Please Draft a response to another students original discussion Board Post. Here is the
students post you are replying too:
Roles and Functions of Health
Informatics Professionals
The U.S. healthcare system is classified as a massive, complex system, spending more
on healthcare than any other industrialized country (Braunstein, 2014; Otokiti, 2019).
Rapid growth in healthcare is projected to continue due to an aging population,
technological advances, social determinants, and the management of chronic disease
(Otokiti, 2019; Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016). As the demand for healthcare continues to
surge, the need for health information management and informatics professionals will
also rise (Fridsma, 2018; Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016).
For this discussion board forum, the importance of health informatics professionals will
be defined. The skills set required to work in this field and opportunities for career growth
will be discussed. Lastly, the use of informatics to improve the quality of healthcare will
be explored, and biblical principles will be applied.
Importance of Health Informatics Professionals
Health informatics is defined as, “the practice of information and knowledge management
across clinical healthcare and public health domains” (Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016, p.
67). As the healthcare industry transforms, particularly with the implementation of
government-mandated electronic medical records, the demand for health informatics
professionals has increased (American Medical Informatics Association, 2021b;
Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016). These professionals manage healthcare data to improve
patient care. Otokiti (2018) stressed the importance of health informatics professionals as
they are tasked with the following: improving patient health literacy, training healthcare
professionals on using health information systems, managing large data sets, generating
accurate and timely clinical information, and promoting interoperability for the exchange
of patient data. Furthermore, a health informaticist expands on the basic management of
health information by implementing technical skills to engage in the aggregation and
analysis of data (Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016). Through data mining, health informatics
professionals can generate reports focusing on patient populations, outcomes,
benchmarking, and predictive analytics to improve patient care (Fridsma, 2018; Kokol et
al., 2018; Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016).
Unique Skills Required and Opportunities for Advancement
Health informatics professionals can hold an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate
degree. In addition, these professionals can obtain a variety of professional certifications,
participate in professional practice experiences, or partake in continuing education
courses to promote professional growth (American Medical Informatics Association,
2021b; Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016). Additional factors which complement the skills of
health informatics professionals are having a background in healthcare and excelling at
communication, as interactions with other healthcare workers are required daily
(Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016).
Opportunities for career advancement and professional growth are endless for health
information management and informatics professionals (Braunstein, 2014; Shanholtzer &
Ozanich, 2016). At the entry-level, individuals with an associate degree can serve as
health information specialists, or release of information coordinators, to name a few.
Professionals with a bachelor’s degree often work as department managers or
compliance officers (Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016). A degree in health informatics is
typically completed at the graduate level. Master’s and doctoral program graduates can
hold a position such as a vice president, department chair, or chief officer (American
Medical Informatics Association, 2021a; Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016). As technology
and healthcare advance, health informatics opportunities will continue to grow.
Promoting Quality of Care
Health informatics professionals have the opportunity to revolutionize the U.S. healthcare
system through the management of healthcare data. As noted in the article, Using
Informatics to Improve Healthcare Quality, Otokiti (2018) noted that “to improve
healthcare, at the least possible cost through participatory and personalized medicine
and to ensure optimum predictive and preventive care, all stakeholders must be actively
involved in the digital revolution” (p. 428). Through data analysis, quality improvement
processes can be identified, as measurements of performance are vital to improve
population health, reduce healthcare costs, and improve the patient experience (Otokiti,
2018; Shanholtzer & Ozanich, 2016).
Biblical Integration
Advances in health information technology have led to the implementation and
advancement of knowledge transfer through electronic health records. Benefits
associated with the use of electronic records include improving communication and
promoting continuity of care. God gives one wisdom and the knowledge to do good. By
promoting the use of electronic medical records, healthcare leaders have the opportunity
to serve God by focusing on improving one’s health status through more efficient means
of communication. “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength”
(Kings James Bible, 1769/2017, Proverbs 24:5).
References
American Medical Informatics Association. (2021a). Informatics academic & training
programs. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://www.amia.org/education/programs-and-
courses
American Medical Informatics Association. (2021b). Why informatics? Retrieved April 12,
2021, from https://www.amia.org/why-informatics
Braunstein, M. L. (2014). Contemporary health informatics. AHIMA Press.
