Top 5 Health Informatics Jobs on the Rise

When looking at careers in health informatics and the associated healthcare informatics salary, many people ask ‘Is Health Informatics a good career choice?’

As healthcare systems look to capitalize on big data and its endless applications, health informatics jobs have become increasingly vital. Consequently, as the health informatics field continues to accelerate, higher education programs are emerging to meet the demand by developing graduate programs in Health Informatics. Graduates with a Master’s in Health Informatics benefit greatly.

Health Informatics – a good career choice

According to the World & U.S. News Report on Online Health Informatics Master’s Degrees, “obtaining a graduate degree in the health informatics field widens your opportunity for career advancement and strengthens your competitive edge,” making health informatics a good career choice for those interested in being ahead of the curve.

Master’s in Health Informatics – jobs

Driven by the pursuit of improving healthcare delivery and quality, providers have begun looking for secure and accurate methods of health management. As the health industry migrates to a more digital landscape to incorporate such methods, more positions and professionals are becoming crucial. These professionals work to connect the gap between data and physicians, allowing for a more fluid, comprehensive, and service-driven model of care.

In order to effectively carry out this task, aspiring health informatics professionals often enroll in accredited graduate programs to learn how to use tools such as computer IT systems and communication systems capable of interfacing with multiple touch-points, become familiar with medical language terminology, and attain the agility and knowledge to jump between a variety of technologies and tasks as needed.

Health Informatics career outlook

The number of health informatics jobs is expected to grow through 2026. In 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported approximately 50,000 new jobs for this field of healthcare and cited medical records and health information professionals as one of the 20 fastest-growing occupations in the US. Professionals in this field are well-suited for an assortment of workplace settings including federal government agencies, medical associations, pharmaceutical companies, and public health agencies.

Health informatics programs incorporate the disciplines of medicine, management, finance, information technology, and law into one curriculum. Because of this unique mixture, health informatics graduates can choose from a variety of work settings across an array of healthcare environments. – The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

As this job market continues to evolve and expand, and the average health informatics salary is above the industry average, we gathered the top five health informatics jobs that are on the rise.

Healthcare Informatics jobs and salaries

1. Informatics Nurse

Designated as the expert for connecting the clinical world with the IT world, informatics nurses help improve health efficiency and operations. As an informatics nurse, you would evaluate and suggest applications to elevate the logistics of care and work with team members to train and educate nurses on new systems, updates, and changes to ensure up-to-date understanding of technology. Communication between an informatics nurse, IT, IT vendors, and health care staff is crucial to the successful implementation of new technologies.

Average annual salary: $77,500 (source: Payscale)

2. Health Informatics Consultant

In a health informatics consultant position, tasks can range depending on the healthcare facility in need of your support. More commonly, these tasks include installing new software, monitoring and resolving known IT issues throughout systems, providing updates to existing networks, and training healthcare teams. Health informatics consultants also specialize in segmented areas of health IT, which can be an added help for healthcare systems when support for those specialties is required.

Average annual salary: $80,000 (source: AHIMA’s Salary Snapshot)

3. Healthcare IT Project Manager

With the rapid growth and demand of health informatics, health IT project managers are needed for projects that require immediate and lasting attention. These professionals work with the hiring healthcare system to construct health IT projects, execute the project plan, and manage objectives on time and within budget. This style of project management requires a specific skill set to master. The role demands an understanding of the healthcare system and language to provide appropriate communication to partners.

Average annual salary: $102,000 (source: CareersinPublicHealth.net)

4. Clinical Informatics Manager

Clinical informatics managers administer daily and long-term operations of clinical systems within healthcare. This role manages, trains, and builds staff, oversees budget, and ensures that the systems being used are in compliance with state, federal, and professional regulations. Gaining a master’s degree in the health informatics field would prepare you to understand the experience required for this role.

Average annual salary: $90,000 (source: Payscale)

5. Chief Medical Information Officer

As a top professional in a medical organization, the chief medical information officer is responsible for verifying the transmission and management of information is operating smoothly from one system to the next. With this information system intact, they help ensure the highest quality patient care. As part of this role, the CMIO also conducts research, analyzes IT data to improve infrastructure, and helps design updated applications for professional use and training. This role not only exists within the healthcare industry but in the areas of government and academics as well. In order to stay competitive for this role, a master’s level degree or greater is often required for consideration.

While compensation for this role can vary from business area and employer, the average salary for a chief medical information officer is approximately $200,000. (Source: CareersinPublicHealth.net)

What makes Health Informatics a good career choice?

Health informatics graduates and professionals are helping the healthcare industry move towards a more advanced and patient-focused model of care. They practice across many different work environments to ensure that security and simplicity always remain within reach, and to support the digital growth our world continues to adopt.

Health informatics professionals promote better outcomes for us all through the determined pursuit of improved patient care in quality and convenience.

The Health Informatics job outlook is excellent. We can’t think of a better career choice.

Interested in learning more about becoming a health informatics professional?

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF HEALTH INFORMATICS