The UMass Lowell Graduate Program in Health Informatics & Management (HI&M) is designed to produce health-care managers, health informatics and policy professionals with the knowledge and expertise essential to the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective health services and health information technology, as well as the design, analysis and evaluation of public health and private sector health policies.

At a Glance

  • Flexibility
    Part Time | Full Time
  • Delivery Options
    Online
  • Degree
    MS

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MSHIM Overview

Information technology pervades every aspect of healthcare delivery today, providing access to rich and voluminous data. Those who can analyze and understand how data can best be used to improve healthcare outcomes are in high demand. The UMass Lowell Master of Science in Health Information Management program, ranked the 9th best online master’s degree in this field in the country,* helps students advance their careers and, if they wish to, enter technical fields within the health care industry. Master’s-prepared employees in the field can earn more than $91,000 per year, according to Payscale.com.

While more technical or business-focused programs teach students how to crunch numbers in order to improve the bottom line, UMass Lowell’s program teaches these skills as ways to improve the quality of healthcare provided to patients in organizations that offer satisfying and rewarding work experiences to all staff members. Courses have been developed by faculty in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences Department of Public Health, while drawing upon the expertise of industry experts, through an organizational affiliation Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). The program is fully online, offering working professionals flexibility.

Due to the breadth and long history of health-related academic programming, UMass Lowell has close connections with dozens of healthcare providers in Massachusetts and New England, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Lahey Clinic, Lowell General Hospital, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Kindred Healthcare, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and Lowell Community Health Center.

*According to bestcollegereviews.org

  • The MS in Health Information Management is a 36-credit, 12-course program that offers courses that include organizational behavior, quantitative methods, health care finance, operations analysis, health care management, applied health economics, planning and marketing, healthcare information systems, law and ethics in health care, health policy, socioeconomic inequalities in health, health information system planning, database design, project management, strategic planning in health care and health information technology and electronic health records systems.

    The program offers two concentrations:

    • Health Service Management: This concentration fosters the ability to make administrative decisions based upon sound policies, resource utilization, planning principles and analytical techniques to emphasize the delivery of quality patient care. Students also learn techniques for promoting a satisfying and rewarding work environment for all levels of staff within the healthcare organization.
    • Health Informatics: This concentration focuses on the effect that massive amounts of data has on health policy and healthcare delivery. Coursework in this concentration emphasizes information management and the ways in which health and computer sciences are coupled with resources and integrated into the management of healthcare for clinical, financial or analytical purposes. 

    Undergraduate students may qualify for the accelerated bachelor's to master's program.

    For more information on the curriculum including course listings and degree pathways, visit the Graduate Catalog.

    • Submitted online application
    • Official transcript from previously earned degree
    • 2 letters of recommendation
    • Statement of purpose
    • $50 application fee

    Students may complete one of two four-course graduate certificate programs, the certificate in health informatics or the certificate in health management before seeking admission to the master’s degree program, with the certificate course credits counted toward the master’s degree. 

    International Applicants

    • Applicants who earned their degree outside of the U.S. must have their transcript evaluated by a credentialing service such as WES or CED.
    • English proficiency testing
      • TOEFL minimum 79
      • IELTS minimum 6.5

    Please note, F1 student visas are not issued for this program since it is offered exclusively online.

    UMass Lowell Bachelor's to Master's Applicants

    Undergraduate students may qualify for the accelerated bachelor's to master's program. Please refer to the Graduate Catalog for the latest information about admission, courses, retention, and degree requirements.

    Learn more about admissions requirements

  • Online

    Cost Per Credit: $575*
    Total Tuition (based on 36 credits): $20,700*
    *Cost per credit includes access fee (parking after 3 p.m. and access to Blackboard).

    Tuition for UMass Lowell Online and Professional Studies students is the same for both in-state and out-of-state students.

    For more information on tuition and financing, visit Graduate, Online & Professional Studies.

  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of medical and health services managers is predicted to grow much faster than average through 2022. According to Payscale.com, the average salary of a health informatics specialist is $91,000.

Why Study Health Information Management at UMass Lowell?

Andrew Farkas works on a patient on a MedFlight helicopter

“I wanted to complement my experience with more structured education,”

says Andrew Farkas, MS, CFRN, EMT-P, Chief Operating Officer for Boston MedFlight. That’s why he returned to college and earned a UMass Lowell master’s degree in health informatics, after a 35-year hiatus. Read more

HIMSS Organizational Affiliation logo. The Organizational Affiliate programs are designed to help healthcare providers and academic organizations offer their staff and students all of the resources they need to succeed at their jobs and in the industry.

Solid Reputation

UMass Lowell health information master’s degree candidates are choosing the nation’s 16th best online program in the field, as rated by bestcollegereviews.org, and one that is an academic organizational affiliate of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

Two students study together with laptops in the library

Flexible Programs

UMass Lowell is one of the best online providers of degrees in the country. Read more