BMI 5305 Legal and Ethical Aspects of Health Informatics

3 semester credit hours
Lecture contact hours: 2; Lab contact hours: 3
Web-based instruction
Lab Fee: $30

Biomedical Informatics involves rapidly changing technology, which impacts the way in which legal and ethical considerations are understood in our culture. This course will examine the relationships between law and ethics. Particular considerations will be given to the concepts of privacy, autonomy, responsibility and decision-making. These concepts will be discussed from both legal and ethical perspectives in the policy and regulatory arena. The impact of current and future technology, such as patient portals and social media, will be discussed as it relates to these concepts and the impact on Biomedical Informatics.

Upon successfully completing this course, the student will:

• Describe how law, ethics, and policy shape healthcare and informatics.
• Employ healthcare policy constructs to biomedical informatics issues to effect a desired outcome.
• Compare and contrast ethical models/constructs.
• Apply ethical models/constructs to healthcare and biomedical informatics related issues.
• Explain the basic workings of the U.S. legal system and common legal issues surrounding biomedical informatics.