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Data, information, knowledge: The emerging field of health informatics

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Prudence W. Dalrymple at Dalrymple Consulting LLC
Prudence W. Dalrymple
  • Dalrymple Consulting LLC
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Editor's Summary The area of health informatics applies information science methods to analyze and understand health care information, to progress from raw data to knowledge, for improved problem solving, decision-making and care delivery. With the field still relatively young and subspecialties already branching off, the terminology and scope continue to evolve. The fundamental model is shifting from treatment of an illness to wellness and disease prevention and viewing an individual's daily life in the broad context of factors that influence health. As the field takes shape, professional education is typically originating in health education for the informatician or in information science and technology for the health informaticist, with complementary coursework to expand understanding of and competency in the interdisciplinary field. The rapid growth and high demand for health informatics is stimulating an expansion of educational opportunities with degrees at all levels both in the United States and at international institutions. Conferences, professional publications and online resources on the topic multiply, serving those interested in making health informatics a career.
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41
Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology–June/July 2011 –Volume 37, Number 5
Prudence Dalrymple is currently a research & teaching professor at the iSchool at Drexel
University where she directs the Institute for Healthcare Informatics. She is a member of
the ASIS&T Executive Board and of the Task Force on Information Professionals. She
can be reached by email at pwd28<at>drexel.edu.
Harnessing the power of information technology to improve health
status both of individuals and of populations is claiming unprecedented
attention nationally and internationally as society deals with the effects
of recent economic, environmental and policy change. Health informatics is
the relatively new, interdisciplinary field that has evolved to bring expertise in
information science and technology to the medical and biological knowledge
base. The recent, rapid growth of health informatics, along with its natural
connection to information science, increases its relevance to readers of the
Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, as
well as to prospective students who are considering health informatics as a
career choice. This brief article will define and describe the field, identify
educational pathways and provide some resources regarding career options,
professional associations and other resources that readers may find useful.
What Is Informatics?
Any discussion of the field must begin by clarifying what is meant by
informatics, and in particular, health informatics. Although the literature of
health informatics can be traced as far back as the 1970s, interest increased
during the 1980s [1]. It has been international in scope from its outset, with
programs in Europe recognized as early leaders. Also, in Europe, the term
informatics has not been so tightly tied to a specific domain as it has in North
America. Here, informatics is generally used in conjunction with a specific
domain such as health or biomedicine – or to other fields such as law,
resulting in terms such as health informatics,biomedical informatics or legal
informatics. (An allied field known as social informatics is not domain
specific and refers to the socio-technical aspects of information and
communications technologies.)
Feature
Data, Information, Knowledge:
The Emerging Field of Health Informatics
by Prudence W. Dalrymple
C O N T E N T S N E X T P A G E >N E X T A R T I C L E >
<P R E V I O U S P A G E
EDITOR’S SUMMARY
The area of health informatics applies information science methods to analyze and
understand health care information, to progress from raw data to knowledge, for improved
problem solving, decision-making and care delivery. With the field still relatively young and
subspecialties already branching off, the terminology and scope continue to evolve. The
fundamental model is shifting from treatment of an illness to wellness and disease
prevention and viewing an individual’s daily life in the broad context of factors that
influence health. As the field takes shape, professional education is typically originating in
health education for the informatician or in information science and technology for the
health informaticist, with complementary coursework to expand understanding of and
competency in the interdisciplinary field. The rapid growth and high demand for health
informatics is stimulating an expansion of educational opportunities with degrees at all
levels both in the United States and at international institutions. Conferences, professional
publications and online resources on the topic multiply, serving those interested in making
health informatics a career.
KEYWORDS
medical informatics interdisciplinarity
emerging disciplines trends
biomedical information education
Health informatics – sometimes called healthcare informatics – is
complemented by related fields that have overlapping areas of focus. For
instance, biomedical informatics is the term preferred by AMIA, one of the
leading associations founded primarily by physicians (www.amia.org). The
authors of a well-known text use this term to refer to “the scientific field
that deals with biomedical information, data and knowledge – their storage,
retrieval and optimal use for problem solving and decision-making.” [2]
They situate biomedical informatics as it relates to biological science and
medical practice. Others, such as HIMSS, the Healthcare Information
Management and Systems Society (www.himss.org) use the term health
informatics to situate the field as it relates to health care, going beyond the
practice of medicine to include public health, nursing and consumer health.
