Standardisation within Health Informatics, 5 credits

A Bachelor's degree or a professional degree equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits in healthcare, biomedicine, medical technology, computer and systems sciences, informatics or the equivalent. And proficiency in English equivalent to English B/English 6.

The general aims of the course are to enable students to acquire knowledge and skills to choose, analyse and apply different health informatics standards to store, retrieve, represent and exchange data between different health information systems.

On completion of the course, the students should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

• account for the importance of health informatics standards and terminologies for management of patient information,
• account for different ways to use controlled terminology for care documentation,
• account for different ways to use health informatics standards to achieve interoperability between health information systems, and
• explain methods to represent medical knowledge in form of standardised models.

Skills and ability

• analyse and apply different standards to represent and exchange information between different health information systems,
• chose and apply techniques to model clinical knowledge, and
• evaluate possible fields for standardisation and possible choices of standards.

Assessment ability and attitudes

• assess the possible impact of health informatics standardisation on the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of care, and
• reflect on the use of health informatics standards in different countries.

• National and international standardisation organisations and initiatives
• Different levels of interoperability
• Overview over health informatics standards, coding systems, terminologies and ontologies, e.g. HL7 series of standards, OpenEHR, SNOMED CT, Continua
• Models for clinical knowledge representation

Lectures, seminars and computer laboratory sessions.

Examination is based on group assignments as well as on an individual digital written examination at distance.  Group assignments will be graded pass/fail and the individual digital written examination at distance will be graded with A-F. Final grading is done when all mandatory parts of the examination are performed.

Compulsory participation

The course includes mandatory sessions marked in the course schedule. The examiner assesses if and, in that case, how absence from participation in the group activity and compulsory parts can be compensated. Before the student has participated in all compulsory parts or compensated absence in accordance with the examiner's instructions, the student's results for the course will not be registered. Absence from a compulsory part may result in the student having to wait to compensate until the next time the course is given.

Limitation of number of occasions to write the exam

Students who have not passed the regular examination are entitled to participate in five more examinations. If the student has not passed the exam after four participations he/she is encouraged to visit the study counsellor. If the student has failed six examinations/tests, no additional examination or new admission is provided. The number of times that the student has participated in one and the same examination is regarded as an examination session. Submission of a blank examination is regarded as an examination. Delayed submission affects the possibility to receive a higher grade than C. An examination for which the student registered but not participated in will not be counted as an examination.

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a student with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus's regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities, the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc. Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and abilities may not be changed, removed or reduced.

Examination will be provided during a time of two years after a possible cancellation of the course. Examination can take place according to an earlier literature list during a time of one year after the date when a major renewal of the literature list has been made.

Course evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines established by the Committee for Higher Education. The course is given in English.