Health informatics leverages real-time clinical data to make meaningful impacts for healthcare professionals and their patients. It improves patient outcomes, access, security, and communication. The dynamic digital health landscape includes multiple opportunities to build effective solutions that improve healthcare for everyone.
Health informatics saves lives by combining information technology and computer science with clinical expertise and management for better patient care. Because health informatics is a broad field, its effects are also far-ranging, affecting operational and economic efficiency and bringing down overall costs.
The fast-growing field of health informatics has other benefits, too, including reducing errors, expanding access to care, providing real-time feedback, and improving communication between healthcare teams and their patients, which leads to better decision-making.
Leveraging and effectively using data through health informatics can reduce inpatient mortality rates, shorten the duration of inpatient stays in facilities, and decrease the likelihood of readmission within 30 days, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association and supported in subsequent recent studies, including a 2024 study in the journal Informatics and Health.
Some of the roles that health informatics professionals can take on include nurse informaticist, chief medical information officer, director of clinical informatics, clinical data analyst, and IT consultant. The field of health informatics is also wide open to research as well as new professional applications that are developing are rapidly as the pace of technology.
What do Health Informatics professionals do?
- Apply the effective uses of biomedical data, information, and knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem-solving, and decision making.
- Use data analytics and artificial intelligence to develop insights and drive innovations in the health care industry.
- Improve patient portals, create cloud-based health care systems, and help personalize treatment plans.
- Help improve patient outcomes and make health care systems more efficient by optimizing health care delivery and centralizing information such as medical records.
- Develop new medical technology, design public health strategies, and digitize of health care records, systems, and processes.
- Integrate electronic health records with existing systems, aiming for minimal organizational disruption and even improved delivery of healthcare services.
What's driving the need for health informatics professionals?
The health informatics field is diverse and expanding, with demand being fueled by the health care industry's focus on evidence-based medicine, quality improvement, and data security and accessibility for patients.
- Electronic Health Record (EHR): Perhaps the most well-known application of health informatics is the adoption of electronic health records. In the US, the Affordable Care Act of 2009 requires that healthcare institutions transition to a fully digital medical record system. This requirement impacts every aspect of a healthcare institution's operations.
- Predictive Medicine: Health informatics is helping to shape a new era of predictive medicine using Big Data and AI, leveraging the huge quantities of data now available through sources such as wearable medical devices. Predictive tools have the potential to help clinicians better predict who will get sick when and how best to intervene to improve outcomes.
- Epidemic Tracking: Health informaticists are assisting in capturing and translating data into usable information to track infectious diseases and create systems to predict and prevent epidemics.
What fields are part of Health Informatics?
- Artificial intelligence
- Chemical informatics
- Consumer health informatics
- Data informatics
- Data privacy
- Decision support systems
- Dental informatics
- Ethics
- Global health informatics
- Healthcare
- Home care
- Information security
- International healthcare systems
- Nursing informatics
- Telemedicine
- Translational research informatics
What are some career areas in Health Informatics?
- Public health informatics focus on how to use information technology to educate the public. They study computer science and use their computer skills to keep track of current medical research. They also design and implement new methods in the field.
- Organizational informatics is the study of both communication within medical organizations and the collation of data used by such organizations.
- Social informatics involves research on the social implications of computerization and the way that information technology affects society's perception of these systems. Social informatics is based more on research and theory.
- Clinical informatics involves the study of the ways that information technology affects clinical research and medical education. When coupled with social informatics, it also complements patient education and perception of the process.
What do Health Informatics professionals earn?
Job titles and career paths are diverse in the health informatics field. Salaries will vary, but all jobs in the field are in high demand.
| Field | Mean Entry-Level Salary (Payscale) | Mean Annual Salary (BLS) | Top 10 Percent (BLS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical and Health Services Managers | $61,869 | $137,730 | $219,080 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | $65,570 | $187,990 | >$239,200 |
| Management Analysts | $57,207 | $114,710 | $174,140 |
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Figures from payscale.com, accessed April 2025. Figures from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), dated May 2024. |
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See additional computing salary information.
Where do Health Informatics professionals work?
- Computer/information security firms
- Government agencies
- Health informatics firms
- Health insurance companies
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Hospital and health care systems
- Long-term care facilities
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Medical billing firms
- Medical clinics and doctor's offices
- Medical insurance firms
- Medical oversight firms
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Medical software and technology firms
- Multi-center hospital systems
- Public health organizations
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Research laboratories
What are some Health Informatics job titles?
- Health informatics specialist
- Clinical analyst
- Clinical informatics specialist
- Nursing informatics specialist
- Pharmacy or nutrition informaticist
- Clinical informatics manager
- Health informatics consultant
- Informatics nurse
- Healthcare IT project manager
- Informatics director
How do I become a Health Informatics professional?
Because health informatics is a technical and business-oriented occupation, most health informatics positions require a bachelor's or master's degree, which is typical for higher-level, higher-paying roles. Some common health informatics-related degrees are:
- Bachelor of Science in Health Informatics
- Bachelor of Information Technology
- Bachelor of Science Business—Information Technology Management
- Master of Science in Health Informatics
- Master of Information Systems
- Master of Health Informatics
- Master of Nursing Informatics
What do Health Informatics majors study?
