What is Health Informatics? How is the Technology Benefitting the Healthcare Industry?

What is Health Informatics? How is the Technology Benefitting the Healthcare Industry?

What is Health Informatics? How is the Technology Benefitting the Healthcare Industry?

The healthcare industry once used pen and paper to collect and retrieve patient information and that meant a lot of time was wasted on paperwork rather than looking after patients. However, with the implementation of computers and other technology in the last twenty years or so, the healthcare industry is now thriving and patients are benefitting from technology massively. In recent years, the healthcare industry has had another step in the right direction thanks to health informatics and healthcare application development.

 

What is Health Informatics?

Health informatics is a career that’s hard to understand, but in its simplest terms, health informatics is a way for healthcare professionals to obtain information on patients from multiple healthcare providers by using computer and information science.

Certain tools are used within health informatics to store patient data and other information, and informatics professionals will use that data to improve relationships between patients and their physicians.

How is Health Informatics Safe?

By using local networks and the internet, along with computers and other technology, patient data is securely entered into databases so informatics professionals can store and retrieve patient data whenever they need it. This is a much safer option than using paper because paper can get lost, whereas data stored on computers is secure and can be retrieved even if there are technical problems.

What Tools are Used in Health Informatics?

Professionals will need to be technically gifted as they will have to work with technology regularly to ensure the correct data is stored and retrieved. Health Informatics professionals will need to use computers, communication technology, along with terminology used to improve medical practices.

Health informatics is a complicated industry, but it’s growing and making health care much easier for professionals to deal with, and that in turn has benefitted patient experience.

How Do You Pursue a Career as a Health Informatics Professional?

Pursuing a career as a health informatics professional takes time and patience, but as the industry is growing there will be more opportunities available. It’s reported that by 2024, the health informatics industry will grow by another 15%, which means job vacancies will be available in their thousands.

You will need to gain an online MSHI degree by taking advantage of an online MSHI program to pursue a career as a health informatics professional. Gaining work experience in a healthcare sector whilst studying for a degree would also highly benefit your chances of landing a career in the health informatics profession.

How is Health Informatics Benefitting the Healthcare Industry?

Health informatics has helped professionals do their jobs quickly and efficiently in a career that has always been more paperwork intensive. This means that healthcare professionals can spend more time with patients instead of completing paperwork. The retrieval of patient data is now much easier so the healthcare industry is now more efficient.

Health informatics has really helped the healthcare industry grow and it’s only a matter of time before it plays a much more vital role in looking after patients. If you want to pursue a career in health informatics it’s important you know what’s involved and how studying for an online health informatics degree can benefit your cause.