Research paperHealth informatics

HIM 515 Topic 2 History of Informatics and Areas of Practice – Entity Ranking

One line in the brief says this ranking decides your group for the rest of the course. That changes it from an essay exercise into a choice with consequences.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 25, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
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Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

This ranking assigns your group for the whole course

There is a sentence in the middle of the brief that most readers skim: the ranking will influence how you are grouped for the Collaborative Learning Community assignments. So the three groups you choose are not just an argument, they are a commitment to work in that area for the rest of the course, and it is worth choosing where you can contribute and want to learn rather than where the historical case is easiest to make. Say nothing about that in the paper itself; simply let it inform the choice, and then argue impact honestly. Choose where you can contribute and want to learn, then argue impact honestly on the page. The paper itself should say nothing about the grouping consequence; it simply changes which three groups are worth defending, and it is the sort of instruction that is easy to skim past and expensive to notice afterwards.

The academic difficulty is that impact needs a criterion or the argument becomes assertion. Impact on patients, impact on the development of the discipline itself, and impact on data standards are three defensible measures and they rank the groups differently, which is worth saying explicitly since the brief asks you to define ranking and give reasoning. Nursing informatics scores highly on discipline development because it produced standardised terminologies and a recognised specialty; laboratory informatics scores highly on standards because results exchange was structured earlier than most clinical data; vendors score highly on reach because their design decisions propagate to every site that buys the product. Ground each group in its actual history, since the brief asks for history and current position, and then keep the final section, an area of interest with its current state, trends and challenges, tied to one of the three you ranked rather than introducing a fourth.

Likely learning objectives

Notice a constraint buried in the brief and let it inform a choice.
Define an explicit criterion before ranking anything.
Show how different criteria produce different rankings.
Ground each group's claim in its documented history.

Assignment instructions

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Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Details: Review the informatics groups/specialty areas defined in the lectures for Topics 1 and 2 (public, clinical, nursing, laboratory, pharmaceutical, software/medical device vendors and other health care informatics groups – HIM, admitting, finance, and administrators). Select the three informatics groups/specialty areas that you believe have the greatest impact on informatics and rank them as to importance and preference. Note: This ranking will influence how you are grouped for the Collaborative Learning Community assignments in this course. In a 1,000-1,250-word paper, include the following: Provide comprehensive, accurate, and relevant information on the three informatics groups selected. Clearly state the impact the three groups you selected have had on informatics. Be sure to present compelling arguments. Define ranking and provide reasoning for ranked choices. Incorporate history and current position within informatics of the three groups. Identify an area of interest, evaluate its current state, and discuss future trends and challenges. Provide a brief review of the various areas of health care informatics. Select specific area of health care informatics and provide evaluation of current state. Provide information on future trends with selected area of health care informatics. Clarify the specific challenges for the selected area of health care informatics. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. HIM 515 Topic 2 History of Informatics and Areas of Practice Entity Ranking One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

What Topic 2 requires

01A 1,000-1,250 word paper in APA style with no abstract.
02Selection of three informatics groups or specialty areas with the greatest impact, ranked by importance and preference.
03Comprehensive, accurate and relevant information on the three groups selected.
04A clear statement of the impact each has had on informatics, with compelling arguments.
05A definition of ranking and reasoning for the ranked choices.
06History and current position within informatics of the three groups.
07An area of interest with its current state, future trends and specific challenges, submitted to Turnitin.