professional: the impact of an academic program SCHOOL OF HEALTH - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Educating the health informatics professional: the impact of an academic program SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Impetus for the study • Why should I do a health informatics degree when the CHIA certification program doesn’t require one? • Why do we need a health informatics course and a health information management course? Wouldn’t one or the other be sufficient? SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

More questions • What health informatics programs are available? • How do they relate to one another? • How does health informatics differ from other professions? SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Question: What is available? Health Informatics Courses Griffith University Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics Melbourne University Bachelor of Biomedicine – Health informatics major University of Sydney Master of Information Technology University of Tasmania Bachelor of E-Health (Health Informatics (Professional Honours) Graduate Certificate in E-Health (Health informatics) Graduate Diploma in E-Health (Health informatics) Masters of in E-Health (Health informatics) University of Western Sydney Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics University of Wollongong Master of Health Informatics University of Queensland Master of Bioinformatics Health information management courses incorporating health informatics Curtin University Bachelor of Health Science (Health Information Management) La Trobe University Bachelor of Health Information Management Master of Health Information Management University of Queensland Master of e-Healthcare University of Tasmania Master of Health Information Management University of Technology, Sydney Master of Health Services Management University of Western Sydney Bachelor of Information Management and Communications Technology (Health Information Management) Health Informatics Units Monash Nursing Informatics University of Tasmania Health Services and Health Informatics Australian Catholic University Health Informatics (e-Health) Short Courses Flinders University Short Health Informatics Course University of Western Sydney Australian Health Informatics Summer School SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Question: How do they relate? • There has been little analysis to determine role of each course or program in the overall context of health informatics education: • Goal • Target audience • Level of skill/knowledge required by that audience • Relationship to other programs • How does health informatics differ from other professions/disciplines? SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Tracking UTas graduates • Aims – Map the location of UTas health informatics graduates and current students in health services across Australia – Map professional location of these graduates, differentiating between health professionals and health informatics professionals – Explore the impact of the content of the UTas program on the practice of health informatics SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Methodology • Participants • Recruitment • Method • Data analysis SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Quantitative Results • Number of respondents • 63% (27 of 43 successfully delivered emails) • Location of graduates • All state and territory health services, DoH, Medicare Locals • Pre/post course profession • Health informatics prior to commencement: 21% (9) • Health informatics after completion: 37% (16) • Promoted during or after completion: 28% (13) SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Occupational changes Pre-Course Profession/position Post-Course Profession/position Promotion Administration Health Informatics Lecturer Y Consultant Clinical Pharmacist Informatics Pharmacist Y Health Librarian Health Librarian Clinical Nurse Consultant Clinical Nurse Consultant Research Coordinator Research Coordinator Sales & Accounts – CIS Consultant Y Health Informatics EHR Business System Manager Y Allied Health Allied Health eHealth Support eHealth Manager Y EMR Manager EMR Manager Y Health Systems Coordinator Human Machine Interface Development EHR Systems Project Officer EHR Systems Project Officer Y Doctor Doctor Medicine Doctor Nursing Clinical Systems Administrator Psychologist Unemployed Nursing Nursing ICT Advisor ICT Strategic Advisor Y E-Health Policy ICT Y Business intelligence Electronic Medical Record Trainer Data Manager Y Physiotherapy Senior Paediatric Physiotherapist Business Analyst Assistant Director – Data Warehouse Environment Y Business Manager E-Health Clinical Software and Secure Messaging Y Manager (Health Informatics) Manager (Health Informatics) SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Qualitative Results • Explored – Impact of course on career – Impact of content on approach to health informatics – Relevance of socio-technical perspective SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Impact on career • Did participation in the course impact on your promotion or change of career? – Yes: 88% (12) • Two themes: – Major theme: attributed change/promotion primarily to participation in the program – Minor theme: participation in the course was one of several factors interacting to enable a career change/progression SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Impact: approach to health informatics • How did the course influence your ideas about health informatics? • Three themes: – The course provided new and advanced skills and knowledge that participants applied at both the operational and strategic level – The course clarified, structured and consolidated existing understanding – The course highlighted the need to think critically about the potential and limitations of health informatics solutions SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Relevance of a socio-technical approach • How significant are cultural and organisational issues in the uptake of health information systems? • Two themes – Emphasised the need for strong leadership that promoted cultural change – Emphasised that a focus on the technology and a lack of understanding of cultural and organisational factors acted as a barrier to successful implementation of electronic information systems SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

What we didn’t ask • Involvement in professional organisations and activities promoting the discipline and profession: – ACHI – HISA – CHIA SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Impact of the program • Results indicate that the program is having an impact on the health informatics workforce: – Geographical location : Graduates can be found across all states and territories – Professional location : graduates are increasingly taking up health informatics roles, filling senior positions and contributing to the professional activities of health informatics organisations – Impact on practice : graduates strongly advocate and seek to implement a socio-technical approach in their professional practice SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

The original questions • Did the study help to answer the questions: – Why should I do a health informatics degree when the CHIA certification program doesn’t require one? – Why do we need a health informatics course and a health information management course? Wouldn’t one or the other be sufficient? SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Thank you This study was made possible by a Centre for Rural Health Primary Health Practitioner Scholarship SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES