DIGHEL4355 – Health Services and Information needs

This course offers an introduction to relevant topics from the health sciences for informatics students. The course provides a broad introduction to health information management, with the aim of understanding the diverse information needs within the healthcare system, ranging from clinical to administrative purposes, research, and more. To investigate this, the course includes a basic introduction to the organization of health systems with an overview of health services, information needs, and information systems support.

This broad foundation will prepare students to engage in discussing how digital technologies can be used to meet information needs in the health sector.

After completing this course, you can:

• describe the most common categories of health services
• describe the most important information needs for clinical and administrative purposes
• understand information needs in specific healthcare situations and explain linkages between practices in clinical work, administration, research and policy in health
• discuss opportunities and challenges in addressing health service information needs with information technology
• discuss ethical aspects related to health information

Students admitted at UiO must apply for courses in Studentweb.

This course has a capacity of 20 students.

If the number of enrolled students is higher than 20 they will be ranked as followed:

1. Master students with admission to Digitalization in the Health Sector (Informatics)
2. Master students in Informatics: Design, Use, Interaction and Informatics: Programming and System Architecture who has the course approved in their study plan.
3. Master students at the Department of Informatics who has the course approved in their study plan.
4. Other master students at the Department of Informatics

2 hours of lectures and 2 hours of seminars per week.

The following are mandatory activities:

• Attending the first lecture
• 80% participation in seminars
• Participation in group projects with individual and group assignments

Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a postponed examination. Postponed examinations are usually held 2-3 weeks after the midterm week.

Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass the original examination.