership roles, in this growing interdisciplinary practice by developing skills and applying innovative approaches in health informatics to deliver quality healthcare to respective communities.

This program is a dual subject matter program offering students seeking advanced studies or health care leadership roles to pursue both disciplines of healthcare management and health informatics in 24 months or two years. Students who maintain satisfactory academic progress for every three consecutive quarter terms are eligible for a full quarter term break.

CALUSA’S program includes broad-based fundamental courses required in mastering general management concepts and skills required in effective healthcare management. These courses are designed to serve as a solid platform for successfully absorbing advanced healthcare management and informatics courses focused on concepts, theories, tools, and applications. In addition to the in class learning of theoretical and practical applications and tools, students must demonstrate their academic achievements through capstone experiences in the forms of internship and thesis.

CALUSA Institute does not offer distance education to students. All courses are taught via traditional classroom format. There are no online courses in the curriculum. All instructions are taught in the English language only.
The Healthcare Management and Informatics curriculum focuses on the intersection of healthcare management and information technology and the integration of the two disciplines to develop practical, efficient, and productive processes, systems, and ultimately, organizations. The concurrent pursuit of the two endeavors allows for synthesized focus of the intersectionality of the distinct areas of discipline.

The Healthcare Management and Informatics program prepares future healthcare leaders to visualize, engage, and lead positive change at all levels inside and outside of their organizations and communities. Because of the advanced nature of the coursework, the master’s degree is designed for professionals with goals to pursue executive, leadership, or expertise in the health care industry which often offer higher salaries. Many of the career paths the program prepares graduates for are projected to grow rapidly in the next several years and will have large numbers of job openings. Some of these bright job outlook occupation categories include Medical and Health Services Managers, Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars, Computer and Information Systems Managers, and Healthcare IT Consultants (Standard Occupational Classification codes 11 9111.00, 29-9021.00, 11-3021.00). CALUSA’S program is designed to impart comprehensive understanding of healthcare practices, and the dynamic roles informatics, technology, and data analytics plays in creating leaders in healthcare management and informatics.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Healthcare Management and Informatics program are expected to demonstrate the following learning outcomes.

1. Integrate health care management and leadership principles with innovative technological solutions and data analysis to make evidence-based strategic decisions and deliver quality and ethical health care to the community.
2. Demonstrate qualities of successful health care managers and leaders by developing professionalism, effective communication and interpersonal skills, ethical decision-making, and practical informatics technical skills.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of technical data management concepts to manage electronic health data, such as, abstracting data, compiling information, and researching data.
4. Understand the diverse components of health information systems, healthcare delivery systems, and classification systems.
5. Evaluate health records to ensure federal, state, privacy, ethical, security and confidentiality guidelines and regulations
6. Develop and execute operational strategies to deliver quality healthcare using healthcare economics, policy, management, and informatics.
7. Holistically optimize the health care information system life cycle from system identification, analysis, strategic planning, system design, creation, testing, implementation, and maintenance.

Classification of Instruction Program

CIP Code: 51.2706 Title: Medical Informatics- please change to this CIP code

MSHMI Course Descriptions

Major Courses

HMI511 Healthcare Economics, Markets, and Regulations

This course examines the health economics principles to developments and policies in the health care market. We also study the concepts, models, and trends in health economics, economic data, financing health care, and reimbursement methods. We will focus on health care market drivers such as patient demands, institutional roles of insurance companies and healthcare facilities, healthcare provider behaviors, implications of geography, and the empirical impacts of regulations. Lastly, this course outlines policy issues and explores health reform.

HMI521 Health Law and Policy

Health Law and Policy introduces non-lawyers to the foundational legal issues in the U.S. health care system. It provides an overview of the legal system and ethical issues in healthcare. Students will analyze the roles of statues, regulations, case law, and other policies that shape healthcare and impact institutions, clinicians, pa ents, and other stakeholders. Health Law and Policy will guide students through variety of key topics, including but not limited to, regulating the medical profession, systemic racism in health law, health insurance, mental health and disability law, reproductive and death rights, public health, pharmaceutical pricing and regulation, human subjects in research, and other ethical and moral issues found in health law.

MCIS531 Database Design and Implementation

Database Design and Implementation focuses on Database design methodologies (ER and/or UML modeling), database query languages (relational algebra and SQL), database implementation (physical data organization, indexing, query processing and optimization), and database application development (JDBC/ODBC).

MCIS541 Quantitative Methods for Information Systems

Quantitative Methods for Information Systems focuses on mathematical essentials for successful quantitative analysis of problems in the field of information systems as it relates to business analytics. Topics include combinatorial mathematics, functions, and the fundamentals of differentiation and integration. It also includes the study of elementary probability theory, discrete and continuous distributions.

HMI541 Health Informatics

This course explores the fundamental principles, concepts, terminologies, and technologies used today in Health Informa cs. We focus on core elements of Health Informa cs, including structure for effectively collecting, storing, organizing, and using medical data and understanding concepts of popular on health and precision medicine and various IT aspects in clinical process. This course discusses Health Informa on Technology standards, IT components of clinical process modeling, Electronic Medical Records, Electronic Health Records, and common algorithms of health analytics tools and methodologies. The course examines how these core elements are collaboratively deployed in the complex matrixed healthcare management in clinical, medical, financial, and other capacities.

