Specific attention is given to recent issues relating to health care finance, rate regulation, hospital reimbursement, hospital accounting, Internet and online systems, and project evaluation. The focus of the seminar course are completion of data analysis, evaluation, interpretation and preparation and presentation of the research thesis. The course focuses on the general systems theory applied to health care systems and information technology. Computer-based information system operation and management functions in the context of various professional settings, impact of information technology on health care management are reviewed and discussed. Demonstrations of current health information systems, emphasizing design, system components, data structures and database management are conducted.
Students practice on existing systems in various health care settings.
An overview of the severity of illness systems, measurement factors, system selection criteria and applications of severity data. Adjusting for severity in the ICU, and distinguishing comorbidities from complications present on admission from complications of care. Utilization of data for outcomes-based patient management in order to improve patient and outcomes management, enhance outcomes and reduce costs. Severity adjustment tools, techniques and measurements. An examination of severity of illness systems, programs, and a critical perspective on scoring systems, computerized severity index, prediction of probabilities and validity of risk adjustment methods.