Information Systems in Healthcare
2 Credits
BU.553.620.xx
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Required Text and Learning Materials
Required Text: Collections of readings and cases compiled by instructor.
LIST OF READINGS:
The following collection of chapters from textbooks, articles, and Cases will be used as instructional
material in the course.
Book Chapters:
1. Chapter 1: Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Carl Shapiro and
Hal R. Varian, Harvard Business School Press, November, 1998.
2. Chapter 6: The Art of Choosing, by Sheen Iyengar, Twelve Publishers, March 1, 2010.
Articles:
1. Telemonitoring at Visiting Nurse Health System, Harvard Business Review, Jan 04, 2012, Prod
Number: 112030-PDF-ENG.
2. Health Care Requires Big Changes to Complement New IT, Julia Adler-Milstein, Harvard
Business Review, April 01, 2019.
3. Computerized Provider Order Entry at Emory Healthcare by Richard G. Hamermesh, F. Warren
McFarlan, Mark Keil, Michael Morgan, Andrew Katz, David LaBorde, Harvard Business Review,
November 15, 2010.
4. Unlocking The Elusive Potential of Social Networks McKinsey Quarterly, June 2010.
5. Frontiers Of Collaboration: The Evolution of Social Networking, Knowledge@Wharton, July 07,
2010.
6. Prospect Theory: An analysis of decision under risk Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky,
Econometrica (1979), Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 263-291.
7. Getting Offshoring Right, Harvard Business Review – December 2005.
8. It’s a Flat World After All, Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, April 3rd, 2005.
9. Impact of Internet Based Distributed Monitoring Systems on offshore Sourcing of Services, ACM
Transactions on Internet Technology, Vol. 7, No. 3, Article 16, August 2007.
BU.553.620.xx – Information Systems in Healthcare - Instructor’s Name - Page 2 of 7
Cases:
1. Citibank’s e-Business Strategy for Global Corporate Banking, HKU797, October 24, 2008.
2. Cemex: Global Growth Through New Information Capabilities – IMD Case, 2003-2004.
Additional notes and readings will be posted via Blackboard for each session.
Blackboard Site
A Blackboard course site is set up for this course. Each student is expected to check the site throughout
the semester as Blackboard will be the primary venue for outside classroom communications between the
instructors and the students. Students can access the course site at https://blackboard.jhu.edu. Support
for Blackboard is available at 1-866-669-6138.
Course Evaluation
As a research and learning community, the Carey Business School is committed to continuous
improvement. The faculty strongly encourages students to provide complete and honest feedback for this
course. Please take this activity seriously because we depend on your feedback to help us improve so
you and your colleagues will benefit. Information on how to complete the evaluation will be provided
towards the end of the course.
Disability Services
Johns Hopkins University and the Carey Business School are committed to making all academic
programs, support services, and facilities accessible. To determine eligibility for accommodations, please
contact the Carey Disability Services Office at time of admission and allow at least four weeks prior to the
beginning of the first class meeting. Students should contact Rachel Hall in the Disability Services office
by phone at 410-234-9243, by fax at 443-529-1552, or email: [email protected].
Important Academic Policies and Services
 Honor Code
 Statement of Diversity and Inclusion
 Tutoring
 Carey Writing Center
 Inclement Weather Policy
Students are strongly encouraged to consult the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Student
Handbook and Academic Catalog and the School website http://carey.jhu.edu/syllabus_policies for
detailed information regarding the above items.
Course Description
Advances in communication and information technologies have had far-reaching impact on markets, on
price discovery mechanisms and the structure of the channels through which products and services are
delivered. This course will address how markets, market mechanisms and channels of product and
service delivery have been impacted and often transformed by Information and Communication
technologies. The nearly instantaneous transmission of rich information across the boundaries of the
corporation and across geographical boundaries have enabled the enterprise-wide systems of
corporations to connect to each other and enable business-to-business transactions and orchestrate
complex, electronic, settlement and fulfillment mechanisms that bring together multiple value chain and
supply chain partners. These advances have made it possible for information to be transmitted between
autonomous experts – such as physicians – and workers that support them. This in turn is gradually
ushering the era of large and complex health care information systems that hold the promise of delivering
effective and efficient health care.
