Starting in fall 2012, Florida International University’s (FIU) College of Business Administration will offer a master’s degree in health informatics, giving graduates a leg up in one of the fastest growing fields in the healthcare industry.
The Master of Science in Healthcare Informatics and Management Systems (MSHIMS) is a Saturday-only, 12-month program at FIU Downtown at Brickell. As the industry builds complex databases and states develop health information exchanges, the program will help fill jobs that often go begging for qualified applicants. Physicians, nurses and managers as well as IT professionals are candidates for the new program.
The MSHIMS Advisory Council, comprising South Florida’s leading healthcare executives, helped shape the new program, similar to what the FIU Health Management Programs Advisory Council did for the college’s popular Healthcare MBA.
Hands-on leaders design program.
“We wanted to get a strong group of experts to assist in designing the MSHIMS program, and then stay heavily involved as we launched it,” Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam told the group at its December 5, 2011 meeting.
Neera Bhansali, faculty director, and Monica Chiarini Tremblay, lead faculty, worked with the advisory council members as they discussed wide-ranging applications for the new degree including mobile health technology and customized consumer health information as well as utilization, purchasing and legal issues.
Fernando Martinez, vice president and chief information officer at Jackson Health System and an advisory council member, said that employers are looking for qualified graduates in the field as well as leaders with sophisticated expertise.
“The ability to mine data is becoming so important that reports are emerging of a new role: chief knowledge officer (CKO),” he said. “The person in that position can take a seat at the table with the CEO.”
Nancy Borkowski, director of FIU’s healthcare management programs, said that input from advisory councils is critical to the development and success of the college’s healthcare programs.
“FIU Business will continue its commitment to the members of South Florida’s healthcare industry, rolling out programs that meet their needs,” she said.
