Which organization offers a variety of certifications for health informatics careers?

Most health informatics positions are highly technical, so professionals must understand and communicate technical terminology. They must be able to explain technical terms to various audiences, including clients and patients.

Technical skills, including coding and systems management, are typically required for a health informatics career. Most positions use electronic health records systems.

In addition to data analytics, healthcare professionals must learn to adapt to changes in laws and regulations. Students can explore how to navigate new laws as they come into effect and determine the best approaches moving forward. Analytical skills also include understanding diagnoses and medical records.

Most advanced positions with higher salaries require leadership skills. These skills take many forms, including problem-solving, motivating staff, training new hires, and taking professional responsibility when necessary.

While health informatics professionals do not work as closely with patients as other healthcare professionals, they must hold themselves to the same professional standards. Students learn how to maintain integrity with patient information.

This concentration emphasizes business and leadership courses and may require an internship. Graduates are prepared for management careers in health informatics.

This concentration covers health information, data analysis, classification systems, and medical records. An administration concentration typically leads to certification as a registered health information administrator.

In this concentration, students learn to analyze data and existing patient records through computer programs. Graduates can pursue careers as data analysts in healthcare settings.

Also referred to as health information technicians, these professionals manage health databases to ensure they are current and accurate. These technicians also maintain patients' medical records. Most positions require knowledge of medical data software.

Salary: $42,630

An information clerk ensures information, including bills and medical claims, is in order. These workers must also understand services offered by medical institutions and communicate them to patients. Information clerks can also work outside the medical field.

Salary: $35,390

Medical assistants work less with computers and more with patients than other health informatics graduates. These assistants may record patient information, measure vitals, prepare samples, schedule appointments, and input patient information into databases.

Salary: $34,800

Also known as healthcare executives, health services managers take charge of planning and coordinating health services. The size and scope of this position can vary from a specific practice to an entire facility.

Salary: $100,980

Also known as IT managers, these professionals install new computer systems, keep operating costs low, orchestrate IT functions, and find new ways to improve current computer systems.

Salary: $146,360

This highly specialized position requires expertise in healthcare management and computer science. A clinical informatics specialist resolves software and hardware issues while planning facility-wide system changes.

Salary: $78,210

Pharmacy informatics coordinators must stay abreast of the latest standards and pharmaceutical laws. These experts maintain pharmacy databases and often implement or create relevant software.

Salary: $98,260

To become a clinical nurse leader, you need previous nursing experience and a master's in health informatics. These professionals lead nurses in completing tasks within a facility. Clinical nurse leaders also communicate with nurses, patients, and patients' families.

Salary: $80,730

These professionals advise clients on how to best set up their IT systems. This position requires significant computer science knowledge.

Salary: $78,990

CMOs run the entire medical program within their organization, including overseeing budgets, making personnel changes, and changing work models.

Salary: $298,490

Professors teach college courses and perform their own research. They can become tenured, and many enjoy long, successful careers.

Salary: $97,320

Senior research scientists help train and oversee other scientists in their labs. This position also involves planning projects, implementing new technologies, and conducting research.

Salary: $101,310

Medical and surgical hospitals often provide general care and specialized practices. These organizations employ thousands of health informatics professionals

These laboratories provide analytical and diagnostic services, usually to medical professionals. Examples include dental, blood analysis, and pathological labs. Lab careers require significant analytics skills.

Health informatics professionals can pursue several carers in physicians' offices, including roles in analytics and management. These offices are smaller than hospitals and are more likely to focus on a specific field.

Health informatics professionals in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing focus on working with computer systems, database management, and analytics.

Outpatient care centers help patients who do not need to stay overnight at the hospital. Within these centers, health informatics professionals can work in roles that involve data analytics and systems management.

I have always been interested in genetics and the complexity of developmental regulation. So my interest in informatics stems from a fascination with biological information management. From this, health informatics is a logical extension.

I graduated with a Ph.D. in molecular biology. I eventually joined a genetics team at the University of Kansas Medical Center and from there was recruited to the genetics department at Children's Mercy Hospital. We explored the genetic contribution to many different developmental deficiencies experienced by children in our lab. This research required a great deal of information management and analysis, which led me to appreciate the expertise required for good data acquisition, storage, and analysis.

The answer to this question is very dependent on specialization. My own experience is centered around genetic data. Computer skills are essential. Acquiring, safely storing, accessing, and analyzing big sets of data requires excellent knowledge of the computer programs needed for each of these processes.

I read newly published research. I also experiment with and learn to use new computer programs.

Analyzing data and finding an answer to a new question is very rewarding. Keeping up with all of the vast information concerning data management and processing is very challenging.

Get a solid education in biology and computer programming.

The field of Informatics is rapidly expanding and represents an excellent career choice.

The American Society of Health Informatics Managers: ASHIM provides IT certifications that can help aspiring professionals stand out, including the certified health informatics systems professional credential.

Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity: Professionals seeking management or administrative careers should consider joining ADHI. This professional organization maintains a job board and operates state and local chapters for in-person networking opportunities.

