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McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics

Continuing Education


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Welcome to McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston, formerly UTHealth Houston School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI) Continuing Education Program! We are pleased to offer HIMSS professionals health informatics courses to help them advance their industry knowledge and earn or maintain appropriate certification.

All Continuing Education courses are available to the general public. Admission to UTHealth academic programs is not required. Please review course listing below for detailed information on all of our Continuing Education opportunities.

Continuing Education Program Benefits
We strive to offer a learning experience that enhances your knowledge about the applications of health IT and introduces you to new and exciting innovations in health care. Our program includes:

  • Federal and industry standards on privacy and security
  • Comprehensive introductory courses on health care data systems and data analytics
  • Competitive pricing
  • Open registration
  • 100% online instruction
  • Up to six months of access to training materials
  • Self-paced courses fit your schedule and availability
  • A Certificate of Completion for each course upon completing course modules and assessments


Details on Continuing Education Courses

In 2016, The School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI) led the Health Informatics Curriculum and Training for Transformation (HICATT) Program funded by a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). HICATT’s mission was to provide informatics training to assist health care professionals to advance transformative care for patients.

In our commitment to developing professional education, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston Continuing Education is now offering the HICATT courses as a continuing education program. Please visit our CE Courses page to see the details on our courses that are currently available.

Our five courses can be used for Certification Renewals for CAHIMS and CPHIMS. All five courses total up to the minimum of 25 CEs needed for renewal under Continuing Education.

HIMSS administers two professional certification programs for healthcare information and management systems:


  • CAHIMS (Certified Associate in Healthcare Information and Management Systems) is designed for emerging professionals who may or may not have experience within the industry. CAHIMS is designed to be a pathway for careers in health IT.
  • CPHIMS (Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems) is a professional certification program for experienced healthcare information and management systems professionals.

In order to maintain your certification of CAHIMS or CPHIMS, you need to renew every three years. You must obtain 45 CEs during your renewal cycle. A minimum of 25 of the 45 CEs must be obtained from HIMSS or HIMSS-Approved Provider activities.



Frequently Asked Questions

  • Are you able to use a mobile app to take the courses?

    The current Canvas mobile app does not have the capability to connect to Canvas Catalog. You can access the Canvas Catalog as a webpage and it will automatically display much like a mobile app.

  • What is the difference between this program and the graduate certificate program from McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics?

    McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Graduate Certificate program is an official university academic program consisting of 15 semester credit hours. The graduate-level credit hours earned in this certificate program are transferrable to accredited university degree programs, such as a Master or Doctorate degree. Admission to Graduate Degree programs are more rigorous as it requires submission of a bachelor or higher degree, a GPA requirement, official transcripts, a reference letter and other admission requirements to be accepted. For more information on McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Graduate Certificate program: https://sbmi.uth.edu/prospective-students/academics/certificate.htm.

    However, the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Continuing Education Certificate program is a professional development effort consisting of online training courses that DO NOT offer any college credits. These are available to the public and have no requirements for admission.

  • Are there any prerequisites or eligibility requirements?

    No, there are no prerequisite or eligibility restrictions on any of the courses.

  • Will I need to purchase textbooks, supplies or other material in addition to paying for the course?

    No, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics will provide all instructional material to you as soon as your enrollment in the course is processed. You do not need to purchase any additional material to complete the course.

  • What if I do not like the course? Can I drop it and get a refund?

    Our refund policy states:

    McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics will NOT consent to processing any refunds unless it qualifies as an acceptable reason. Examples of acceptable reasons include an extended illness or family emergency. A refund request notification should be formally submitted to [email protected] and must be accompanied by verifiable documentation of an emergency. Examples of verifiable documentation include Emergency Room documentation or a link to an obituary for a family member.

    If the criteria specified above is met, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics will refund only up to 50% of the enrollment price due to refund processing fees. McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics will only review refund requests from currently enrolled individuals. Individuals asking for refunds whose enrollments have passed will be dismissed.

    Reasons such as too much work, computer problems, do not have time, etc. are considered unacceptable reasons for a refund.

  • I was not able to complete the course within six months and now I am unable to access it. Do I have to pay again and start the course all over again?

    You may renew your registration any time by filling out the registration form and paying the fee again and we will extend your access. This means your coursework will be retained.


Contact Information

Have additional questions about continuing education courses? Please contact our Continuing Education Staff at [email protected] or 713-500-3591.