The world of health care is always in a state of change, but right now it’s hard to imagine any part of it changing more rapidly—with significant implications for the field overall—than in health informatics.
Health informatics is the coordination of health care IT systems across the U.S. so they can easily communicate with each other, as well as increase safety and efficiency within each health care organization. The mandate for this coordination was originally introduced by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act—part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) in 2009—and subsequently strengthened by further measures in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010. Organizations not in compliance could lose their Medicare funding.
The system coordination requirement is referred to as “Meaningful Use,” and defined as the use of certified Electronic Health Records (EHR) to:
- Electronically exchange health information between providers.
- Improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities.
- Engage patients and family.
- Maintain privacy and security of patient health information.
- Automatically submit quality and other measures to government agencies.
The primary goal of meaningful use is to ultimately develop technological solutions that will lead to improved clinical care and population health outcomes.
Health Informatics Requires Specialization
It’s not a strictly IT function. In fact, according to Capella University faculty member Doug Bird, PhD, organizations that don’t work with health professionals who have been trained in health informatics to handle the compliance issues will likely not succeed. “It’s incredibly complex and difficult,” he says. “A clinical background is a big advantage because not only do health informaticists need to understand the technology; they need to understand how health care organizations work. It’s not just an IT issue—it’s an organizational and end-user issue, because health informatics is going to be used to deliver health care.”
He notes that in most organizations, especially larger ones, there will be a need for both regular IT employees and health informatics employees working together. IT itself is a large, demanding job that is already full-time in most organizations. Health informatics work, which will focus on compliance with meaningful use and implementation of an EHR system, will become an additional component to most IT departments, not just an extra task within an already existing department.
Bird notes that it’s especially challenging because it’s such a new field, without years of research and best practices to look to for help. But because of the government mandates, it’s a rapidly growing field that has almost unlimited potential in the future. The demand for qualified practitioners who have specialized health informatics training, whether in nursing or health care administration, will not stop when the systems have been implemented. Because change is always present in both health care and technology, this will not be a “install the system and the job is done” type of career. Instead, health care informatics professionals will be needed on an ongoing basis to continue monitoring and upgrading the systems to newer health care practices, technology, increased needs, and changing governmental regulations.
Capella University Health Informatics Programs
Capella offers the specialized training health informatics professionals need with its new master’s-level and certificate programs in health care informatics and nursing informatics:
Graduate Certificate, Health Care Informatics
RN-to-MSN, Nursing Informatics
Graduate Certificate, Nursing Informatics
These programs provide an excellent transition point for nurses and health administrators who would like to build on their expertise, or explore a new career path that still allows them to use their knowledge and experience—especially one that will put them in high demand.
This is the third post in a three-part series on the growing field of health informatics.
Post One: A Look Behind the Rapid Rise of Health Informatics
Post Two: The Difference Between Health Care and Nursing Informatics
