Manhattan College Offers New Online MS in Healthcare Informatics

Caroline McCarthy Senior Writer

Manhattan College has introduced a new online Master of Science in Healthcare Informatics, with courses that combine healthcare, information technology and data analytics to improve patient outcomes, clinical care and healthcare management.

Executive Vice President and Provost William Clyde, Ph.D., spoke about the addition of the course as part of the School of Health Professions offerings.

“We are thrilled to be adding healthcare informatics to our growing list of offerings in health professions,” Clyde said. “Housed in our School of Health Professions, this degree will prepare graduates to work in a rapidly growing field that is critically important to the efficiency and effectiveness of our health care system and the quality of patient care.”

According to Healthcare Management Degree Guide, healthcare informatics relies on information technology to gather, categorize, analyze and “implement patient solutions using existing resources and devices.”

Within a healthcare institution, there are multiple chains of facilities that work together to create the optimal experience and care for patients. Healthcare informatics allow these chains to communicate effectively with one another to optimize patient care and produce more favorable outcomes.

Students enrolled in the program will complete a total of 36 credits over a 16 month-period through seven-week intensive courses. According to manhattan.edu, classes will not meet on campus and will be offered either synchronously by online real-time lectures or asynchronously by pre-recorded lectures and readings.

To complete the degree, students will be required to take classes in statistical computing, clinical information systems, principles and applications of databases, project design and management, data security and privacy, programming, and more.

To be accepted into this program, applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or institution, a background in behavioral sciences or teaching experience and a 3.0 undergraduate GPA on a 4.0 scale.

Healthcare informatics is a growing industry that focuses on using technology and data to improve the quality and safety of patient care, enhance clinical decision-making, reduce costs in healthcare delivery, promote population health and public health initiatives and support medical research and clinical trials.

Cathy Dwyer ‘98, is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Burke Rehabilitation Center. She spoke about the necessity of healthcare informatics in the field today.

“Healthcare Informatics is a very important tool for the delivery of patient-centered care that results in the best possible outcomes for each patient,” Dwyer said. “Working towards the Healthcare Informatics degree will help you become an integral part of the management and leadership teams at any institution.”

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) reported the average salary for nonsupervisory healthcare informatics positions is upwards of $63,000 per year, while supervisory positions are upwards of $79,000. Higher level executive positions can earn more than $125,000.

A masters degree in healthcare informatics could earn students competitive jobs in the fields such as a healthcare data analyst, clinical informatics specialist, health information manager, healthcare IT project manager, health data scientist or healthcare IT consultant.

According to manhattan. edu, MC will be working with local health centers to establish internship opportunities for master’s degree candidates to develop hands-on training along with their studies.

Admission into this program will be done on a rolling basis. More information on how to submit your application can be found on manhattan. edu.