News

American Sentinel U Offers Online Health Systems Management Degree

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 01/27/09

American Sentinel University, an online school, has added a Bachelor of Science degree program in health systems management (HSM). The HSM program is designed to provide students with the skills needed to analyze information needs, design solutions, and manage information storage, transfer, and retrieval in health care environments. Students will acquire an education in computer information systems and learn how to apply this knowledge to the specific needs of the healthcare information environment.

"Job opportunities in health systems management are expected to grow by 36 percent over the next 10 years," said Catherine Garner, dean of health professions. "The HSM degree offers an excellent retraining opportunity for individuals with a management or IT background to make the shift from other industries such as finance and manufacturing to health care, where there is a projected expansion of employment opportunities."

Objectives of the degree include teaching students how to use information systems tools, techniques, and methodologies applicable to health care systems; apply project management principles to information systems development efforts in health care institutions; and structure information collection and presentation to facilitate executive-level planning and decision-making in health care environments.