Introduction to Health Informatics

Get to know the interesting world of HI

The world faces new challenges day by and therefore is in a continuous adventure of seeking solutions for those problems. This adventure not only causes innovations but also creates new knowledge and career areas. Today I’m going to discuss one of those challenges the world faces and how it led to a whole new knowledge area emerging.

You may already know what field of study I’m going to discuss today (If not please read the title of the article twice😉 ). HI is one of the rapidly growing industries which already have high demand all around the world. My main target today is to give you an overview of what is health informatics and what kind of learning and career opportunities you have in this interesting domain of knowledge.

The flow of this article will be as follows,

1. The need for health information systems
2. What exactly is HI and how it became a major area of study?
3. The practical examples of HI and how it improves the quality of the healthcare industry?
4. Learning opportunities in HI
5. Career opportunities in HI

What is the need for information systems in the healthcare industry?

We all know that data acts a major role in the modern world. And technological advancements have caused significant improvements in managing the ever-increasing amount of data. That is no exception for the healthcare industry. The need for better healthcare systems is growing day by day as we face many health-related challenges frequently.

Modern healthcare systems need new methods and techniques to manage the vast amount of healthcare data that is being created every day. There must be ways to store, process and transmit those data in order to make better use of them thus making the patients’ as well as healthcare workers’ life much easier.

What exactly is HI?

“Medical informatics is the intersection of information science, computer science, and health care” -Michigan Technological University-

Health Informatics is a specialized field that is aimed at improving the quality of healthcare with the advancements of modern technologies. It expands into a very popular field of study after computer technology became capable of managing large amounts of data.

Health informatics was not a recognized topic until the 1960s. “The American Society for Testing and Materials(ASTM)” introduced the very first standards for healthcare data reporting. That included standards for “laboratory message exchange, data content, and HIS security”. Ultimately, global standards we introduced as well, transforming health informatics into the complex and ever-evolving discipline that it is today.

The Impact of Health Information Systems on healthcare around the globe

As I previously mentioned, the field of Health Informatics is all about improving the quality of the healthcare industry. The hard work of the people who were involved in this field has made it a reality. The better communication systems between the healthcare workers, nurses and doctors have helped them not only to combine their expertise to provide the best care to patients but also to improve their techniques and processes. These systems were also able to reduce the cost when sharing health data. Sharing and Analysis of health records and other patient details have never been more effective before.

Following are some practical usages of health informatics.

1. Electronic Medical Record (EMR): EMR replaces the paper version of a pateint’s medical history. An EMR includes more health data, test results, and treatments than in the paper version. It’s also built to share data with other electronic health records, allowing other healthcare providers to see a patient’s medical information.
2. Practice Management Software: Designed to maximise the efficiency of medical facilities. Can be used to schedule and track appointment times, manage billing cycles and organize patient information.
3. Master Patient Index (MPI): Connects separate patient records across databases. Used to reduce data redundancy and inaccurate patient records.
4. Patient Portals: an online website that gives patients access to their health data such as medical appointments, medications and lab results. You can be in control of your health data by using your patient portal.
5. Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM): Allows patients to collect and send patient-generated health data (PGHD) to healthcare professionals using mobile medical devices and technologies. RPM is commonly used to assist patients who require chronic, post-discharge or senior care.
6. Clinical Decision Support (CDS): Assists healthcare clinicians in making clinical decisions by analyzing data from multiple clinical and administrative systems. The information can aid in the preparation of diagnoses or the prediction of medical events.

Now that we know about what is health informatics and its impact on modern healthcare systems, let’s find out about the learning and career opportunities available in the ever-evolving field of Health Informatics.

Learning opportunities

If I were to list out all the courses, programs and other opportunities in HI all around the world, I will not be able to finish this article for a long time. So instead I thought of giving you some insights about what facts you should consider when choosing your degree or learning opportunity when getting into HI. Then I will take one degree program as an example from the thousands of opportunities and describe the learning experience. The example I’m going to take is the same degree program that I’m currently following (Trust me, I did my research before choosing my degree. It’s one of the best places out there😊).

According to Walden University following are the core skills a degree program on HI should help you to learn.

1. Utilize health information technology for knowledge management.
2. Identify issues related to the implementation of the electronic health record.
3. Apply the systems development life cycle approach to the utilization of health information systems.
4. Describe key legal, regulatory, and ethical issues related to the utilization of health information technology.
5. Apply information technology to improve healthcare quality.
6. Contribute to strategic and tactical planning in utilizing health information systems.
7. Articulate the organizational needs and readiness for the adoption of health information technology solutions.
8. Apply concepts of leadership in managing organizational change.
9. Describe key financial indicators related to the utilization of health information technology in an organization.
10. Recognize the language, terminology, ontology, acronyms, coding, and classification systems of healthcare and health informatics.
11. Identify the applications of statistical software to support evidence-based research and evaluation.

I highly recommend any degree program that focuses on the above-mentioned aspects to get your educational qualifications for HI (learn more).

The Software Engineering (Bsc Hons) degree program offered by the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka is One of the best examples for that. A student who’s enrolled in this program can choose HI as one of their specialized areas to study. The program focuses not only on theoretical and practical aspects but also on industry standards and ethics to produce the best employees and entrepreneurs in the HI industry. One of the specialities of this program is that it guides you to learn all the cutting edge technologies in HI such as Medical Imaging and Biomedical Signal Processing. Especially if you are a Sri Lankan, I highly recommend this program to start a career in HI as it is one of the very few opportunities available in Sri Lanka(More Info).

Now let’s find out what kind of career opportunities available in HI.

Career Opportunities and demand for the Health Informatics field

Following are a few of the most demanded health informatics careers available in the industry.

1. Clinical Informatics Analyst: Clinical informatics analysts compile and evaluate health data, then use the results to enhance patient outcomes by modifying their organization’s practices, processes, and workflows. On average a CI Analyst earns around $89,000 per year.
2. Health Informatics Consultant: Their role is to provide advice to the company on any informatics-related issues, difficulties, and initiatives. Organizations that are undergoing a digital transformation or do not have an internal informatics staff frequently hire health informatics consultants. Their average salary is around $103,000 per year.
3. EHR Implementation Manager: A professional with extensive experience in building, installing, and optimizing software that manages electronic health records. Their annual pay averages at $105,000.
4. Health Information Technology Project Manager: Project managers who focus specifically on health informatics related projects. Their duties include initiating, planning executing, monitoring, and closing the projects. They make an average of $107,000 each year.
5. Chief Medical Information Officer: An executive in charge of overseeing all of an organization’s health informatics initiatives and patient records. They are responsible for drafting and implementing strategic plans for the organization’s long-term IT infrastructure. They earn an annual salary of $138,000 on average.

As you can see from the above examples, The field of Health Informatics is not only an interesting area to study but also a highly demanding career area to pursue(learn more). We can only assume that demand will grow rapidly in the future.

I hope you all gained some knowledge about this interesting field which is making a huge impact on many people’s lives.

After all, The main goal of technology should be improving itself as well as people’s lives.

I will see you with another interesting article in the future. Until then, Goodbye and stay safe!

-Pasan Devin Jayawardene-