Association for Healthcare Administrative Professionals: AHCAP members receive access to a job board, webinars, and continuing education courses.

Business School Alliance for Health Management: BAHM connects current master's students with the resources they need to pursue health management careers. Members can talk to current professionals and learn more about potential opportunities. They can also learn tips to focus their education on specific jobs.

American Association of Medical Assistants: This organization offers educational opportunities, professional certifications, advocacy, and networking opportunities to its members.

American Medical Technologists: This professional association provides its members with continuing education and credentialing options. AMT also offers conferences and operates local chapters.

National Healthcareer Association: NHA offers professional certifications like the certified clinical medical assistant. Study guides and practice tests are available online. NHA also helps connect its members with potential employers and continuing education opportunities.

American Registry of Medical Assistants: ARMA offers certifications and continuing education opportunities to medical assistants. An online forum allows members to communicate with their peers.

American Academy of Professional Coders: AAPC offers professional certifications to physician-based medical coders. The academy also hosts local chapters and a job board, and members can access networking opportunities

American Health Information Management Association: The largest professional association in the medical coding industry, AHIMA boasts over 71,000 members in all 50 states. AHIMA offers several professional certifications, seminars, and continuing education classes. The association also publishes professional journals and industry newsletters.

American Medical Billing Association: The association offers introductory classes like online billing and coding, as well as startup tools for new businesses. The AMBA also hosts an annual conference.

Medical Association of Billers: MAB is approved by the U.S. Department of Education to offer postsecondary education in medical billing and coding. Members gain access to a bimonthly newsletter, discounted refresher programs, and discounted online classes.

American Association of Healthcare Administration Management: This organization assists healthcare professionals by providing education opportunities, advocacy, and certifications. Administrators working in the areas of medical records, admitting and registration, and data management and reimbursement may benefit from an AAHAM membership.

Bioinformatics Specialization - University of California, San Diego: One of the most popular series of MOOCs on Coursera, the bioinformatics specialization consists of four courses. Students learn about computational approaches and related software in science and healthcare. Covered topics include finding hidden messages in DNA; comparing genes, proteins, and genomes; and molecular evolution.

Computational Neuroscience - University of Washington: Students explore core computational methods for understanding how nervous systems work and how they govern memory, vision, learning, and sensory-motor control. Participants also gain skills in Python/Matlab/Octave, learning how to process and visualize information in neural networks.

Global Health Informatics to Improve Quality of Care - Massachusetts Institute of Technology: In this 13-week course, students examine how increased international travel and global warming fuel the spread of infectious diseases like the Ebola virus. They examine how IT innovations can combat disease in resource-constrained situations and settings. Additional topics include project management, multicultural leadership, and data-supported best practices in health informatics.

Leading Change in Health Informatics - Johns Hopkins University:This beginner course helps nurses, physicians, and other allied health professionals transition into the informatics field. Students learn about the role big data plays in extracting and applying actionable information. Participants also develop the skills needed to assess an organization's values and culture and develop strategic plans with regard to financial considerations.

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making: This open-access journal contains peer-reviewed articles on the design and implementation of health information technologies. Recent topics include developments in kidney transplant clinical practice, a qualitative study of paediatric chemotherapy, and evaluating stakeholder involvement in organizational decision-making. Professionals can submit their work through a three-step process that includes paying a fee.

Health Informatics Journal: This open-access publication provides an international forum for practitioners, researchers, and students to discuss healthcare challenges related to areas like patient services and organizational management. Recent articles cover topics like machine learning approaches to predicting pulmonary disease, data work in healthcare, and coded nursing care/nursing intensity data.

International Journal of Medical Informatics: This journal is published through a joint effort between the European Federation for Medical Informatics and the International Medical Informatics Association. Articles cover topics like computational intelligence approaches to predicting autism and the effectiveness of telemedicine.

JMIR Medical Informatics: With a focus on applied and translational research, this journal boasts strong readership among engineers, physicians, and health informatics specialists. Articles cover topics like decision support for healthcare professionals and electronic health records. Readers can volunteer to critique and edit submissions from authors who do not opt out of the open, peer-review process.

Journal of Health Informatics & Management: Distributed by international publisher SciTechnol, this scholarly journal centers on technological applications to improve the quality of healthcare services. Readers can access peer-reviewed articles on topics like value-based healthcare in Saudi Arabia, big data analytics using machine learning, and modeling high blood pressure risk factors in women.

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association: AMIA's official, peer-reviewed publication covers health and biomedical informatics, including clinical research, consumer health, and implementation science. Recent articles examine public health outbreak responses, teledentistry practices, and using an interactive online dashboard to track U.S. COVID-19 cases in real time.

By pursuing a bachelor's degree in the field, you can work as a health informatics specialist or data analyst. With a graduate degree, you may qualify for positions as a clinical nurse leader, information systems manager, or postsecondary teacher.

Health informatics professionals can pursue certifications through organizations like HIMSS, which offers two credentials based on a worker's experience level. Additionally, AHIMA offers eight certifications in specialty areas like physician-based coding, information administration, and healthcare privacy and security.