Healthcare Data & Digital Technology, Plain & Simple

HEALTHCARE RUNS ON DATA

Every electronic health record, medical image, laboratory result, prescription, and digital healthcare transaction ultimately comes down to data.

But what exactly is digital data? What are bits and bytes? Where is all that information stored? How can huge amounts of data be compressed, organized, retrieved, and managed? And why does any of this matter to someone working in healthcare?

You don't need to be an IT professional to understand the answers.

This course takes you behind the scenes of digital healthcare information and explains the fundamental technologies that make it possible—Plain & Simple.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

We'll start at the very beginning with bits and bytes and gradually build toward the larger systems used to store and manage healthcare information.

You'll explore:

• Bits and bytes and how digital information is represented

• Different types of data storage

• Data compression and why it matters

• Databases and how information is organized

• The fundamentals of data management

• Centralized versus distributed system architectures

• How these concepts relate to healthcare information technology

You'll also have a quiz and assignment to reinforce what you've learned.

DIGITAL DATA—PLAIN & SIMPLE

This course is designed for healthcare professionals, managers, students, and business professionals who want to better understand the technology behind healthcare information. No technical background is required.

My approach is practical rather than highly technical. I spent 35 years designing, developing, and bringing medical technology to market, progressing from engineering leadership to VP of Marketing and ultimately president of a healthcare IT company. I've also spent many years teaching graduate-level university courses.

My goal isn't to turn you into an IT specialist. It's to give you enough understanding of digital data, storage, compression, databases, and system architecture to better understand how healthcare information systems actually work.