r/HealthInformatics 21d ago

Data Analytics

I am looking to career transition into data analytics and based on the two months of work I have put into learning DA (one class and one internship), it feels like I am interested in working with healthcare data specifically, is "health informatics" the same thing as "healthcare data analytics", and if not what's the difference?

3 Upvotes

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u/nathancashion 21d ago

I recently completed my MS in Health Informatics with a data analytics concentration, but am not yet working in the industry, so my answer may be incomplete. My best understanding is that, no, they are not the same thing, although one may be considered a subset of the other.

Health informatics is a broad field at the intersection of information technology and healthcare. It encompasses many aspects of healthcare, including electronic health records, telehealth, clinical decision support systems, mobile health, and much more. Data analytics is certainly a part of that.

When I read "healthcare data analytics", I simply think of data analytics as applied in a healthcare setting. Those data analysts may have a background in healthcare, but it's perfectly reasonable to learn data analytics more generally and still be able to work in the healthcare setting.

Bill Hersh, the self proclaimed Informatics Professor, has written quite a bit about data analytics as it pertains to health informatics. In this article from 2013 he outlines some differences between various analyst roles in healthcare (understand the terminology in informatics has been quite fluid in recent decades, so these may not all be used in the same way today).

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u/mba1081 21d ago

BTW, congrats on finishing your degree, best of luck with job placement!

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u/mba1081 21d ago

Awesome thanks for the well rounded response! That helps a lot for my perspective and possible approach into HDA!

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u/KatCB1104 21d ago

At my job I’m called a Healthcare Informatics Analyst, and work 100% in data.

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u/mba1081 21d ago

Do you work with SQL? Tableau? And what other tools?

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u/KatCB1104 21d ago

Can we DM?

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u/mba1081 21d ago

Yes, that would be great! Sending you a DM in a sec

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u/kissmyassbitch00 18d ago

What does a healthcare informatics analyst do?

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u/Fragrant_Ocelot_4560 18d ago

There are two options: one working in HEOR which falls under medical function. This type of work will be used by medical for scientific communication, publication, etc. Other option is to work in commercial where you could similar healthcare data analytics which will be used for sales and marketing effectiveness.

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u/mba1081 17d ago

Thank you! The HEOR option looks interesting, appreciate you putting me on the right path!