Health informatics applies big data to health care challenges, utilizing data analytics to drive significant advances in medical delivery and outcomes. According to Health IT Analytics, “Big data analytics can help support preventive health, find gaps in chronic disease management, improve population health management and advance precision medicine.”
Analysis of medical data helps guide patient care as well as health care business decisions. Health analytics beneficiaries include:
- Medical practices
- Hospitals
- Allied health networks
- Insurance companies
- Research laboratories
As Samira Asma, Assistant Director General for Data, Analytics and Delivery, World Health Organisation, puts it, “Data is just not about numbers. Data is about life and death and quality of life. Data is about people we interact with every day… And data is also used to hold ourselves accountable as well as the world accountable for the right decisions we should make to make the environments healthier for populations.”
If you’re reading this article, you probably already have education or career experience in health care or tech. You are likely considering a career that integrates big data and health care. A graduate degree in health informatics—like the Online Master of Science in Health Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh—can help by bolstering your expertise and credentials. If you’re ready to advance or pivot your career, plentiful opportunities await you in various fields. While actual titles vary from company to company, consider the following examples.
Pursue a Career in Health Informatics
Use Data to Improve Health Care Outcomes
Health Informatics Jobs: Leadership Roles
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 28 percent growth in medical and health services managerial roles over the next decade. Increased use of health informatics to guide practice should boost demand for related leadership roles. Let’s take a closer look at some.
Chief Medical Information Officer
A chief medical information officer (CIMO) bridges the gap between IT and medical practitioners in hospitals, clinics, community health centers, nursing homes and other health care settings. They usually lead the strategic implementation of clinical information systems, with responsibilities such as protecting data, training medical personnel, studying trends in health informatics and advising executive leadership.
Director of Health Informatics
Directors of health informatics manage the implementation of electronic medical records systems in hospitals and other medical facilities. Their responsibilities include ensuring adequate staff training.
Health Informatics Manager
Informatics managers work in larger health care facilities, overseeing data collection and implementing storage and security practices. They supervise and train other informatics staff members, handle their department’s budget, and monitor regulatory compliance.
Health Informatics Jobs: Analytics Roles
Analytics may be your best fit if you’re more interested in working with the data than managing a team. This is an excellent option for health care practitioners, such as nurses, seeking a career transition.
Health Data Scientist
Technical and medical skills converge in the work of health data scientists. They collect, clean, analyze, and present data to improve patient care.
Clinical Informatics Specialist
Clinical informatics specialists make sure medical records are correctly digitized. They review systems, work to boost efficiency and teach staff members new protocols.
Health Informatics Analyst/Business Analyst
Health informatics analysts focus on outcomes. They explore possible health care outcomes by creating data-based models or simulations to answer research questions or improve treatment practices. Business analysts use clinical data to improve operations.
Nursing Informatics Specialists
Nursing informatics specialists have dual training in health informatics and nursing, enabling them to convey nurses’ needs to programmers and data-management system developers. They also use their expertise to improve workflows for nurses and treatment for patients.
Health Informatics Jobs in Technology
The utility of health informatics extends beyond health care facilities. Software companies, consulting firms, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, government agencies and NGOs all employ informaticists in essential roles. Let’s look at some opportunities that don’t involve direct employment in patient-care settings.
Health Informatics Consultant
Health informatics consultants play an advisory role, advising medical facilities on technological issues and proposing solutions. Duties may involve electronic medical records, IT protocols, training and education.
Health Care IT Project Manager
IT project managers in health care get the call when a facility needs a new IT system. They oversee the project from start to finish, from planning and resource allocation to full implementation.
Electronic Health Records (EHR) Implementation Specialist
EHR implementation specialists are experts in health care software programs used with electronic medical records. Duties may include setting up a template for billing and coding, recommending software enhancements, training and evaluating a facility’s records.
Next Steps: Build Your Skills and Knowledge with a Health Informatics Degree
Many attractive health informatics positions require a master’s degree, professional experience or both. An online MS degree in health informatics, like the one offered by the University of Pittsburgh, will prepare you to move into this growing field. Pitt’s program offers four specialized tracks:
- Data Science
- General Health Informatics
- Health Care Supervision and Management
- Health Services Analytics
Pitt also offers four certificate options for students to customize their degree to their career goals.
Applying to the Online MS in Health Informatics at Pitt
Health informatics can dramatically transform health care for patients, caregivers, and the infrastructure that supports them. Pitt’s online MS in Health Informatics can provide the necessary tools to enter or advance in this exciting, groundbreaking field.
Ready for the next step? Click here to request more information or start the application process.