Adelphi University Now Offering Advanced Degrees in Health Information Technology

Online, January 21, 2012 (Newswire.com) - To answer the increasing demand for well-trained health information technology professionals, Adelphi University is pleased to announce that it will begin offering a Master's of Science and an Advanced Certificate in Health Information Technology (HIT) in the Spring 2012 semester designed for IT professionals pursuing health information management and/or healthcare professionals seeking information technology certification. In 2004, President Bush called for the implementation of completely paperless, electronic health records (EHR) nationwide by 2014. Adelphi's HIT degrees seek to fulfill the need for related education programming created by this federal mandate as well as the developing trend of rapidly-expanding data and the need for systems to effectively manage it. Both degrees will prepare graduates for careers in health and medical informatics in academic, health care, or industrial settings, where a working knowledge of both the technological and practical applications of healthcare data is required.

The master's program is a total of 42 credits and combines classes in nursing, management, technology, and business culminating in a capstone research course. The advanced certificate is 21 credits and centers on the technology-related classes only. Credits earned in the advanced certificate program can be used towards the master's degree. The programs are offered through Adelphi's University College and have been created with working professionals in mind. An HIT master's degree can be completed in three years and the advanced certificate in two years by taking two evening courses per semester and one course each summer. HIT falls under the auspices of Adelphi's recently created Center for Health Innovation (CHI) which provides a single reference point for all healthcare-related programs of study.

"We're preparing the healthcare field for the coming changes where they will need real technical skills...that are portable and flexible," said Dr. Thomas Virgona, HIT program director. "It's a changing world; you have to be able to change with it."

For more information or to apply to either program, visit http://academics.adelphi.edu/universitycollege/ms-health-information-technology.php or contact Program Director Dr. Thomas Virgona at [email protected] or (516) 877-4516.