Yet another related term is bioinformatics, which refers to the application of
computer technology to the biological sciences to acquire, organize, store,
analyze and visualize biological data to expand their use [3]. Clinical
informatics has emerged as a term to describe the application of informatics
to problems in clinical care, usually by physicians. Finally, the term health
information management usually refers to the management of health data
and information that is captured in medical or health records. Now that such
records are increasingly electronic, the field of health information
management overlaps some aspects of health informatics. The leading
society for health information management is AHIMA (www.ahima.org).
Despite the differences in terminology and scope, all of these fields refer
to the informatics pyramid [Figure 1] where the relationship among data,
information and knowledge is displayed. The informatics pyramid illustrates
the relationship between data and information and how they can be
transformed into the creation of knowledge that is applied to make decisions
and solve problems. Informatics thus encompasses the principles and
processes through which data is transformed and applied to problems in a
domain of interest.
In addition to the varying definitions of the field, the terminology used to
describe the professional worker differs, too. The term informatician has been
the term of choice for practitioners who come from the biomedical domain,
while informaticist is most often used by those whose roots are in nursing
or other health
professions.
Whether they
are called
informaticians or
informaticists, those
who study and
practice informatics
are quick to point
out that their
expertise extends
well beyond that of
information technology to encompass both knowledge of and appreciation
for the domain in which they practice and for the needs of their constituents.
A Rapidly Evolving Environment
The environment surrounding health and biomedicine is evolving at a
rapid pace. The medical model in which patients who have diseases are
treated in episodic encounters with physicians is no longer the dominant one;
rather, the term health implies an approach in which the goal is as much
disease prevention as it is disease treatment. In the health model, activities
and decisions are embedded in the context of daily living; thus, informatics
problems are not solely those arising from healthcare practice, but also those
that arise from the needs of individuals in their social environments. This
shift suggests greater opportunities for those who are interested in topics such
as eHealth and health information literacy that draw upon the intellectual
traditions of information science, computer science and public health.
While much of the current focus of health informatics is on clinical
issues such as the design and implementation of electronic health records
and decision support, the field includes medical ontology construction as
well as information organization, storage and retrieval, artificial intelligence,
text mining, data exchange, data standards and natural language processing
in addition to security and privacy. The related field of bioinformatics also
includes data curation and modeling.
DALRYMPLE, continued
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FIGURE 1. Informatics pyramid
Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology– June/July 2011 –Volume 37, Number 5
42
Knowledge
Information
Data
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Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology– June/July 2011 –Volume 37, Number 5
Education for Informatics
Formal education in informatics occurs at multiple levels – baccalaureate,
master’s and doctoral; however, there are also some training programs at the
community college level aimed at preparing workers to perform technical
duties under the supervision of a professional. A typical academic program
consists of coursework in information science plus at least one health or
biomedical domain. A strong computational emphasis is present throughout
the curriculum, and most programs require either a practicum or a research
project or both. Programs are usually structured to accommodate two types
of prospective students: those coming from a health or medical profession
seeking knowledge and skills in information science and technology or those
who possess knowledge and skills in information science and technology
but whose background does not include preparation in the health sciences.
Students are expected to select courses so they can acquire sufficient
understanding to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams and to function
as boundary spanners or translators between biomedical and health domains
and IT. Indeed, one of the benefits of an education in health informatics is the
opportunity to interact with professionals from diverse backgrounds, thereby
gaining an appreciation for the varied perspectives, vocabularies and values of
each domain which, if not addressed, can be a barrier to arriving at a solution
to a problem. One example of divergent vocabularies emerged in a course in
which one of the students, a nurse, contacted the professor about three weeks
into the course. She commented, “I suddenly recognized the challenges
inherent in health informatics when I realized that “HIT” refers to “health
information technology,” not “hemolytic idiopathic thrombocytopenia!”
