Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare Informatics

Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare Informatics

MET CS 584 (4 credits)

Laws, regulations, and ethics guide the practice of health information management (HIM) and health informatics (HI). This course introduces students to the workings of the American legal system and concepts and theories of ethics, examines the legal, ethical, and regulatory issues that impact the protection of confidentiality and integrity of patient information, and, on the other hand, the improvement of accessibility of patient information to enable healthcare providers to make informed decision based on complete patient data. We will cover laws and regulations that are central to the HIM and HI professions, including Privacy Act of 1974, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), the 21st Century Cures Act, and the Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records Regulations, and more. The goal is to enable HIM and HI practitioners to make effective and informed decisions that prompt patient safety and care quality improvement.

2025SPRGMETCS584A1, Jan 21st to May 1st 2025

2023SUM1METCS584SO1, May 9th to Jun 26th 2023