What is Health Informatics?

What is Health Informatics?

Health Informatics is concerned with the development, dissemination and use of information and communication technologies in health care. Exciting career opportunities are emerging for health professionals with knowledge and skills in information and computer science, management, health care systems, and research methods.

The role of the Health Informatics professional is dynamic and involves close liaison with medical, nursing and administrative staff, other health professionals, IT staff and the public. Health Informatics professionals are involved in the innovation and development of information systems that support patient care, health planning, health care evaluation, financial management and medical research.

Current developments in Health Informatics

The field of Health Informatics is one of the fastest growing areas within the health sector. The Master of Health Informatics course was designed to respond to the changing needs of health professionals and health organisations in our increasingly electronic environment. Advances in IT (e.g. Smart Cards, Voice Recognition Technology, Electronic Health Records, Decision Support Systems) are creating very exciting opportunities for Health Informatics professionals in a range of organisations including IT firms, hospitals, government departments and health funds.

Professional associations

Reflecting the broad nature of Health Informatics, the professional bodies associated with the profession include:

The Australian College of Health Informaticians (ACHI)
www.achi.org.au
The Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA)
www.hisa.org.au
The Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA)
www.himaa.org.au
The two key bodies internationally are:

The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA)
www.imia.org
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
www.amia.org