USI MHA 4+1 students attend Health IT Career Day in Indianapolis
Health Informatics students in the University of Southern Indiana's Master of Health Administration 4+1 (MHA 4+1) program recently participated in a Health IT Career Day in Indianapolis, coordinated by Telamon Medical Solutions, a division of Telamon Corporation. The intent of Health IT Career Day was to expose students to three sectors of employment - healthcare, government, and industry - and the required skill sets and current opportunities within the state of Indiana.
"The field trip to Indianapolis was an opportunity to get out of the classroom and view healthcare through three different lenses: administration, informatics and medical solutions via telecommunications," said Dr. Gabriela Mustata Wilson, assistant professor of Health Services/Administration at USI. "Meeting with and listening to leaders from three different organizations, gave students the confidence needed and a clear vision of what career opportunities might lie before them after graduation."
Dr. Erin Reynolds, assistant professor of Health Services/Administration, accompanied Dr. Mustata Wilson and 14 MHA 4+1 students during March 18 trip. Their first stop was the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, which included an overview of the facility's key innovations and health information technology projects.
The USI students spent the afternoon at the Indiana Family Social Services Administration to better understand Hoosier Healthwise, a health care program for low income parents/caretakers, pregnant women and children, as well as health information data collection and analysis. Students had the rare opportunity to view FSSA dashboards and understand current Medicaid progress.
Wrapping up the day, Telamon Medical Solutions presented opportunities to extend health informatics outside the traditional realm of health systems, citing career opportunities in human resources and mobile integrated health program design and development.
The mission of USI's MHA program is to educate students for leadership roles in health care. USI offers two degree delivery options: The MHA4+1 Option allows current USI undergraduate students of any discipline the opportunity to earn both the bachelor's degree and the MHA degree in five years. The MHA Online option is primarily delivered online with the exception of three Intensive meetings and is geared towards professionals with some healthcare experience.
The MHA program's Health Informatics Specialty focuses on the application of information management and leadership principles for the improvement of communications across the health care industry. Students are taught system design and integration, and how to implement and evaluate health care information systems. Graduates with this specialty gain an understanding of how health informatics improves communication among patients, providers and clinicians to reduce medical errors and health care costs. Additionally, graduates will hone the managerial skills required to successfully influence and lead informatics initiatives.