The Challenge of an Interdisciplinary Field
Finding solutions to today’s health problems – ranging from drug
development to consumer health – requires insight and talent from multiple
fields. Addressing these needs requires deliberate consideration of the ways in
which domain knowledge or “context” is best acquired through the educational
process. Interdisciplinary programs administered across academic departments
bring diverse perspectives together to determine course content, admissions
standards and degree requirements. Despite the fact that interdepartmental
academic programs can be fraught with administrative barriers, almost a
third (30%) of medical and health informatics programs in the United States
are interdepartmental [4]. The interdisciplinary nature of informatics is also
reflected in recent statements by organizations ranging from the ACM
(Association for Computing Machinery) to the American Nurses Association
(ANA), each of which emphasizes the necessity of a broad-based approach
to contemporary issues [5, 6].
The interdisciplinary character of health informatics may explain why a
recent review of the literature identified more than two dozen published lists
of competencies [7]. Though these competencies vary widely in their level
of specificity, clearly some have been developed with the expectation that
they will be used to credential practitioners. For example, clinical informatics
is likely to become recognized as a sub-specialty by the American Board of
Medical Specialties in the near future, while a certification exam is offered
to nurses through the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center
(www.nursecredentialing.org/) [8]. Program accreditation at multiple levels
is available through CAHIIM (Commission on Accreditation for Health
Informatics and Information Management Education), but uptake among
master’s level programs has been relatively slow (www.cahiim.org/).
Informatics education has recently undergone a growth spurt in the
United States, and according to a 2008 survey, courses of study leading to
degrees at several levels are offered by over 175 institutions in the United
States [4]. This number has likely increased in the intervening interval
because of the perceived need for an increased workforce needed to meet
the 2014 electronic health record mandate. When programs outside the
United States are included, the number likely approaches 200. Informatics
education occurs throughout the world, although most programs are located
in North America and Western Europe. There are several lists where
prospective students can identify informatics programs of study. Programs
located in institutions that are members of AMIA’s Academic Forum are
listed at www.amia.org/inside/initiatives/acadforum/members.asp; a list of
medical informatics programs worldwide that is current through the end of
2010 is at www.hiww.org/se.html. The International Medical Informatics
Association is the “association of associations” and provides additional
DALRYMPLE, continued
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44
Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology– June/July 2011 –Volume 37, Number 5
listings and resources both inside and outside of North America (www.imia-
medinfo.org/new2/).
Is Informatics for You?
U.S. News and World Report named health informatics as among the top
10 “ahead of the curve” careers in 2007 [9]. Given the pressure on the
healthcare sector to adopt information technology to reduce errors and become
more efficient and effective, it is likely that prospects for employment in
health informatics will continue to be favorable. Because informatics is an
emerging field, most informaticians have migrated from other careers; the
field comprises physicians, computer scientists, librarians, systems analysts,
information professionals, pharmacists and nurses. Successful informaticians
integrate their previous experience with their new knowledge and skills while
being willing to move beyond their comfort zone and take on new challenges.
Informaticians must be flexible and innovative broad thinkers who are able
to analyze problems from multiple perspectives. Those who enter health
informatics from the library and information sciences will find that their
knowledge of information organization and database structures will serve
them well, as will their grounding in user-centered information systems and
the construction and use of information standards. Learning more about how
health care is organized and delivered, the barriers and facilitators for acquiring
and applying data, information and knowledge in medical decision-making
and the sources of data from the molecular to the population level provide the
student of informatics plenty of opportunity to engage their intellectual energy.
To begin exploring this field, it is wise to attend one or more professional
conferences to network and become acquainted with the field. There are
numerous professional societies that hold conferences. Some of them have
been mentioned already, including AMIA, AHIMA, HIMSS and IMIA.
ASIS&T has an active health informatics group. ACM’s SIGHIT has recently
launched an annual symposium that is beginning to attract attention in health
informatics (www.sighit.org/).
There are other ways to acquire additional knowledge about health
informatics as a career. A quick search of PubMed will identify well over 50
scholarly journals in health informatics. While there are many good quality
health informatics blogs and twitter feeds, the Office of the National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology is a primary site for
remaining abreast of the current drivers in health informatics (http://health
it.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/healthit_hhs_gov_home/1204). As
technology continues to make inroads into health care at all levels, an
abundance of interesting problems await solutions. The number and variety
of these opportunities, as well as the knowledge that your work is helping
people lead healthier lives, makes health informatics a very rewarding career. ■
DALRYMPLE, continued
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Resources Mentioned in the Article
[1] Anderson, J., Grimy, F., & Pages, J.C. (1974). Education in informatics of health
personnel. Amsterdam: North Holland.
