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Stimulus funding demands for "health informatics specialists" who have expertise in medical records, insurance claims, clinical care and computer programming Demand for "health informatics specialists" who have expertise in medical records, insurance claims, clinical care and computer programming is rapidly increasing as health care providers look to utilize the $19 billion in stimulus funding directed at implementing and expanding electronic health records, the New York Times reports.

These specialists usually start their career or education in computer programming or as health care professionals, and later earn a degree in health informatics and take midlevel or senior jobs at a hospital, doctor's office, insurance company, drug firm or other organization working with health care data.

William Hersh, chair of the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health and Science University, said, "The health IT people run the servers and install software, but the informatics people are the leaders, who interpret and analyze information and work with the clinical staff."

Don Detmer, president and CEO of the American Medical Informatics Association, said, "My rough estimate is that we need about 70,000 health informaticians" to meet EHR goals laid out in the stimulus bill.

There are no educational, licensing or credential designations for these specialists. However, several colleges have added short courses and certificate programs, as well as associate, undergraduate and graduate programs focusing on the field (Larson, New York Times, 4/12).

Source: New York Times