HMI550 Electronic Health Records (HER) & Clinical Information Systems

This course provides an in-depth examination of Electronic Health Records (EHR) and clinical information systems as core components of modern healthcare delivery. Students will explore the design, functionality, implementation, and optimization of EHR systems, along with their integration into broader health information technology infrastructures. Key topics include data standards and interoperability, clinical decision support, health information exchange (HIE), privacy and security regulations (HIPAA, HITECH), and workflow redesign to support quality improvement and patient safety. The course emphasizes both the technical and organizational aspects of EHR adoption, including vendor selection, change management, user training, and system evaluation. Through case studies and hands-on projects, students will gain practical experience in assessing system requirements, evaluating EHR capabilities, and analyzing their impact on clinical outcomes and operational efficiency.

HMI551 Health Care Data Analytics

This course focuses on data analysis techniques, management, and reporting health data to uncover patterns, trends, and actionable insights to improve decision-making and achieve optimal healthcare business targets. Students will learn visualization and interpretation of statistical data to create reports to serve as basis for clinical, operational, and financial insights to be used in effective communication with stakeholders. We explore generating quantitative data and analyses by executing statistical tools to improve clinical decisions, healthcare operations, healthcare data security, and public health and consequently decrease risk, increase access, assess population health, and improve policies. This course also explores qualitative methods that evaluate legal and ethical components of healthcare data analytics.

BUS555 Project Management

Project Management provides practitioners who have current information technology skills with an understanding of the theory and practice of project management through an integrated view of the concepts, skills, tools, and techniques involved in the management of information technology projects in organizations.

HMI570 Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS)

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of Clinical Decision Support Systems, focusing on their design, implementation, and evaluation in healthcare settings. Students will examine how CDSS tools leverage data, knowledge, and analytics to enhance clinical decision-making, improve patient outcomes, and support evidence-based practice. Core topics include CDSS architecture, rule-based and knowledge-based systems, machine learning applications in healthcare, integration with Electronic Health Records (EHR), data standards (e.g., HL7, FHIR, SNOMED CT, LOINC), and regulatory and ethical considerations. Emphasis is placed on understanding clinical workflows, human-computer interaction, and strategies for effective adoption and utilization. Through case studies, hands-on exercises, and system analysis projects, students will learn to assess, design, and recommend CDSS solutions tailored to specific clinical environments.

MSCIS577 Advanced SQL

The course focuses on design, development, and implementation of SQL programming for all types of relational database applications including client/server and Internet databases. It also covers writing interactive and embedded SQL statements and understanding implications of multi-user database applications.

BUS580 Operations Research

Operations Research focuses on advanced study and research emphasizing topics such as deterministic optimization, probabilistic models and their applications, simulation, and mathematical statistics.

HMI590 Strategic Management for Healthcare Organization

This course examines the principles and practices of strategic management as applied to the unique challenges of healthcare organizations. Students will learn to analyze the healthcare environment, evaluate competitive positioning, and formulate strategies that address the complex interplay of clinical quality, patient experience, financial performance, and regulatory compliance. Core topics include environmental scanning, healthcare market analysis, service line development, value-based care strategies, integration of health information technology into strategic planning, and change leadership in clinical settings. Emphasis is placed on applying evidence-based decision-making and scenario planning to anticipate and respond to shifting market, policy, and technological trends. Case studies and applied projects enable students to develop actionable strategic plans tailored to hospitals, health systems, and other healthcare entities.

Internship

BUS605 Internship in Healthcare Management and Informatics

The internship course is a required, credit-bearing academic experience designed to integrate classroom learning with supervised professional practice directly related to the student’s field of study. Students engage in structured, progressively responsible work that allows them to observe, apply, and evaluate disciplinary theories, methodologies, and professional standards in a real-world setting. The internship culminates in a thesis-level analytical paper in which the student critically assesses the organization’s practices and produces a formal, evidence-based recommendation for the company. Completion of this academic work requires sustained engagement with organizational processes, professional workflows, and project development over time.
The internship may be completed over a period ranging from a minimum of one academic quarter to a maximum of four academic quarters to support appropriate experiential learning and academic depth. A minimum duration of one quarter (approximately three months) allows adequate time for orientation, substantive participation, observation, and reflective analysis aligned with course learning objectives, while a longer duration enables participation in extended projects and increased professional responsibility. Throughout the internship process, the student works closely with a faculty advisor to engage in guided discussion and complete assigned academic tasks that connect internship experiences to curricular learning outcomes.

Thesis

BUS610 Thesis in Healthcare Management and Informatics

Students integrate advanced academic study with supervised professional practice directly related to Healthcare Management and Informatics program. Under close faculty guidance, they conduct in-depth research and critical analysis to examine an organization’s practices, methodologies, and professional standards through the lens of disciplinary theory and evidence-based frameworks. The work results in a comprehensive, thesis-level paper that evaluates organizational operations and presents well-supported, actionable recommendations. Limited part-time professional engagement may occur to support consultation, data gathering, and applied analysis, while maintaining academic inquiry and scholarly research as the primary focus.

Students are required to have successfully completed at least twenty-eight (28) course credits in the Healthcare Management and Informatics program prior to registering this course. Students are responsible for arranging the availability of the thesis advisor and principal reader. The thesis advisor must be a full-time faculty member.

Graduation Requirements

To be conferred the Master of Science in Healthcare Management and Informatics,
a total of at least 56 quarter credits in the Program Curriculum must be completed by the student with a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.0.