Master of Health Information Management (M.H.I.M.) Major in Health Information Management (Health Informatics and Data Analytics Concentration)
Program Overview
The Master of Health Information Management major in Health Information Management with a concentration in Health Informatics and Analytics emphasizes the education and skills necessary to successfully pursue a career in health informatics and analytics. The curriculum focuses on general health information management education and specific Health Informatics and Analytics courses to meet individual needs. Students graduating with a master’s in health information management degree with a Concentration in Health Informatics and Analytics will work in roles with titles listed above.
Immunization Requirements
It is the policy of the College of Health Professions that each student must provide a health report completed by a physician or licensed healthcare provider, and must take specific immunizations before the student can be placed in a clinical or internship assignment. Information on these requirements and the required forms may be obtained through the department office.
Background Check and Drug Screening
As a condition for placement in some professional practice sites, some students are required to have a background check and/or drug screening to meet requirements set by individual sites. Information on the background check/drug screening process will be provided by the department. Previous misdemeanor or felony convictions under various titles of the Texas Penal Code may affect eligibility for practitioner license status following graduation.
Online Information
This program is taught exclusively online. For students residing outside of Texas and not planning on relocating to the state, please visit http://www.distancelearning.txstate.edu/ before applying.
Application Requirements
The items listed below are required for admission consideration for applicable semesters of entry during the current academic year. Submission instructions, additional details, and changes to admission requirements for semesters other than the current academic year can be found on The Graduate College's website. International students should review the International Admission Documents page for additional requirements.
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completed online application
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$55 nonrefundable application fee
or
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$90 nonrefundable application fee for applications with international credentials
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baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited university
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official transcripts from each institution where course credit was granted
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minimum 2.75 GPA in the last 60 hours of undergraduate course work (plus any completed graduate courses)
- completed background courses in: statistics, introduction to microcomputer applications, pathophysiology and pharmacology, anatomy and physiology, and medical terminology
- GRE not required
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resume/CV
- statement of purpose indicating the student’s ability and interest in completing the degree program
- three letters of recommendation from professionals or academics competent to assess the student’s interest in pursuing a career or advancing in the field of study
TOEFL, PTE, or IELTS Scores
Applicants are required to submit an approved English proficiency exam score that meets the minimum program requirements below unless they have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or the equivalent from a country on our exempt countries list.
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official TOEFL iBT scores required with a 78 overall
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official PTE scores required with a 52
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official IELTS (academic) scores required with a 6.5 overall and minimum individual module scores of 6.0
This program does not offer admission if the scores above are not met.
Degree Requirements
The Master of Health Information Management (M.H.I.M.) degree with a major in Health Information Management concentration in Health Informatics and Data Analytics requires 36 semester credit hours.
Course Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| HIM 5311 | Health Informatics and Data Visualization | 3 |
| HIM 5320 | Research Methods for HIM | 3 |
| HIM 5342 | Information Systems and Technology | 3 |
| HIM 5351 | Data Security, Privacy, and Confidentiality | 3 |
| HIM 5363 | Health Data Content Structure and Standards | 3 |
| HIM 5370 | Healthcare Finance and Revenue Cycle Management | 3 |
| HIM 5380 | Assessing Healthcare Quality | 3 |
| HIM 5382 | Compliance for HIM Topics | 3 |
| HIM 5390 | Contemporary Leadership Principles for HIM | 3 |
| HIM 5397 | HIM Directed Practicum | 3 |
| Prescribed Electives | ||
| Choose 6 hours from the following: | 6 | |
| Health Information Technology for Managers | ||
| Healthcare Informatics | ||
| Healthcare Terminologies and Vocabularies | ||
| Advanced Data Analytics in Healthcare | ||
| Healthcare Database Management Systems | ||
| Total Hours | 36 | |
Comprehensive Examination Requirement
The student must have completed 9 MHIM core courses with grades of “C” or higher by the time of taking the comprehensive exam or in the last semester when they are taking the core courses. The comprehensive exam contains 3 questions from each core course. The student selects 1 out of 3 questions in each course to answer. The expected length of answer to each question is about 1 page double spaced, 12-point font. The comprehensive exam is distributed to the students on March 1st in spring semesters (or October 1st in fall semesters), and due on March 21st in spring semester (or October 21st in fall semester). Faculty will score the exam as either passing or failing. Faculty complete grading by the end of March (or October). Students who fail the exam may retake the section(s) they failed from April 1st to April 15th (or November 1st to November 15th in fall semesters). For the second retake students must select different questions from the first attempt for the core courses. Faculty complete the 2nd round grading by the end of April (or November). Students who fail twice are required to take one 3-credit independent study (approved by graduate faculty) to complete their degrees. At the end of the independent study, students take the third (and the last) comprehensive exam. The relevant faculty will decide the specific time of the third comp exam, which can be in December or January. Students who fail the third comprehensive exam will be dismissed from the graduate program.
Master's level courses in Health Information Management: HIM
Courses Offered
Health Information Managements (HIM)
HIM 5199B. Thesis.
This course represents a student's continuing thesis enrollment. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.
1 Credit Hour. 1 Lecture Contact Hour. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing
Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit
HIM 5300. Advanced Independent Study in Health Information Management.
