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Chapter 2 Career Skills in Health Informatics
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• Medical informatics, or bioinformatics, is based on
physician research and is of interest to medical students.
• Nursing informatics focuses on clinical research and
attracts nursing students.
• Public health informatics includes public health and
bio-surveillance (tracking disease patterns and threats
to the health of humans, animals, and plants) and is of
special interest to public health students (Figure 2.4).
• Applied informatics examines how medical
information moves in an electronic environment.
It studies processes, policies, and technological
solutions, and it attracts HIM students.
Unlike many other healthcare workers, biomedical and
health informatics professionals possess a level of expertise
in more than one fi eld. Most health informatics jobs require a
combination of computer and data science knowledge as well
as some type of healthcare or business background. A bachelor’s or master’s
degree in medical informatics, computer science, public health, or another
fi eld related to health science is a common requirement for employment.
Job titles in the health informatics fi eld vary widely. Some examples
include nursing informatics director, director of IT informatics, regional
informatics manager, health information systems analyst, clinical informatics
specialist, informatics outreach architect, and pharmacy informatics specialist.
As you might expect, health informaticists work in hospitals with
research programs and large healthcare provider organizations, but
they are also employed by government agencies, insurance companies,
and software development and production organizations. Individuals
with an informatics background might also fi nd employment in the
rapidly expanding area of telemedicine. In this fi eld, communication and
information technologies are used to provide medical services to patients
in remote locations. Telemedicine virtually brings the medical specialist
to the patient.
Related Careers
If you want more contact with patients than you would have
in traditional HIM, HIT, and HI jobs, consider becoming a medical
assistant or health educator. Both of these jobs require the use of health
information, but they also allow for interaction with patients.
Medical Assistants
If you would like more contact with patients than you would have in
the jobs already described, you may want to consider becoming a medical
assistant. Medical assisting is one of the fastest growing occupations,
which means that many jobs should be available. Medical assistants
work in a medical offi ce for physicians, chiropractors, or other healthcare
professionals. Their job is to keep the offi ce running smoothly by
performing a variety of tasks. If you are looking for variety, you will fi nd
it as a medical assistant (Figure 2.5 on the next page).
Figure 2.4 People
working in public health
informatics—a specific focus
within health informatics—
track disease patterns that
might threaten humans.
Would you be interested in
this type of work?