[2] Shortliffe, E.H., & Cimino, J. J. (Eds.). (2006). Biomedical informatics: Computer
applications in health care and biomedicine (3rd ed.). New York: Springer.
[3] Adapted from the NIH working definition of bioinformatics and computational
biology,www.bisti.nih.gov/docs/CompuBioDef.pdf 2000.
[4] Kampov-Polevoi, J., & Hemminger, B. M. (April 2010). Survey of biomedical and
health care informatics programs in the United States. Journal of the Medical
Library Association, 98(2), 178-81.
[5] Bakken, S., Stone, P.W., & Larson, E.L. (September-October 2008). A nursing
informatics research agenda for 2008-18: Contextual influences and key
components. Nursing Outlook, 56(5), 206-214.e3.
[6] Groth, D.P., & MacKie-Mason, J.K. (2010). Why an informatics degree?
Communications of the ACM, 53, 26-28.
[7] Hersh, W. (2010). The health information technology workforce: Estimation of
demands and a framework for requirements. Applied Clinical Informatics, 1(2),
197-212.
[8] Detmer, W.E., Munger, B.S., & Lehmann, C.U. (2010). Medical informatics board
certification: History, current status, and predicted impact on the medical
informatics workforce. Applied Clinical Informatics 1(1), 11-18.
[9]. Nemko, M. (December 17, 2007). Ahead-of-the-curve careers. U.S. News and World
Report. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/
articles/2007/12/19/ahead-of-the-curve-careers.
... Health informatics (HI) is a multifaceted field dedicated to the collection, storage, retrieval, and utilisation of health data to enhance healthcare quality [1][2][3]. It combines methodologies from information science, computer science, and healthcare to improve healthcare delivery in various ways, such as electronic medical records, imaging, and decision support systems [2]. ...
... Increasing interest in the domain of human-computer interaction (HCI) and the need for individuals who are proficient in this discipline have led to a proliferation of educational prospects, including degrees at various levels [1,5,9]. The growing importance of the field led the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) to revise the framework of HI and medical informatics education in 2010 with the goal of addressing the educational requirements of a diverse group of healthcare professionals from many different fields, such as medicine, nursing, healthcare management, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, health record administration, and informatics. ...
... This outcome is contrary to those of Rawas and Yasmeen [42] and Al-Natour [43], who found that students were less satisfied with their academic programs. The results of this study are mostly in accordance with the current literature on how HI has facilitated the electronic management of health information [1,5], whereas the results indicating computational emphasis match the current literature [1], as HI programs offered in Saudi Arabian universities were found to have varying degrees of satisfaction among students. When looking at individual variables, the results of this study seem to be consistent with other studies that found a very high level of satisfaction among students towards research, the role of faculty members, and facilities [44]. ...
Perceptions of students and faculty on NCAAA-accredited health informatics programs in Saudi Arabia: an evaluative study
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2024
  • BMC Med Educ
Background As the healthcare sector becomes increasingly reliant on technology, it is crucial for universities to offer bachelor’s degrees in health informatics (HI). HI professionals bridge the gap between IT and healthcare, ensuring that technology complements patient care and clinical workflows; they promote enhanced patient outcomes, support clinical research, and uphold data security and privacy standards. This study aims to evaluate accredited HI academic programs in Saudi Arabia. Methods This study employed a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional design utilising a self-reported electronic questionnaire consisting of predetermined items and response alternatives. Probability-stratified random sampling was also performed. Result The responses rates were 39% (n = 241) for students and 62% (n = 53) for faculty members. While the participants expressed different opinions regarding the eight variables being examined, the faculty members and students generally exhibited a strong level of consensus on many variables. A notable association was observed between facilities and various other characteristics, including student engagement, research activities, admission processes, and curriculum. Similarly, a notable correlation exists between student engagement and the curriculum in connection to research, attrition, the function of faculty members, and academic outcomes. Conclusion While faculty members and students hold similar views about the institution and its offerings, certain areas of divergence highlight the distinct perspectives and priorities of each group. The perception disparity between students and faculty in areas such as admission, faculty roles, and internships sheds light on areas of improvement and alignment for universities.