- How to work with software, databases, and analytical tools that process biological information.
- How to design and implement innovative applications and promote new technologies in health care, such as medical decision support systems, telemedicine applications, and medical ethics and biostatistic guidelines
- How to use various resources, devices, and methods to learn to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, interpretation, and use of health and biomedicine information.
- How to retrieve and share information efficiently, think critically while problem solving, and make decisions based on the best possible patient outcomes.
What skills do Health Informatics specialists need?
- Computer Programming. Some health informatics specialists design computer programs to automate the application of statistical analysis techniques to clinical data, drawing out insights with the aid of technologies like artificial intelligence.
- Data Analytics. The role of data analytics in health care is expansive, and health informatics pros use descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics to discover patterns, forecast, and problem solve.
- Health Care IT: Health informatics specialists work closely with health information technology like electronic health records (EHR) and clinical health data systems. They are comfortable working with data generated by technologies such as telemedicine, wearable health devices, electronic prescription services, patient portals, and consumer health care apps.
- Management: Senior and executive positions in health informatics, such as director of health informatics or chief medical information officer, involve managing teams of informatics specialists or heading up strategic project management.
The Future of Health Informatics
The digitization of healthcare is here, along with artificial intelligence, data security standards, and big data that affects our daily lives. The need to respond to evolving technologies assures the future of the health informatics field. Health informatics professionals will lead the efforts to adapt in this new landscape, including initiatives in these key areas:
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Interoperability: EHR adoption and the ability share data among healthcare providers by ensuring computer systems or software are able to exchange and make use of information across providers.
- Telehealth and Remote Monitoring: Accelerated adoption of telehealth and remote monitoring technologies for virtual healthcare delivery.
- Big Data and Analytics: Increasing reliance on big data and analytics for predictive analysis, personalized medicine, and understanding and managing health in a vareity of populations.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning: AI and machine learning are used in healthcare for tasks like image analysis, predictive analytics, and drug discovery.
- Mobile Health (mHealth) and Apps: Mobile apps and wearable devices play a huge role in health monitoring, medication management, and patient engagement.
- Ethical, Legal, and Security Considerations: Ongoing discussions and regulations related to ethical use of health data, patient privacy, data security, and legal compliance.
Health Informatics at Michigan Tech
There is growing demand for health informatics credentials among professionals in the fast-growing, data-driven healthcare sector. Students and working professionals can acquire these credentials through Michigan Tech's Master's in Health Informatics program. The Michigan Tech MS in Health Informatics can be completed at your own pace, fully online, on campus, or as an accelerated master's. Flexibility is built in.
The Master of Science in Health Informatics is designed to:
- Deepen understanding and knowledge of health informatics and computer/information security.
- Provide a flexible curriculum that's workable for both traditional and nontraditional graduate students.
- Provide research opportunities within the field of health informatics.
A Flexible, Stackable Master's Program
Ranked as a top program in Michigan, the interdisciplinary 30-credit-hour MS in Health Informatics at Michigan Tech is composed of four stackable graduate certificates that can be completed in any order. Students who successfully complete the required courses work will earn an MS in Health Informatics degree plus three graduate certificates (one foundational certificate and two focus area certificates). Completion of the individual certificates may also count toward employer continuing education requirements.
Foundations of Health Informatics
You'll begin with the 12-credit Foundations of Health Informatics certificate, then complete two of the three focus-area certificates listed below. A custom plan of study for is formulated for each individual as they enter the program. The Foundations certificate courses are offered in the fall and/or spring semesters.
Foundations of Health Informatics (12 credits)
Provides academic training in fundamental topic areas such as security and privacy, data analysis, programming, and system analysis. The Foundations certificate can be completed in two semesters, on-campus or fully online. Successful completion of the Foundations certificate and two of the three focus area certificates leads to a Master of Science in Health Informatics.
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (9 credits)
The AI in Health Informatics sector needs professionals of many kinds to support, implement, assess, teach, and research AI healthcare solutions. The field is young and opportunities are plentiful and well-compensated.
Public Health Informatics (9 credits)
Computing has become pervasive in the healthcare sector, and managing and deriving valuable information related to public health is critical. Learn fundamental knowledge and competencies in the application of public health informatics.
Security and Privacy in Healthcare (9 credits)
Healthcare privacy is complex, and there is a delicate balance between keeping patient data secure and safely sharing it. The importance of safeguarding the personal healthcare information, as well as protecting hardware and software systems against attacks, cannot be overstated.
Health Informatics Research at Michigan Tech
- Proactive and Responsive Holistic Wellness Solutions in K-12
- Enhancing Emotional Well-being through AI-Enabled Self-Regulation Interventions
- Improved Automated Quality Control of MSK Radiographs using Deep Learning
- Improved Fracture Risk Predictions through Opportunistic Screenings
- Improved Public Health Disease Surveillance Architecture and Modeling
- Enhancing Behavioral Health Capacity and Clinical Decision Modeling