Eta Berner, professor, Health Informatics programEta Berner, Ed.D., professor in the UAB Department of Health Services Administration, has the first online course to be certified by Quality Matters in the UAB School of Health Professions. She is one of only five in the state of Alabama to earn the certification.

Quality Matters, a nationally ranked peer-review process for online courses, gave Berner’s class, HI 640: Introduction to Health Informatics and Health Care Delivery, 98 out of a possible 100 points.

Elizabeth Fisher, Ph.D., Director of Academic Outreach and the UAB QM Coordinator for the Division of eLearning and professional Studies said, “The QM process is very collegial and student centric. Dr. Berner clearly cares about student success evidenced by her hard work and willingness to seek and embrace continual improvement of her courses.”

“There are useful suggestions even in areas that I met the standards,” said Berner. “I do feel good about it, but I had advice and support from instructional designers and experts over the years as I set up the course.”

In addition to teaching in the Master of Science in Health Informatics program, Berner is director of the UAB Center for Health Informatics for Patient Safety/Quality. The CHIPS/Q was created in 2011 to develop HIT workforce training and educational programs for healthcare delivery systems.

Quality Matters review system features 40 quality standards and a team of three reviewers. The review panel consists of a subject expert, a design expert and one external reviewer.