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... 1,2 It involves the application of information science methods to analyse health information for improved problem solving and healthcare delivery. 3 The use of information system applications in healthcare is increasingly popular and includes the use of applications like medical records, order entry, medical knowledge provision, imaging, as well as guidelines and other types of decision support. 4 HI, also called medical informatics, is an interdisciplinary field that cuts across various disciplines including information science, computer science and health care It is complemented by related fields with similar areas of focus. ...
... For instance, biomedical informatics, which refers to the storage, retrieval and use of biomedical information, data and knowledge. 3 Bioinformatics, on the other hand, is the application of technology to the biological sciences in order to acquire, analyse, store and visualize biological data. Similarly, clinical informatics is the application of information technology to problems in clinical care. ...
... It refers to the management of health data and information as captured in medical or health records. With health records becoming increasingly electronic, health information management tends to overlap with aspects of HI. 3,5 The growing interest in the area of HI and the demand for expertise in this field have given rise to an expansion of educational opportunities with degrees at all levels. 3,5,6 This has also led to the revision of the HI or medical informatics education structure in 2010 by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). ...
Faculty and Students’ Perspective of Health Informatics Programs in Saudi Arabia
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2023
Background Health Informatics is a discipline that deals with the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of health data, information, and technologies for the purpose of improving healthcare quality. It involves the application of information science methods to analyse health information for improved problem solving and healthcare delivery. The use of information system applications in healthcare is increasingly popular and includes the use of applications like medical records, order entry, medical knowledge provision, imaging, as well as guidelines and other types of decision support. Aim To examine health informatics undergraduate programs in Saudi Arabian government universities. Methods This study follows a quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional design using a self-reported, electronic questionnaire. The data was collected using an online questionnaire via Google Forms. Probability stratified random sampling was utilized. Result and Conclusion Findings revealed a response rate at 79% (n=184) of students and 67% (n=38) of faculty members. Variation was detected in the level of agreement toward the examined six variables. Both students and faculty members express same level of agreement toward all variables. A significant correlation was determined between facilities and other variables such as students’ involvement, research, admission and curriculum. Similarly, there is a significant relationship between students’ involvement and curriculum with research, demission, faculty members role and outcomes.
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... While these competencies were consistently mentioned in the literature, the articles also emphasized additional aspects of this competency related to teamwork and collaboration, which are not explicitly described in the DHC Framework. Several articles highlight the need for health informatics professionals to be able to communicate their skills with other professionals to bridge multiple disciplines and facilitate effective cross-disciplinary collaboration [16][17][18][19]. Holden et al., [20] specifically explored health informatics competencies within interprofessional health care teams and underscored the importance of effectively articulating one's skills as a health informatics professional to other professions. ...
... Other articles also touch on the fundamentals of database management, such as database design [15,19,38,39]. Johnson [35] also mentions databases as an important component of health informatics curricula, and Dalrymple [17] highlights the usefulness of having knowledge of database structures. ...
... [3,5,8,9,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][23][24][25]31,32,[35][36][37]39,42,[44][45][46][47]51,52,54,55] Project Management [3,5,9,[13][14][15]18,19,21,23,24,31,35,37,42,[45][46][47]54] Articles Referencing Emergent Competencies Competency Category ...
