Educating the health informatics
professional: the impact of an academic
program
Impetus for the study
• Why should I do a health informatics degree when the CHIA
certification program doesn’t require one?
• Why do we need a health informatics course and a health
information management course? Wouldn’t one or the other
be sufficient?
More questions
• What health informatics programs are available?
• How do they relate to one another?
Question: What is available?
Health Informatics Courses
Griffith University Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics
Melbourne University Bachelor of Biomedicine – Health informatics major
University of Sydney Master of Information Technology
University of Tasmania Bachelor of E-Health (Health Informatics (Professional Honours) Graduate Certificate in E-Health (Health informatics)
Graduate Diploma in E-Health (Health informatics) Masters of in E-Health (Health informatics)
University of Western Sydney Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics
University of Wollongong Master of Health Informatics
University of Queensland Master of Bioinformatics Health information management courses incorporating health informatics
Curtin University Bachelor of Health Science (Health Information Management)
La Trobe University Bachelor of Health Information Management Master of Health Information Management
University of Queensland Master of e-Healthcare
University of Tasmania Master of Health Information Management
University of Technology, Sydney Master of Health Services Management
University of Western Sydney Bachelor of Information Management and Communications Technology (Health Information Management)
Health Informatics Units
Monash Nursing Informatics
University of Tasmania Health Services and Health Informatics
Australian Catholic University Health Informatics (e-Health) Short Courses
Flinders University Short Health Informatics Course
Question: How do they relate?
• There has been little analysis to determine role of each course
or program in the overall context of health informatics
education:
• Goal
• Target audience
• Level of skill/knowledge required by that audience • Relationship to other programs
• How does health informatics differ from other
professions/disciplines?
Tracking UTas graduates
• Aims
– Map the location of UTas health informatics graduates and current students in health services across Australia
– Map professional location of these graduates, differentiating between health professionals and health informatics professionals
– Explore the impact of the content of the UTas program on the practice of health informatics
Methodology
• Participants
• Recruitment
• Method
Quantitative Results
• Number of respondents
• 63% (27 of 43 successfully delivered emails)
• Location of graduates
• All state and territory health services, DoH, Medicare Locals
• Pre/post course profession
• Health informatics prior to commencement: 21% (9) • Health informatics after completion: 37% (16)
Occupational changes
Pre-Course Profession/position Post-Course Profession/position Promotion Administration Health Informatics Lecturer Y
Consultant Clinical Pharmacist Informatics Pharmacist Y
Health Librarian Health Librarian
Clinical Nurse Consultant Research Coordinator
Clinical Nurse Consultant Research Coordinator
Sales & Accounts – CIS Consultant Y
Health Informatics EHR Business System Manager Y
Allied Health Allied Health
eHealth Support eHealth Manager Y
EMR Manager EMR Manager Y
Health Systems Coordinator Human Machine Interface Development
EHR Systems Project Officer EHR Systems Project Officer Y
Doctor Doctor
Medicine Doctor
Nursing Clinical Systems Administrator
Psychologist Unemployed
Nursing Nursing
ICT Advisor ICT Strategic Advisor Y
E-Health Policy ICT
Business intelligence
Y
Electronic Medical Record Trainer Data Manager Y
Physiotherapy Senior Paediatric Physiotherapist
Business Analyst Assistant Director – Data Warehouse Environment Y
Business Manager E-Health Clinical Software and Secure Messaging Y
Qualitative Results
• Explored
– Impact of course on career
– Impact of content on approach to health informatics – Relevance of socio-technical perspective
Impact on career
• Did participation in the course impact on your promotion or
change of career?
– Yes: 88% (12)
• Two themes:
– Major theme: attributed change/promotion primarily to participation in the program
– Minor theme: participation in the course was one of several factors interacting to enable a career change/progression
Impact: approach to health informatics
• How did the course influence your ideas about health
informatics?
• Three themes:
– The course provided new and advanced skills and knowledge that participants applied at both the operational and strategic level – The course clarified, structured and consolidated existing
understanding
– The course highlighted the need to think critically about the potential and limitations of health informatics solutions
Relevance of a socio-technical approach
• How significant are cultural and organisational issues in the
uptake of health information systems?
• Two themes
– Emphasised the need for strong leadership that promoted cultural change
– Emphasised that a focus on the technology and a lack of
understanding of cultural and organisational factors acted as a barrier to successful implementation of electronic information systems
What we didn’t ask
• Involvement in professional organisations and activities
promoting the discipline and profession:
– ACHI – HISA – CHIA
Impact of the program
• Results indicate that the program is having an impact on the
health informatics workforce:
– Geographical location: Graduates can be found across all states and territories
– Professional location: graduates are increasingly taking up health informatics roles, filling senior positions and contributing to the professional activities of health informatics organisations
– Impact on practice: graduates strongly advocate and seek to
The original questions
• Did the study help to answer the questions:
– Why should I do a health informatics degree when the
CHIA certification program doesn’t require one?
– Why do we need a health informatics course and a health
information management course? Wouldn’t one or the
other be sufficient?
Thank you
This study was made possible by a Centre for Rural Health Primary Health Practitioner Scholarship
