Dr Elzbieta Taylor NAB3.37

Teacher known as Ela Klecun. 

This course is available on the CEMS Exchange, Global MSc in Management, Global MSc in Management (CEMS MiM), Global MSc in Management (MBA Exchange), MBA Exchange, MSc in Health and International Development and MSc in Management of Information Systems and Digital Innovation. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

There are no prerequisites. Students should have some appreciation of information management and systems implementation issues, and some understanding of healthcare systems. A short set of readings will be provided for students who require this background understanding.

This course aims to give the students theoretical and practical insights into the key issues informing policy and practice for digitalisation of healthcare. It does not teach technical design or programming skills but rather it aims to develop ‘hybrid professionals’ able to bridge healthcare management and information technology worlds. Hence, students from all backgrounds are welcomed.

As the result of COVID-19 pandemic healthcare is facing unprecedented challenges. Digital technologies are seen as critical in handling those. Many governments around the world are using digital channels to provide information to the public. Various apps are helping us to stay fit, to look after our mental health and to connect with health professionals. New systems have been developed for contact tracing. More significantly perhaps, the way the mainstream healthcare services, such as primary care are delivered is being transformed, from face-to-face to online. Simulation modelling and population based management tools are increasingly utilised to better plan and manage health of populations and delivery of health services. Robotics and AI are hailed as breakthrough innovations. Many of the information technologies (IT) and service models utilized currently have existed in some form for years. Their adoption has been hindered by complex regulatory, organizational, social and technical problems. Significant challenges still remain. In this course we will explore opportunities for transforming healthcare and challenges faced in planning for, developing and adopting digital services and underlying healthcare information systems and infrastructures. The approach taken in this course to understanding those issues is informed by a socio-technical perspective that considers society (institutions, rules and regulations, work practices and people) and technology as inter-related. Both lectures and seminars are dedicated to presenting different aspects of eHealth. The seminars consist of student-led, in-depth discussions on issues related to particular topics within eHealth. The course assignments (blog post and essay) offer the students an opportunity to critically engage with their chosen topic. Topics addressed in the course include: assessing the transformative potential of digital technologies for health, the evolution and current state of information systems in primary and secondary care with international comparisons, healthcare policies for digital technologies and information infrastructures, issues of information systems implementation and use, evaluation of IT and building of an evidence base, new trends in health IT. Selected application domains discussed include: electronic health records and national information infrastructures, medicine management systems and e-prescribing, health apps, big data and data analytics, AI and robotics.

15 hours of lectures and 13 hours and 30 minutes of seminars in the LT.

A reading week will take place in W6. There will be no teaching during this week.

Seminars are based around reading and discussing selected journal articles. Formative feedback is provided on class participation. In addition, students complete formative proposals for their blog post and essay on which written feedback is provided. 

Berg, M. (2004) Health Information Management: Integrating Information Technology in Health Care Work, Routledge, London.

Christensen, C., Grossman, J.H. and Hwang, J. (2009) The Innovator’s Prescription. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Coiera, E. (2015) Guide to Health Informatics (Third Edition), CRC Press.

Rivas, H. and Wac K. (2019) Digital Health: Scaling Healthcare to the World, Springer International Publishing. 

Taylor, P. (2006) From Patient Data to Medical Knowledge: The Principles and Practice of Health Informatics, BMJ Books, London.

Timmermans, S. and M. Berg (2003) The Gold Standard: The Challenge of Evidence Based Medicine and the Standardization of Health Care, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.

Topol, E. (2012) The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the digital revolution will create better health care, Basic Books, New York.

Topol, E. (2015) The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine Is in Your Hands, Basic Books.

Trotter, F. and Uhlman, D. (2013) Hacking Healthcare, O'Reilly, Sebastapol CA.|

Wachter R. (2016) Using information technology to improve the NHS, London: Department of Health.

Warner, N. (2011) A Suitable Case for Treatment: the NHS and Reform, Grosvenor House.

Essay (70%, 4000 words), class participation (10%) and blog post (20%) in the LT.

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.