Updating Professional Competencies in Health Informatics: A Scoping Review and Consultation with Subject Matter Experts
Article
  • Dec 2022
  • INT J MED INFORM
Introduction: The discipline of health informatics emerged to address the need for uniquely skilled professionals to design, develop, implement, and evaluate health information technology. Core competencies are an essential pre-requisite for establishing a professional discipline such as health informatics. In 2012, Digital Health Canada released a framework (DHC Framework) for Canadian health informatics competencies. Multiple perspectives on health informatics competencies have evolved to reflect global and unique country contexts. In this paper, we will describe a two-phase study in which we ultimately developed a new framework for health informatics competencies. Methods: In Phase 1, we conducted a scoping review of to identify health informatics competencies from research articles and grey literature from professional associations. Of 1038 articles identified in the search, ultimately 38 met our inclusion criteria and were subject to in-depth analysis. We summarized our findings from this phase into a preliminary framework of health informatics competencies and then in Phase 2, we shared these findings with subject matter experts (SMEs; N = 5) to garner their feedback. The SMEs were all instructors in health informatics in Canada and held various roles (director, professor, advisor, and co-operative education coordinator). We used their insights into the current and forecasted Canadian health informatics landscape to iteratively develop a new framework until we achieved consensus amongst the subject matter experts. Results: In Phase 1, all competencies of the DHC Framework were supported by the literature. However, we also identified two emergent competencies: Human Factors and Data Science. In Phase 2, consultations with SMEs guided the introduction of one new competency category and seven new competencies. One competency was renamed and two were removed from the DHC Framework. Additionally, we added new terms that encompass the framework and labelled the core of the framework Health Informatics Professionalism. Discussion: We found that the DHC Framework did not capture all necessary competencies required by health informatics professionals. Based on the literature and consultations with SMEs, we extended the DHC Framework to better reflect the current Canadian context and propose a new Health Informatics Core Competencies Framework. The new framework can be used to inform Canadian health informatics programs to ensure graduates are equipped for careers in health informatics. Future work includes validating the new framework with Canadian health informatics employers to assess whether this new framework adequately reflects their needs, and more detail may be required to define specific skills necessary in each competency.
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... This indirectly explains that health education is closely related to knowledge of a series of health actions that need to be taken. Furthennore, Dalrymple (2011) in the pyramid of infonnatics explained that health knowledge is determined from the data and infonnation obtained, which in the next stage will result in a decision or an action to be taken. Acupuncture is still used by the community as a complement or an alternative for self-protection. ...
A PLS-SEM Analysis of Consumer Health Literacy and Intention to Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Chapter
  • Sep 2023
During the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, social restrictions affected society and all types of businesses, including health care. The purpose of this chapter is to assess customer health literacy and intent to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) during the pandemic. Under a quantitative method, a questionnaire was distributed to 185 participants in Jakarta during the pandemic. This chapter employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. According to the findings of this chapter, the public was more aware of the benefits of acupuncture than of the risks. This aspect of knowledge about benefits influences people’s willingness to use acupuncture. Meanwhile, people’s desire to try acupuncture is unaffected by knowledge about acupuncture or of its risk factors. During the prolonged pandemic, the public is still haunted by several phenomena, such as the government’s unfinished vaccination target, difficulty in obtaining drugs and supplements, and limited use of health checkup services due to social constraints. As a result, acupuncture businesses can service the public during a pandemic. Other factors, such as financial situation during the pandemic, were not included in this chapter but may be considered in future research.
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... However, the interdisciplinary nature of HI generates diverse perspectives on course content, admission standards, and requirements for degree programmes. For example, 30% of the medical and HI programmes in the United States are interdepartmental, which means that these academic programmes could face administrative barriers [13]. Additionally, the diversity of healthcare information provides a wide spectrum of topics across various HI programmes. ...
The gap between bachelor’s degree graduates in health informatics and employer needs in Saudi Arabia
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2023
  • BMC Med Educ
Background In the field of health informatics (HI), there is a crucial gap between employers’ needs and the output of academic programmes. Although industrial organisations and government agencies recognise the importance of training and education in the development and operation of health-information systems, advancements in educational programmes have been comparatively slow in terms of investment in healthcare information technology. This study aims to determine the gap between employer demands and academic programmes in HI in Saudi Arabia. Methods This mixed-methods study collected both qualitative and quantitative data. A qualitative content analysis was performed to identify the role of advertised HI jobs using two sources: Google and LinkedIn. In addition, university websites were searched to determine job opportunities for graduates with a bachelor’s degree in HI. Next, a quantitative, cross-sectional self-report questionnaire was administered to validate the findings of the qualitative data. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS, N-Vivo, and Microsoft Excel. Results The study’s data were obtained from four sources: Google search engine, LinkedIn, five Saudi university websites, and 127 HI experts. The results show a discrepancy between academic programmes’ outputs and employer recruitment needs. In addition, the results reveal a preference for post-graduate degrees, either a master’s or PhD degree, with a bachelor’s degree in a health or medical discipline. Conclusions Employers tend to prefer applicants with a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information technology over those with a degree in HI. Academic programmes should incorporate more practical applications and provide students with a thorough understanding of the healthcare industry to better equip them as efficient future HI professionals.
