(openPR) - GARDEN CITY, NY, January 2012—To answer the increasing demand for well-trained health information technology professionals, Adelphi University is pleased to announce that it will begin offering a Master’s of Science and an Advanced Certificate in Health Information Technology (HIT) in the Spring 2012 semester designed for IT professionals pursuing health information management and/or healthcare professionals seeking information technology certification. In 2004, President Bush called for the implementation of completely paperless, electronic health records (EHR) nationwide by 2014. Adelphi’s HIT degrees seek to fulfill the need for related education programming created by this federal mandate as well as the developing trend of rapidly-expanding data and the need for systems to effectively manage it. Both degrees will prepare graduates for careers in health and medical informatics in academic, health care, or industrial settings, where a working knowledge of both the technological and practical applications of healthcare data is required.

The master’s program is a total of 42 credits and combines classes in nursing, management, technology, and business culminating in a capstone research course. The advanced certificate is 21 credits and centers on the technology-related classes only. Credits earned in the advanced certificate program can be used towards the master’s degree. The programs are offered through Adelphi’s University College and have been created with working professionals in mind. An HIT master’s degree can be completed in three years and the advanced certificate in two years by taking two evening courses per semester and one course each summer. HIT falls under the auspices of Adelphi’s recently created Center for Health Innovation (CHI) which provides a single reference point for all healthcare-related programs of study.

“We’re preparing the healthcare field for the coming changes where they will need real technical skills…that are portable and flexible,” said Dr. Thomas Virgona, HIT program director. “It’s a changing world; you have to be able to change with it.”

For more information or to apply to either program, visit academics.adelphi.edu/universitycollege/ms-health-informa... or contact Program Director Dr. Thomas Virgona at TVirgona@adelphi.edu or (516) 877-4516.

Adelphi is a world class, modern university with excellent and highly relevant programs where students prepare for lives of active citizenship and professional careers. Through its schools and programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Honors College, Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, University College, and the Schools of Business, Nursing, and Social Work—the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls nearly 8,000 students from 41 states and 60 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University, chartered in 1896, maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.

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