Healthcare informatics uses information technology to analyze health records (Nelson &
Staggers, 2018). This is done in ways that lead to renewed healthcare outcomes. Healthcare
informatics is field used by nurses, doctors, administrators, researchers and many other health
professionals in the healthcare industry (Gellert, Ramirez, & Webster, 2015).
Healthcare Informatics is as complex as healthcare itself. In many cases, it requires
special skills and not all of them are technical. The benefits are a little different from other IT
jobs too. There is also increasing dependency on technology with regard to medical devices. To
handle all of this there has to be healthcare workers trained in informatics who are adequately
prepared to work in the growing field. Training is available through associate's, bachelor's and
master's degree programs, as well as certificate programs (Luna, Almerares, Mayan,Gonzalez
Bernaldo de Quiros, & Otero, 2014)
Information technologies affects the types and distribution of jobs in the health care
workforce (Gellert, Ramirez, & Webster, 2015). Against a background of an explosively growing
body of knowledge in the health sciences relying upon memory and personal experience will be
inadequate for effective twenty-first-century health care delivery. The growth of consumerism
and the proliferation of Internet-accessible sources of health-related information have modified
the traditional roles of provider and this provides opportunities for new kinds of employment in
health IT related professions (Gellert, Ramirez, & Webster, 2015).
These distinctions are important because upheavals driven by information technology
occur in the acquisition of data, in the methods for synthesizing data into information to inform
decisions, and in the accumulated knowledge base of health-related science. Of these, to health
workforce needs is the explosive growth of scientific publication and growing public access to
what had previously been a relatively private reserve (Otero, Hersh & Ganesh, 2014).
Many challenges face the informatic field as it expands globally. The interest In
healthcare and technology is spreading rapidly and trying to keep up demand of providing all
sorts of programs to accommodate the variety of potential students, which ranges from high
school graduates to health professionals is one of the great challenges(Otero, Hersh,& Ganesh,
2014).
Another challenge that is faced largely is the basic challenge of language. According to
one study, when no interpreter is used in foreign countries training within the informatic field is
hard to complete. Few clinicians receive training in working with interpreters; only 23 percent of
U.S. teaching hospitals provide any such training, and most of these make it optional. Data
collection on patients’ primary language and English pro-efficiency is frequently inadequate or
nonexistent. Language barriers can have deleterious effects. Patients who face such barriers are
less likely than others to want services with health informatic health professionals (Luna,
Almerares, Mayan,Gonzalez Bernaldo de Quiros, & Otero, 2014).
Lack of consistent and affordable electricity is one of the great challenges with health
informatics as It expands (Eden, Totten, Kassakian, Gorman, McDonagh, Devine, B.& Hersh,
2016).The vast majority of health facilities in remote parts of the developing world have no
mains power and, where available, such power is usually extremely unreliable or so unstable that
it poses a threat to unprotected electronic equipment. Among off-grid health facilities that
nevertheless have power, diesel generators are the most common source. But increasing fuel
costs and on-going maintenance problems mean that generators are seldom run for more than a
few hours a day and are prone to abrupt and unannounced failure. Alternatives such as solar
power are simply cost prohibitive when deployed to support standard computing hardware
(Eden, Totten, Kassakian, Gorman, McDonagh, Devine, B.& Hersh, 2016).). Unfortunately,
these are usually unavailable or hard to find.
Though there are many challenges. The best way to overcome them are to formulate
systems in which can help overcome the challenges. Team work and patience will help the field
of health informatics overcome these challenges.
The scripture that comes to mind when thinking of this week’s thread is Matthew 20:19
which says “ Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (American Standard Version). No
matter the obstacles faced by health informatics it is a field in which must be spread into all the
world.
References
Eden, K. B., Totten, A. M., Kassakian, S. Z., Gorman, P. N., McDonagh, M. S., Devine, B., ... &
Hersh, W. R. (2016). Barriers and facilitators to exchanging health information: a
systematic review. International journal of medical informatics, 88, 44-51.
Luna, D., Almerares, A., Mayan, J. C., Gonzalez Bernaldo de Quiros, F., & Otero, C. (2014).
Health informatics in developing countries: going beyond pilot practices to sustainable
implementations: a review of the current challenges. Healthcare informatics research, 20(1), 3-
10.
Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2018). Health Informatics: An interprofessional approach (2nd ed.).
St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
