NIH describes Health Informatics as "the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management and planning." Today, practitioners in health informatics are dealing with a wide variety of issues encompassing areas ranging from adoption of Electronic Medical Records, CPOE, security and privacy including HIPAA compliance, quality improvement utilizing components of health information systems, to health IT enabling medication management, health communication and consumer health. This has led to rapid changes in the health informatics landscape. Data standards are being developed to enhance the usage of clinically specific vocabularies that would facilitate the exchange of clinical data and improve retrieval of health information. Health Information technology is now being used to establish nationwide health information networks to improve the quality of care and patient safety and reduce healthcare costs.It is in the hands of the CIOs and leaders of health informatics to optimally use information technology and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. CIOs have responsibilities that are broadening well beyond management of information technology resources, and their roles are likely to continue changing. Chief information officers (CIOs) must become strategic managers in healthcare industries to interweave business and IT strategies to create value for the organization. Best practices are designed and developed to help the organizations achieve their goals successfully, resulting in the optimum return on investment.
Traditional programs have trained practitioners in either the healthcare end or the informatics end, leaving the needs of the health informatics industry unattended. FIU, in the development of its new MS HI&MS program, has pioneered a new approach of active industry participation in developing its health informatics program to ensure that developments in industry are incorporated in course content, in real time.
According to Gartner Group ("Top 10: IT Innovation Marks the Path to Leadership", Vi Shaffer, June 2005), an effective healthcare IT organization led by a confident CIO is becoming a far more-significant enabler of business agility and quality of care than in the past. The healthcare industry is moving from an era of incremental cost control to an era in which the overarching need will be managing the growing demands of an aging population in a creative and affordable way.
CIOs are leading the way as providers build integrated delivery systems that link hospitals, clinics, and physician practices. Today healthcare CIOs need to be strategic thinkers and visionaries, to understand the business and deliver strategic value to the organization. CIOs are involved in developing strategies for quality metrics, clinical decision support and quality improvement. Possession of strong communications skills are invaluable to forge good working relationships with other leaders in the organization to implement complex IT projects for achieving greater efficiencies, higher quality patient care and stronger market positioning.
With the changing roles in healthcare the skill set required by healthcare IT professionals have also undergone changes. Health IT professionals must not only possess the basic informatics skills, they also need to be adequately educated for their specific roles in health informatics. As healthcare professionals, one can be either users of IT such as medical practitioners, nurses and health professionals, or be involved in the deployment of healthcare systems or yet again be involved in the development of healthcare IT systems.
Though different levels of technical skills are required for discharging these different roles, being a health informatics leader requires the possession of soft skills to complement technical expertise. People and organizational skills like project and change management, ability to make business decisions, consensus-building skills, negotiating and marketing skills and health informatics skills are equally important.
FIU’s new health informatics degree program offers an interdisciplinary approach to educating the future health informaticists, keeping the current industry needs in view. The program provides students with the knowledge of healthcare systems as well as with the ability to lead and manage changes associated with the introduction and adoption of health information systems. The design and management of health information systems are examined alongside leadership and organizational behavior in healthcare systems to equip our future health professionals to contribute effectively in the improvement of patient care and health.
