Dr. Koru will be teaching IS 460/600 Health Informatics - I in Fall 2014. The course is a regular face-to-face on campus course scheduled for Tuesdays 4:30 - 7:00 pm.

As the healthcare industry is going through major transitions and changes, health information systems and technology gain a major renewed focus. While it is widely believed that supporting the complex US health ecosystem will be very difficult without health IT, leveraging the existing and emerging health information technologies remain an important challenge. The initiatives and incentives provided by the US Federal Government in this decade marks only the beginning of a new era.

This course will provide a thorough overview of information systems and their importance in the healthcare industry. A detailed discussion of the primary clinical and administrative uses of health information will be provided along with health information technologies such electronic health records, decision support systems, etc. How can a student benefit from this course? In addition to increasing students' capacity to further explore this topic (by taking Health Informatics - II) and to conduct research, what an earlier student wrote in a thank-you email (below) says a lot about how this course can positively affect students' job opportunities in the future.

Dear Dr. Koru,

I was in your Health Informatics I class during the Fall 2012 semester. I graduated with my Master's in IS back in May, I am currently employed as a web application developer for a company that develops health-IT related systems. I wanted to thank you for all that you taught me during that class. So much of what I learned in your class has helped me in my new job. In addition, I was told during my initial interview that the fact that I had taken a dedicated health IT class was a major factor in deciding to invite me in for an interview, as they considered that a major bonus (the actual job announcement didn't require any health-IT experience, although it was preferred).

I really wanted to take the time to let you know how much your class has positively impacted my life. I honestly believe that having a health IT class on my resume is what turned me from just another one of hundreds of IT graduates looking for work into someone who stood out, at least for this company. And on top of that, I feel that I have been able to adjust to my new job so much faster than if I hadn't taken your class. Otherwise, I would still be struggling to understand most of the jargon in meetings.

Once again, thank you for everything.