Online Health Informatics Degree Programs

The online health informatics degree will prepare you for a career in the health care industry, dealing with the computer science and information technology angle of the profession.

Health informatics is a profession where the individual gathers information from a variety of sources, which generally include health care, information sciences, and computer science. Individuals with a health informatics degrees studies the information that they have gathered and uses it to create new methods of storage acquisitions, and retrieval of vital information which man make healthcare and bio medicine more efficient. One of the things that many people are pleased to learn is that this field branches into several different disciplines. While there are employment opportunities for individuals who are simply interested in health care, there is also a demand for dental informatics, nurse informatics, and teaching informatics. Additional terms that are frequently used to describe the field of health informatics include medical informatics, healthcare informatics, and biomedical informatics.

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Selected Online Health Informatics Degree Programs

University of Phoenix

• MS in Nursing/Informatics
• BS in Health Administration/Health Information Systems
• Master of Health in Administration/Health Care Informatics

Walden University

• B.S. in Health Studies - Health Informatics
• M.S. in Health Informatics
• Masters of Information Systems Management - Healthcare Informatics

Kaplan University

• MS in Nursing - Informatics

Capella University

• BS - Health Informatics
• MS in Information Technology - Health Information Management

• Master of Science in Health Informatics

Western Governors University

• B.S. in Health Informatics

Herzing University

• Master of Science in Nursing - Nursing Education (MSNNE)
• Master of Science in Nursing - Nursing Management (MSNNM)
• AS in Health Information Management

Grantham University

• Master of Science Nursing - Nursing Informatics

Health Informatics Education and Training

In order to be successful in this field the individual must be comfortable working with computers. Before they are ready to join the workforce the individual also much be very familiar with medical terms, communication, and the handling and processing of information.

The type of education that is required for an individual largely depends on the job they are applying for. It is possible for the individual to find employment in this field provided that they at least have an associates degree, but most find that they are more employable if they have at least obtained a bachelors of science degree of the masters degree in health informatics. There are several colleges all over the country, which currently offer degrees in medical informatics.

Health informatics courses include Health Information Systems Analysis and Design, Managing Systems Level Change, Public Health Informatics. Telemedicine. Other health information classes that may be required are research and study design, data collection and management, databases design, database administration, health and medical terminology, computer systems, and computer operating systems.

Health Informatics Careers

The one thing that any individual who is planning on going into this particular field should plan on is continuing their education. This field relies heavily on technology, which is always changing and advancing. In order to be considered for promotions and raises the individual will have to be up to date on all of the latest technology, which usually means taking several computer courses during the course of their career. Some health informatics professionals work directly with patients in front offices and hospital reception areas. Others with a health informatics degree work mainly in data entry area in hospitals and health care facilities. In addition some professionals work in quality control aspects of health care and public health data collection and analysis.

Expected Salary and Projected Career Growth

Anyone who is hoping to have a the same career for several years will be pleased to know that experts feel that a career as a health informatics looks like it should be very secure. The industry is expected to boom in the upcoming years. By the year 2016 experts expect that the number of available jobs in this industry will have increased by 18% of what they were in 2006.

The reason for the increase in the number of available jobs has to do with an increase in the amount of medical testing that individuals will need in the upcoming years. Another reason for the increase in available jobs has to do with the fact that more pertinent information needs to be used during court cases.

The amount of income a person can expect to make in this particular field depends on their location. In the United States the earnings vary a great deal from one state to the next. The best salaries can be found in New Jersey where the average salary is about $44,470. In Alaska the average yearly salary in this field is $38,280. A person with a health informatics degree can expect to make about $15.85 per hour.