HI 5305 Legal and Ethical Aspects in Health Informatics

Course Type: Basic
Credit Hours: 3

This course assists the student in the area of technical writing, the development of 
scholarly and academic writing abilities. Each student will complete the process of 
generating a written document from topic selection through outlining, drafting, and 
revising. Writing in the field of Biomedical Informatics will be addressed and the genre 
of written discourse in informatics will be explored by the student. The elements of the 
recursive writing process and a review of the technical aspects of writing will also be 
considered. Critical reading, thinking and writing will be emphasized in the course. 
Weekly assignments require writing throughout the course.  A course writing project is 
required such as developing a manuscript for review, submission and possible 
publication. 

Health Informatics involves rapidly changing technology which impacts the way in which legal and ethical considerations are understood in our culture. This course will examine the relationships between Law, Ethics and Informatics. Particular considerations will be given to the concepts of privacy, autonomy, responsibility and decision making. Issues in Health Informatics domains will be discussed from both the legal and ethical perspectives. The impact of current and future technology will be discussed as it relates these concepts and the impact on Health Informatics.  We will also look at legal and regulatory aspects surrounding Health Informatics and health information technology (HIT).

Prerequisites

This course requires consent of the instructor. You need to secure that consent before you can register for this course. Contact your instructor for approval or any questions you have.

Additional Information

Course Goals

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

  • Learn basic ethical and legal frameworks and concepts of particular import to Informatics
  • Acquire the ability to apply legal and ethical concepts to issues in Health Informatics domains 
  • Reach a broad understanding of cyberspace citizenship issues and the extension of democratic concepts and institutions to cyberspace
  • Learn basic legal research and use of legal texts 
  • Explore legal and regulatory issues that affect HIT 
  • Explore research opportunities at the intersection of law, informatics and bioethics