This course provides an in-depth independent study of a singular problem or related problem in the rapidly changing field of health information management. Special emphasis will be placed on the problem's current relevance and the value to the participant. May be repeated for credit with a different emphasis.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5301. Health Information Technology for Managers.
This course provides an in-depth analysis of the concept of health information technologies. A major focus will be on the analysis of how technology impacts overall hospital operations from both a clinical and administrative perspective.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5302. Clinical Foundations of Health Information Management.
This course provides clinical foundations for graduate students studying Health Information Management. Course content varies based on academic preparation and may include topics such as pathophysiology and pharmacology, medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, computing and statistics in a modular format. This course does not earn graduate degree credit.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Course Attribute(s): Exclude from Graduate GPA
Grade Mode: Leveling/Assistantships
HIM 5311. Health Informatics and Data Visualization.
This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of health informatics, data analytics, data visualization, and decision support. Emphasis will be on quality-driven data-based decision making systems for business intelligence, clinical decision support, and consumer informatics.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5320. Research Methods for HIM.
This course provides an introduction to research study design, methods, descriptive and inferential statisitcs need to conduct research studies in the Health Information Management domains. The foundation for compiling, analyzing, and displaying healthcare statistics needed to report and monitor healthcare statistics in the workplace will also be covered. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5340. Healthcare Informatics.
This course provides an overview and introduction to healthcare informatics. Topics in the course will include the information infrastructure, data needs, implementing healthcare information systems, decision making, privacy and security, consumer informatics and emerging technologies. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5341. Healthcare Terminologies and Vocabularies.
This course will provide an overview of healthcare terminologies, code sets and classification schemes, and associated standards. Mapping and the relationship of Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) to an administrative classification system such as International Classification of Diseases (ICD) will be explored. The purpose and differences encountered in mapping a terminology to a classification will be examined. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5342. Information Systems and Technology.
This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of health information technologies and information management strategic planning. A major focus will be design and selection of data-driven systems that offer strategic advantages, facilitate compliance and provide a return on investment. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5343. Advanced Data Analytics in Healthcare.
This course introduces advanced concepts of healthcare data analytics. Students will explore, visualize, and analyze healthcare data sets. Topics include data manipulations, data transformations, developing data queries, visualizing data, and exploring data relationships with predictive modeling.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5344. Healthcare Database Management Systems.
This course introduces methods for healthcare database management. The focus is on the physical data modeling for healthcare decision making. Topics include database creation, populating databases, data query optimization, enforcing database integrity, designing database security systems, and exploring data relationships with database reporting.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5351. Data Security, Privacy, and Confidentiality.
This course provides a detailed assessment of how state laws and federal regulations influence the development and management of policies and technology to protect date security, privacy, and confidentiality of protected health information. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5352. Introduction to Healthcare Information Security.
Students are introduced to the concepts, principles, and applications of healthcare information security including privacy, security, and infrastructure necessary to protect health information. Topics will include confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, fraud, eavesdropping, traffic analysis, intrusion detection and prevention, hacking, viruses, cryptography, and risk management.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5353. Risk Analysis of Healthcare Systems.
By examining computer systems, network, and security tools designed to discover vulnerabilities, students gain an understanding of how to protect electronic health record systems. In this course, students learn the techniques and methods required to perform computer and network security risk analyses in a healthcare environment. Security best practices and audit requirements for specific environments will be studied. Topics to be covered include internal and external penetration tests, wireless security technology, risk analysis methodology, and security audits.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5363. Health Data Content Structure and Standards.
This course provides an in-depth study of the components and use of health records. Interoperability and healthcare informatics standards for collecting, maintaining and transferring healthcare data will be examined. The role of the HIM professional in developing an effective information governance program will be analyzed. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5370. Healthcare Finance and Revenue Cycle Management.
This course will focus on healthcare financial and revenue cycle/reimbursement management issues that impact the practice of Health Information Management. Specific topics covered include financial management, coding compliance, case mix index, revenue cycle, and reimbursement methods. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5380. Quality Improvement in Health Care.
This course provides an in-depth study on quality improvement methodology to include data retrieval, display, outcomes analysis and the aspect of risk management for various sectors of healthcare. Mechanisms for promoting facility-wide participation in achieving optimum patient care as delineated in accreditation and government standards will be analyzed. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5382. Compliance for HIM Topics.
Compliance activities and methods will be covered for HIM topics to include HIPAA, fraud and abuse, coding auditing, severity of illness, data analytics, fraud surveillance, and clinical documentation improvement. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5390. Contemporary Leadership Principles for HIM.
This course explores the expanded role of the Health Information Management professional in the healthcare environment. Topics include public policy development, executive decision making, strategic business alliances, change management, enterprise wide strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, training and development, information governance, cultural diversity and ethics. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Standard Letter
HIM 5397. HIM Directed Practicum.
This course provides a one semester, part-time practicum experience in a healthcare or related organization. Included is an orientation to the organization and completion of a project suitable for implementation at the site. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.
3 Credit Hours. 0 Lecture Contact Hours. 10 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit
HIM 5399A. Thesis.
This course represents a student's initial thesis enrollment to initiate the thesis project. No thesis credit is awarded until completion of HIM 5399B.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit
HIM 5399B. Thesis.
This course is a student's continued enrollment in the thesis. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding. This course is repeatable for credit until the thesis is completed.
3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing
Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit