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A Review of Machine Learning Techniques (MLT) in Health Informatics
Chapter
  • Apr 2023
Healthcare informatics (HI) a multispectral field that has become synonymize with high-tech upgrading. Health informatics (HI) means health aspects with the combination of technology. Health care is one of the most important portions of our life. Strengthening the healthcare sector is essential for constructive association in between human and machines. In the field of health care, some improvement can be included using Information Technology, to save people’s life from several diseases. Machine Learning is the fastest evolving field of computer science in the recent trend. It works on data. It takes the data and learns with experiences to take any decision and prediction. In health informatics, there are numerous challenges to be resolved. So this study discusses the application of Machine Learning Techniques (MLT) in health care and outlines numerous challenges and objectives in health care. Applications of MLT in health care can streamline many healthcare tasks and it can enhance the quality of healthcare industry. Some of the Machine Learning Technologies have been discussed here in the field of health informatics.KeywordsHealth careHealth informaticsMachine LearningChronic diseases
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A Business Intelligence Effectiveness Model: Enhancing Organizational Decision-Making Capability
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  • Jan 2023
Business intelligence (BI) is a technology-driven process that contributes toward revealing the position of an organisation in comparison to its competitors, market conditions, and future trends, and presents demographic and economic information. The objective of the research was to identify the elements that determine the effectiveness of BI for organisations. The research proposes a BI effectiveness model to enhance decision-making support by ensuring that decision-makers receive the right information at the right time in the most appropriate format. A quantitative research approach was followed, and purposive sampling was used for selecting research participants within an organisation in the telecommunications sector. The effectiveness of a BI department has a direct impact on the strength of an organization's decision-making capability. The components of the BI effectiveness model suggest focus areas for more effective information flow throughout the organisation, improved information accessibility, improved decision-making, and ultimately, improved productivity.
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Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine
Book
Full-text available
  • Jan 2014
The world of biomedical research and health care has changed remarkably in the 25 years since the first edition of this book was undertaken. So too has the world of computing and communications and thus the underlying scientific issues that sit at the intersections among biomedical science, patient care, public health, and information technology. It is no longer necessary to argue that it has become impossible to practice modern medicine, or to conduct modern biological research, without information technologies. Since the initiation of the human genome project two decades ago, life scientists have been generating data at a rate that defi es traditional methods for information management and data analysis. Health professionals also are constantly reminded that a large percentage of their activities relates to information management—for example, obtaining and recording information about patients, consulting colleagues, reading and assessing the scientific literature, planning diagnostic procedures, devising strategies for patient care, interpreting results of laboratory and radiologic studies, or conducting case-based and population-based research. It is complexity and uncertainty, plus society’s overriding concern for patient well-being, and the resulting need for optimal decision making, that set medicine and health apart from many other information- intensive fields. Our desire to provide the best possible health and health care for our society gives a special significance to the effective organization and management of the huge bodies of data with which health professionals and biomedical researchers must deal. It also suggests the need for specialized approaches and for skilled scientists who are knowledgeable about human biology, clinical care, information technologies, and the scientific issues that drive the effective use of such technologies in the biomedical context.
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Medical Informatics Board Certification: History, Current Status, and Predicted Impact on the Medical Informatics Workforce
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2010
Within health and health care, medical informatics and its subspecialties of biomedical, clinical, and public health informatics have emerged as a new discipline with increasing demands for its own work force. Knowledge and skills in medical informatics are widely acknowledged as crucial to future success in patient care, research relating to biomedicine, clinical care, and public health, as well as health policy design. The maturity of the domain and the demand on expertise necessitate standardized training and certification of professionals. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) embarked on a major effort to create professional level education and certification for physicians of various professions and specialties in informatics. This article focuses on the AMIA effort in the professional structure of medical specialization, e.g., the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the related Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This report summarizes the current progress to create a recognized sub-certificate of competence in Clinical Informatics and discusses likely near term (three to five year) implications on training, certification, and work force with an emphasis on clinical applied informatics.