Fridsma, D. B. (2018). Health informatics: A required skill for 21st century
clinicians. BMJ, 362, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k3043
King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible
Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)
Kokol, P., Saranto, K., & Blažun Vošner, H. (2018). EHealth and health informatics
competences. Kybernetes, 47(5), 1018-1030. https://doi.org/10.1108/k-09-2017-0338
Otokiti, A. (2019). Using informatics to improve healthcare quality. International Journal of
Health Care Quality Assurance, 32(2), 425-430. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa-03-2018-
0062
Shanholtzer, M. B., & Ozanich, G. W. (2016). Health Information Management and
Technology. McGraw Hill Education.Instructions for when replying to another persons
post include the following:
For your replies, respond to 2 classmates, identifying at least 1 strength and 1 weakness
in each classmate's reasoning.
Running Head: DISCUSSION 1
Roles and Functions of Health Informatics Professionals
Student Name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
DISCUSSION 2
Discussion Reply
I agree with your definition regarding the role of health informatics, where it considers
the given aspect within the application of information technology in the healthcare settings.
With the transformation of the healthcare sector, informatics becomes a critical aspect that
would promote the sector's growth. Thus the need to have a designated role in dealing with
information technology aspects was necessary (Otokiti, 2019). Generally, healthcare
informatics has multiple roles and functions that extend to dealing and operating with the
given systems. Today, organizations are dealing with electronic data, making it necessary to
have guaranteed management of the data. The sensitivity of health-related data calls for the
unique and direct control that's run by a professional. Thus, healthcare informatics is vital in
improving patient health literacy, generating timely records, training other professions to deal
with and with electronic Data, and promoting interoperability during the information
exchange. Informatics is considered to play a significant role in ensuring that outcomes are
well improved from applying modern information technology.
Generally, the roles played by healthcare informatics are an essential part of assuring
speedy and efficient services within the healthcare settings. So far, many organizations have
made the role of having an instrumental impact in their decision-making process. Hence, the
health informatics professions aid in the data mining processes. Here, they help decision-
makers to gather and achieve the benefits of working with systems that hold information
(Kokol, Saranto & Blazun-Vosner,2018). The transformation of data to meaningful
information enables the decision-makers to create a benefit from the process. Hence, they can
use the information to come up with decisions that will solve the underlying challenges that a
business face.
DISCUSSION 3
A significant strength of your discussion post is the way you have supported it with
extensive scholarly evidence. Every research needs the utilization of scholarly resources to
make it acceptable and reliable to formulate a conclusion. The scholarly resource has made
the content reliable and can be applied to extend more understanding into the topic. For
instance, reflecting on the used references from Fridsma (2018) will enable more
understanding of the topic as you have applied it in your discussion. Here, the author explains
why health informatics is a vital skill in the 21st century, exploring the topic further. Profound
evidence makes a discussion and any other form of presentation more helpful in making the
correct conclusion on a topic; again, the inclusion of links makes it easy for the reader to get
further details from the specific resources referenced. Strength in the discussion bases on the
multidimensional approach you gave to it. Here, exploring the current state of the US
healthcare system and then explaining the key topic prepares a reader to more since on the
relevance of the role to the 21st century.
However, there is a weakness with how you explained the key roles and functions.
Here, it gave a shallow means for an explanation through the application of mere mentioning
without elaboration. Since the core element of the discussion is the roles health informatics
plays in healthcare, you should have elaborated more into details. This would make the
discussion more relevant than it is currently. Hence, those referring to it will not have to make
extra research to understand the significance of health informatics.
DISCUSSION 4
References
Fridsma, D. B. (2018). Health informatics: A required skill for 21st-century clinicians.
BMJ, 362, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k3043
Kokol, P., Saranto, K., & Blažun Vošner, H. (2018). EHealth and health informatics
competences. Kybernetes, 47(5), 1018-1030. https://doi.org/10.1108/k-09-2017-0338
Otokiti, A. (2019). Using informatics to improve healthcare quality. International Journal of
Health Care Quality Assurance, 32(2), 425-430. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa-03-
2018-0062
