A medical informatician is the person who bridges the computer world to
the health-care world. This person manages medical information using computer
technology.
Columbia University's website describes a medical informatician as the
person who "studies the organization of medical information, the effective
management of information using computer technology, and the impact of such
technology on medical research, education and patient care."
They may work with information systems, but the most important element
of their work is the patients and clients their systems serve.
Medical informaticians and health information science professionals design,
implement and manage health information and computer systems for documenting
important medical information.
A growing trend in the career is "virtual patient care" or "telemedicine."
With the increasing popularity of the Internet, more and more people are seeking
health-care information on the web, reports Health-Care Informatics Online.
In addition, physicians and other health-care professionals are turning
to this technology as a way to develop and use records to keep track of patients
at different locations.
This means more opportunities for individuals in the field of health-care
informatics.
Three areas of this growing profession are medical informatics, health
information sciences and nursing informatics. There is a fine but important
distinction between the three areas.
Dr. Paul Fisher works at a university that offers a comprehensive health
information science program. He defines medical informatics as the
study of computer and telecommunications applications in medicine.
He defines health information science as the study of how data and
information are used by health-care providers -- clients, patients, physicians,
nurses, social workers and managers. It's also about how computer and telecommunications
applications can be used to support that activity.
"Medical informaticians often work in hospital settings, dealing with clinical
findings such as medical data and reports and demographic data. Whereas health
information science professionals tend to be involved in the management of
all forms of clinical data [and] health-care system management," says Fisher.
Susan Newbold is a nursing informatician. "More and more health-care
organizations are installing information systems and recognize that a nurse
is an important member of the team from conception to installation to maintenance,"
she says.
Those who work with medical informatics may work as management consultants
or data analysts. As well, they may work as senior employees in government
health departments. Or they may work as systems designers and systems analysts.
These medical professionals work in modern office settings, often in hospitals
or academic institutions.
People working in medical informatics have a variety of backgrounds, notes
Grace Patterson. She is the clinical informatics coordinator at a medical
school.
Some are doctors who wanted a change of pace and got training in informatics.
Some are clinical fellows, people who have completed medical school as well
as postgraduate training. Others are doctors who do medical informatics research
along with their medical practice.
As well, there are non-physicians, such as Patterson herself, who work
as faculty members in a university. She says there are still other types of
medical informaticians with various degrees of training.