Course Overview
The changes in market microstructure driven by information and communication technologies also
necessitate that firms should make changes to the Information Architecture of the corporation. Students
will learn about the different elements of the Information Architecture of electronic markets and channels
BU.553.620.xx – Information Systems in Healthcare - Instructor’s Name - Page 3 of 7
and its impact on outcomes in digital markets. The advent of ubiquitous and cheap bandwidth has
resulted in corporations being able to source services from a wide variety of suppliers from disparate
locations on the globe. This phenomenon has in turn resulted in the emergence of digital supply chains of
information-rich services that have linked corporations and markets across the globe. This course will
provide conceptual frameworks to analyze how digitally delivered, information-rich services can be
sourced from geographically disparate regions and the issues of risk – both operational and structural –
that are implied the emergence of global markets for services.
Industries that deal in information products – software, digital media, news and information services,
video games – have perhaps been impacted most by the rapid advances in IT and Communication
technologies. This course will explore how these industries have been transformed. What models of
information product delivery are emerging and the business implications for Media and Entertainment
industries. Firms that deliver health care from multispecialty, tertiary care hospitals to specialty clinics are
entering the era of ubiquitous information that can support the delivery of high quality care even while
they help contain the costs of delivery.
In addressing each of the major topics (outlined below) students will first be exposed to a set of concepts,
principles and frameworks that draw on Economics, Information Systems, Operations and Strategy. They
will then apply these in analyzing business cases, emerging trends in business and industry verticals –
such as health care and financial services - and in formulating solutions to business problems by using
information and communication technologies strategically.
Student Learning Objectives for This Course
All Carey graduates are expected to demonstrate competence on four Learning Goals,
operationalized in eight Learning Objectives. These learning goals and objectives are supported
by the courses Carey offers. For a complete list of Carey learning goals and objectives, please
refer to the website http://carey.jhu.edu/LearningAtCarey/LGO/index.html.
The learning objectives for this course are:
1. Analyze how the four forces that shape outcomes in networked markets will impact on specific
businesses and industries. They will also demonstrate how versioning and bundling can be used
effectively to deliver superior value proposition in information products.
2. Analyze how markets, market mechanisms and channels of product and service delivery have
been impacted and often transformed by Information and Communication technologies.
3. Formulate frameworks that explain how the ability to deliver real-time information flows between
autonomous experts – such as primary care physicians, specialists and clinicians - will result in
simultaneously improving the quality of services and the cost at which they are delivered.
4. Analyze how information rich services – such as health care – are impacted by the ubiquitous
availability of information.
5. Demonstrate how corporations can deliver both operational excellence and customer proximity
through mastering information processing capabilities.
6. Analyze how Knowledge Management systems and Business Intelligence systems impact on
customer proximity and formulate an optimal business intelligence policy for the corporation.
7. Formulate frameworks that will help determine the optimal Information Architecture of the
corporation. Design an Information Architecture that enables firms to manage operational
complexity. Explore how the information architecture impacts on the effectiveness on health care
IT.
8. Demonstrate how information-rich services can be sourced from geographically disparate regions
and the issues of risk – both operational and structural – are best managed in the emerging
global markets for services. Analyze the optimal network structure for sourcing these goods and
services.
9. Analyze and predict the impact of information delivery channels and collaborative technologies –
such as Wikis and Blogs – on the news and media and entertainment industries.
10. Analyze how ubiquitous information enables the move away from control towards monitoring how
this will impact on the functioning of health care delivery in large multi-specialty hospitals and
specialist clinics.
BU.553.620.xx – Information Systems in Healthcare - Instructor’s Name - Page 4 of 7
Attendance Policy
[The university attendance policy states that instructors will clearly communicate attendance expectations
and grading policy in the course syllabus.]
Attendance and class participation are part of each student’s course grade. Students are expected to
attend all scheduled class sessions. Each class will include opportunities for teams to work together.
Failure to attend class will result in an inability to achieve the objectives of the course. Excessive absence
will result in loss of points for team participation. Regular attendance and active participation are required
for students to successfully complete the course.
Assignments
There are two written assignments that students are expected to complete as a part of the course
deliverables.
Assignment – I: Practicums
Practicums: Student groups will deliver practicums in class and be evaluated by the instructor and their
peers. A structured evaluation instrument will be used to evaluate each student group. The final grade on
the practicum will be a weighted average of the grades given by peers and the instructor.