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Why an Informatics Degree?
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2010
What is an informatics degree, and why? These are questions that have been posed to us on innumerable occasions for almost a decade by students, parents, employers, and colleagues, and when asked to prepare a Communications Education column to answer that question, we jumped at the opportunity.
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The Health Information Technology Workforce Estimations of Demands and a Framework for Requirements
Article
  • Jun 2010
There is increasing recognition that a competent and well-trained workforce is required for successful implementation of health information technology. New and previous research was gathered through literature and Web searching as well as domain experts. Overall themes were extracted and specific data collated within each. There is still a paucity of research concerning the health information technology workforce. What research has been done can be classified into five categories: quantities and staffing ratios, job roles, gaps and growth, leadership qualifications, and education and competencies. From several countries it can be seen that substantial numbers of individuals are needed with diverse backgrounds and competencies. Additional research is necessary to determine the optimal organization and education of the health information technology workforce.
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Survey of biomedical and health care informatics programs in the United States
Article
  • Apr 2010
  • J MED LIBR ASSOC
Informatics, in the classic definition, is a science that studies “the representation, processing, and communication of information in natural and artificial systems” [1] or, more pragmatically, “a discipline focused on the acquisition, storage, and use of information in a specific setting or domain” [2], such as health care or biomedical sciences. Informatics is also increasingly described as a profession that is still at the early stages of development [3]. There is continuing self-identification of different subfields of informatics, particularly those related to biomedicine and health care, both as scientific disciplines and as professions. One aspect of defining a profession or a subspecialty within it is establishing a set of agreed upon competencies and corresponding educational curricula [3]. Yet, while the number of programs “with ‘informatics’ in their names” is growing, these programs vary substantially in level and scope [4]. Our survey attempts to provide a snapshot of the current picture of informatics training programs related to biomedicine and health care in the United States. The purpose of the survey is twofold. First, the survey is intended as a resource for students, educators, and informatics professionals. Second, through compiling detailed information about existing educational opportunities, we attempt to contribute to the definitions of various informatics subspecialties. This is the fifth generation of surveys of informatics programs conducted by our research group; previous surveys were published online [5]. The first three surveys, carried out annually in 2002–2004, focused only on bioinformatics programs. In more recent iterations (2006 and current, 2008, versions), we moved to a biannual schedule, but broadened the survey scope to encompass medical, health, nursing, dental, and other related informatics programs. In the latest survey presented in this paper, we have also significantly expanded the information categories used to describe each program and paid special attention to grouping the program listings to better correspond to the various informatics subdisciplines. A number of web resources provide similar information, such as the International Society for Computational Biology's listing of degree and certificate programs [6] or the American Medical Informatics Association's list of training programs [7]. Our survey differs from such resources in several important ways: It cuts across the diversity of biomedical and health informatics subspecialties; it provides specific and detailed information for each program; and it presents the information in a way that facilitates comparison of programs within and between subspecialties.
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A nursing informatics research agenda for 2008-18: Contextual influences and key components
Article
  • Sep 2008
The context for nursing informatics research has changed significantly since the National Institute of Nursing Research-funded Nursing Informatics Research Agenda was published in 1993 and the Delphi study of nursing informatics research priorities reported a decade ago. The authors focus on 3 specific aspects of context--genomic health care, shifting research paradigms, and social (Web 2.0) technologies--that must be considered in formulating a nursing informatics research agenda. These influences are illustrated using the significant issue of healthcare associated infections (HAI). A nursing informatics research agenda for 2008-18 must expand users of interest to include interdisciplinary researchers; build upon the knowledge gained in nursing concept representation to address genomic and environmental data; guide the reengineering of nursing practice; harness new technologies to empower patients and their caregivers for collaborative knowledge development; develop user-configurable software approaches that support complex data visualization, analysis, and predictive modeling; facilitate the development of middle-range nursing informatics theories; and encourage innovative evaluation methodologies that attend to human-computer interface factors and organizational context.
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Ahead-of-the-curve careers
  • M Nemko
Nemko, M. (December 17, 2007). Ahead-of-the-curve careers. U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/ articles/2007/12/19/ahead-of-the-curve-careers.