PUBPOL 5030 - Health Care Innovation and Information Technology

Fall. 1 credit. S/U grades only (no audit).

Prerequisite: PUBPOL 2350. Enrollment limited to: students in the Master of Health Administration or Executive Master of Health Administration programs. Field trip to Boston, MA. Co-meets with PUBPOL 5643.

S. Nicholson.

The purpose of the Innovation/Information Technology trek is to allow students to explore how data and information technology is being used across a variety of health care settings to innovate and disrupt the health care industry, and how different players of the healthcare ecosystem are embracing HIT to improve care delivery and reduce costs. As the health care system evolves in this country, it is becoming increasingly reliant on robust HIT systems to improve care delivery. The trek is designed to be an immersion into healthcare innovation and information systems: how they have been enabled by an evolution of HIT policy in the U.S., how different health care players are utilizing HIT to improve outcomes and how a favorable funding environment has enabled innovative companies to change the way we interact with the healthcare system. The course will consist of presentations from experts in industry to help students understand how organizations are effectively utilizing HIT to draw insights across healthcare domains. Students will ultimately choose one HIT company, identify the problem the company is trying to solve and the magnitude of that problem, analyze and critique its business model (i.e., how the company is or is trying to generate revenue), and perform a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunity-Threats (SWOT) analysis on the company.

Outcome 1: Understand how stakeholders in the health care industry are trying to use health information technology to improve health outcomes, expand access, and reduce medical spending.

Outcome 2: Critique the strategy of one HIT company and develop recommendations for how that company can thrive.