Assignment – II:
Students will be asked to do independent research on a topic that combines aspects of Information and
Communication Technologies and has significant impact on businesses – such as Telemedicine, Social
Media or Cloud Computing – and will write an assignment on the topic. The assignment will be structured
in the form of questions that students will answer by applying appropriate frameworks and principles that
they learned in the class.
Evaluation and Grading
The student’s grade will be based on a combination of evaluation exercises consisting of two
assignments, a final project and the student’s class participation. The breakdown of weights of each of
the above is shown below.
1. Assignments
2. Final Project
3. Class Participation
45% of final grade
40% of final grade
15% of final grade
Important notes about grading policy:
The grade for good performance in a course will be a B+/B. The grade of A- will only be awarded for
excellent performance. The grade of A will be reserved for those who demonstrate extraordinarily
excellent performance. *The grades of D+, D, and D- are not awarded at the graduate level. Grade
appeals will ONLY be considered in the case of a documented clerical error.
Class Participation
Students will be evaluated on the quality of their case preparation, the insights and understanding of
material that they demonstrate, the rigor and originality of their analysis and the extent to which they
generate informed and relevant responses to questions in class. Students will also be evaluated on the
quality of their participation in class discussions where they will be evaluated on rigor, extent of
preparation, relevance of ideas, originality and insightful understanding of the core concepts of the
course.
Final Project:
Students will work in groups on identifying a business opportunity, a firm or a business practice – enabled
by advances in ICT - that can be improved, reformulated, redesigned or analyzed using the frameworks
and concepts learned in this course.
BU.553.620.xx – Information Systems in Healthcare - Instructor’s Name - Page 5 of 7
The will analyze the business problem and apply the different concepts that they learned in the course.
Students will then formulate frameworks (where relevant) to determine which channel structures and
market mechanisms are relevant to the business domain.
They will then analyze the impact of their recommendations on the Information Architecture of the firm.
They will draw on principles of Digital Convergence (where relevant) and its impact on the nature of final
solution that they propose.
They will also demonstrate how their proposed solution is an improvement on the existing situation and
analyze the limitations of their recommendations.
A group should consist of between 4 and 7 members. The format of submission is flexible. Students may
submit a written project report, deliver a multi-media presentation that combines a written deliverable with
other media formats.
Students are strongly encouraged to run their ideas by the instructor first and make sure that they meet
the requirements of the final project.
COURSE OUTLINE
Session 1: Information Technology & Strategic Outcomes in Networked Digital Markets:
The session will deal with the forces that shape outcomes in networked markets: Network Effects, Lock-In
and Switching Costs, Price Discrimination, Versioning and Bundling. Students will then apply these
concepts to specific products and industries and their impact explored. Students will also learn to apply
frameworks where the interactive effect of some of these forces on markets and firms will be explored and
analyzed.
Readings:
1. Chapter 1: Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy by Carl Shapiro and
Hal R. Varian, Harvard Business School Press, November, 1998. [Post Class Reading]
Session 2: Managing Complex Information Systems To Drive Strategic Outcomes In The Delivery
Of Health Care
Students will learn about the key elements of information systems that support the delivery of high quality
health care. They will explore the three key parameters of the information architecture of health care
information systems; Platforms, Processes and People and how the three together determine the nature
and extent of success in the delivery of health care.
Students will learn about the different ways in which innovations in operations and information systems
can impact on the health care ecosystem. They will analyze some of the complexities associated with
implementing strategic technologies in hospitals.
Readings:
1. Telemonitoring at Visiting Nurse Health System, Harvard Business Review, Jan 04, 2012, Prod
Number: 112030-PDF-ENG.
2. Health Care Requires Big Changes to Complement New IT, Julia Adler-Milstein, Harvard
Business Review, April 01, 2019.
Session 3: Application Workshop: IT & The Delivery of Health Care
BU.553.620.xx – Information Systems in Healthcare - Instructor’s Name - Page 6 of 7
Students will investigate how health care information systems are implemented. They will explore how the
combination of platforms, processes and people are to be managed in implementing complex health care
information systems.
Readings:
1. Computerized Provider Order Entry at Emory Healthcare by Richard G. Hamermesh, F. Warren
McFarlan, Mark Keil, Michael Morgan, Andrew Katz, David LaBorde, Harvard Business Review,
November 15, 2010.
