Jobs in Health Informatics

Jobs in health informatics involve professionals who use data to help healthcare providers achieve better health outcomes.

Health informatics connects people, technology, and data to improve the safety and quality of patient health; not only for individual patients but for entire populations.

Health informatics graduates and professionals are helping to transform the healthcare industry by moving towards a more advanced and patient-focused model of care.

In this diverse field, practitioners collaborate across many different work environments to ensure that security and simplicity always remain within reach.

Jobs for Health Informatics graduates

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow 32 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Health informatics is unique in that you can have a direct impact on the patient experience without having to provide direct care. A perfect combination of healthcare and information technology, this is an attractive career path for healthcare professionals who are interested in making a difference in patient care with the use of data and IT.

Health Informatics careers and jobs in health informatics

Health informatics is a rapidly growing field, keeping health informatics specialists in high demand as healthcare roles and occupations expand faster than any other industry, providing stable opportunities and promise for a valuable career.

Medical and health services managers must adapt to changes in healthcare laws, regulations, and technology.

Here are some example career choices:

Informatics Analyst

An informatics analyst is generally employed in the healthcare industry and works to establish a system of applications and tools that their organization uses to record, organize, store, secure, and access data. This job can involve a great deal of in-person problem-solving and education.

An Informatics Analyst works with raw data extracted from electronic medical records to develop models used to help healthcare providers produce better health outcomes for their patients. The types of data and the sources of data that are analyzed will vary by job setting. For example, in a hospital setting, the Informatics Analyst may analyze insurance claims, the average time of patient stay, patient readmission rates, and education outcomes.

Informatics Manager

Informatics Managers often work in the field of healthcare and are frequently employed by hospitals and clinics. They are responsible for the maintenance and security of all patient records and data.

They facilitate access to data, check that collected data are accurate, and ensure all the information is in compliance with federal and state guidelines. A Clinical Informatics Manager might oversee these tasks for an entire hospital or medical practice. They also may supervise the work of medical records and health information technicians.

Informatics Director

Becoming an Informatics Director is a natural next step if you already have IT or hospital administration experience. You must be up to date with evolving information technology, current or proposed laws about health information systems, and trends in managing large amounts of complex data.

Some of the responsibilities of an Informatics Director may include promoting informatics systems within an organization, making those systems work for the organization, gauging feedback, and staying up to date with the best tools available for your organization’s goals.

Nurse Informaticists

Nurse Informaticists are liaisons between nurses, the IT department, IT vendors, and health care staff. They study workflows to help developers build tools that nurses can use to help improve health efficiency and operations. Nurse informatics is the process of interpreting direct patient care concerns and limitations to IT, to find solutions that work for both the software developers and the users.

Designated as the expert for connecting the clinical world with the IT world, informatics nurses design systems and build functions that allow nurses and other healthcare providers to make the best use of the data available.

Clinical Informatics Specialist

The title of Clinical Informatics Specialist can be applied to many different settings, including hospitals, private practices, and care facilities.

In smaller settings, such as a doctor’s office or a small medical practice, a clinical informaticist may have a broad range of responsibilities such as designing interfaces for storing and analyzing health information, organizing and managing patient data, and educating the end-users in the current systems.

Clinical Informatics Manager

Clinical Informatics Managers need knowledge in both health care and database management. They are often employed by hospitals and clinics to train, build, and evaluate staff, oversee the budget, and ensure that the systems being used are in compliance with state, federal, and professional regulations.

One of their primary focuses is using the data to improve efficiency and support meaningful use, transforming relevant data into actionable results and information that all health care professionals in the organization can access.

Pharmacy Informatics

A Pharmacy Informaticist focuses on medication-related data and knowledge. They use their expertise in pharmacy practice and medication use to improve the processes around the storage, analysis, use, and communication of medication-related data.

They also use patient and prescription data to make medication safer and more efficient.

Pharmacy Informaticists use data to monitor dosing and adverse reactions to help ensure more accurate and detailed prescriptions from physicians to improve patient outcomes.

Nutrition Informaticist

Nutrition informatics is the intersection of information, nutrition, and technology. Nutrition Informaticists use patient data to make more informed decisions about food planning.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, nutrition informatics allows nutrition and dietetics professionals to more effectively use their knowledge and skills through the support of technology.

A Master of Science in Health Informatics gives you a competitive edge

The widespread adherence to Meaningful Use and the adoption of EHRs will continue to create demand for jobs in health informatics, and professionals who have knowledge of health information technology and informatics systems. Medical and health services managers will be needed to organize, manage, and integrate these records across areas of the healthcare industry.

Completing a master’s degree online and attaining specific knowledge within the field of health informatics can help leverage the competitive edge and convince a potential employer that all best-practice skills are in place for maximum effectiveness on the job.

Demand for health informatics professionals is strong and continues to grow quickly.

Interested in jobs in health informatics, or in moving your career in health informatics to the next level? Consider leveling up your education through an online Master of Science in Health Informatics or Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics program at UNE. Build on your professional experiences to gain the specific knowledge of Health Informatics that you need to pursue a career in the field.

Click here for more information on the Graduate Certificate and Master of Science in Health Informatics