Data Care





People studying health informatics acquire expertise in the development of information systems in health organisations, writes Peter Bath, professor of health informatics, Information School, University of Sheffield 

 

Arapidly developing field in health and medicine, health informatics examines how digital information can be used to support patient health and well-being and improve population health. It is important because care for individual patients is highly dependent on the right information being available to health care professionals in the right place at the right time. Large volumes and different types of patient information are generated as part of everyday healthcare. Systems are required to support the collection, storage and use of patient data, e.g., illness symptoms, blood test results, x-rays and electrocardiograms. Health care professionals can then have the right information available to make decisions about patients.

Courses in health informatics are often aimed at postgraduate students, who might come from a variety of backgrounds, including healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, public health experts, as well as computing and information specialists, such as software engineers, computer programmers, IT managers and information services staff.

Studying health informatics can help health care professionals develop a better understanding of how patient information can be stored, accessed, analysed and utilised to support individual patient care and improve health outcomes. Obtaining a formal qualification allows them to specialise in this area and become involved in the design, development and testing of new systems within hospitals and health organisations, e.g., a new patient electronic records system. This supports career de velopment and progression and gives them the cutting edge when it comes to applying for new jobs or promotion.

For people with a background in computing or information management, studying health informatics can provide new career opportunities for the application of programming skills, the development of software and management of information for health care organisations.A formal qualification in health informatics is often a requirement for career progression and promotion for such specialists within the health sector.

People studying health informatics courses acquire expertise in the development of information systems within health organisations. They study ways of analysing health data, how data are used within public health and for health service management, and how electronic clinical records are developed. This provides job opportunities within the health sector for people with a computing background, as well as career opportunities for health professionals.

New types of health data are being generated and used continuously across the health sector. Genetic data, from DNA profiling, are used to identify genes for life-threatening conditions, for example, cystic fibrosis or breast cancer. Information shared through social media, such as Twitter, is used to monitor outbreaks of infectious diseases. Given the increasing amounts of data generated and used in health care, the career opportunities for people with expertise in health informatics will continue to grow.

Article Courtesy: TOI