2. Driving health IT implementation success: Insights from The Christ Hospital, Harvard Business
Review, March 15, 2010, Prod Number: BH374-PDF-ENG.
Session 4: IT Enabler Of Information Flows Between Markets, Buyers & Sellers:
The case “Citibank’s e-Business Strategy for Global Corporate Banking” explores how firms can use
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to extend the reach of products and services that
they deliver beyond the boundaries of the corporation. The case also explores how firms can use deep
linking of their enterprise-wide information systems to deliver information rich services that are scalable
and yet customized.
The case “Cemex: Global Growth Through New Information Capabilities” addresses how corporations
can achieve dominant positions by strategic use of ICT even in industries that are thought to deal with
commodity products (cement). The case also demonstrates how new market segments can be created
and customer proximity can be achieved through advanced information management capabilities.
Both cases emphasize an important concept: when a corporation makes significant changes to its
market-facing strategies, such changes will be accompanied by far-reaching changes within the
organization and the use of ICT is key to making the changed organizational structures effective.
Readings:
3. Citibank’s e-Business Strategy for Global Corporate Banking, HKU797, October 24, 2008.
4. Cemex: Global Growth Through New Information Capabilities – IMD Case, 2003-2004.
Session 5: The Information Architecture of Interactive Channels
Students will analyze the implications of different digital channel structures and the opportunities and the
threats they pose to corporations that use a suite of interactive technologies – such as Social Networks,
Blogs, Tweets, RSS Feeds, etc. – to disseminate information to buyers and markets. Students will also
investigate how social media networks and Web 2.0 technologies impact on the behavior of buyers and
sellers.
Students will also analyze how the architecture of electronic channels and digital markets can be aligned
with the actual behavioral patterns of buyers to drive more efficient outcomes. They will explore the
Infostructure of Digital Markets and explore the optimal scale and scope of information delivery in digital
markets.
Readings:
1. Unlocking The Elusive Potential of Social Networks McKinsey Quarterly, June 2010.
2. Frontiers Of Collaboration: The Evolution of Social Networking, Knowledge@Wharton, July 07,
2010.
BU.553.620.xx – Information Systems in Healthcare - Instructor’s Name - Page 7 of 7
3. Chapter 6: The Art of Choosing, by Sheen Iyengar. [Optional Post Class Reading].
4. Prospect Theory: An analysis of decision under risk Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky,
Econometrica (1979), Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 263-291. [Optional Post Class Reading].
Session 6: Information Systems Application Workshop: Best Practices In ICT Usage For
Healthcare Delivery
Student groups will deliver a practicum on how entities that deliver health care are impacted by the
emergence of new technologies and delivery models. The objective of this session is to identify best
practices in the use of ICT to deliver clinically effective health care in economically efficient ways.
Each presenting group will be evaluated by peers and the instructor using a structured evaluation
instrument.
Session 7: Global Markets For Information Rich Services: Sourcing Digitally Delivered Services
This session addresses the emergence of global markets for information-rich services that can be
delivered digitally. Students will learn about the different kinds of services and the risks associated with
sourcing these from disparate regions of the globe. The session will also address how the nature of
knowledge work executed by information workers in firms determines the opportunities for the global
sourcing and delivery of services.
Readings:
1.
2.
3.
Getting Offshoring Right, Harvard Business Review – December 2005.
It’s a Flat World After All, Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, April 3rd, 2005.
Impact of Internet Based Distributed Monitoring Systems on offshore Sourcing of Services, ACM
Transactions on Internet Technology, Vol. 7, No. 3, Article 16, August 2007. [Optional Post Class
Reading].
Session 8: Digitally Delivered Services: The Emergence of Global Networks
Students will analyze how the nature of competition between corporations is changing into competition
between networks of corporations.
They will formulate strategies for configuring optimal network and governance structures for sourcing
capabilities from global markets for digitally delivered services.
Review & Recap of Key Concepts
Students will review the key concepts of each of the sessions and explore their relevance to emerging
business phenomena.
Readings:
1.
The 24Hour Knowledge Factory, Information Resources Management Journal, 23 (4). [Optional
Post Class Reading].
Copyright Statement
Unless explicitly allowed by the instructor, course materials, class discussions, and examinations are
created for and expected to be used by class participants only. The recording and rebroadcasting of such
material, by any means, is forbidden. Violations are subject to sanctions under the Honor Code.