HIT 5325 Social Dynamics in Applied Health Informatics

(web-based instruction)

3 semester credit hours 

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor 

This course is based upon the premise that implementation of information systems will not only greatly enhance the quality of healthcare but also radically change the nature of healthcare. The students will examine healthcare as a distributed system composed of groups of people interacting with each other and with information technology. Two major areas will be covered in the course. The first area is computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), which is defined as computer-assisted coordination of activities such as reasoning, problem solving, decision-making, routine tasks, and communication. CSCW involves a group of collaborating individuals who interact with complex information technology. Most health information systems (such as EHR) are examples of large groupware. Groupware supports large numbers of synchronous and asynchronous users of diverse backgrounds as they execute many different types of tasks. The second area is the social impact of information technology. This area will focus on the impact of Internet, social networking, and similar innovations on healthcare.

This course is cross-listed with HI 6305.