What does a clinical informatics specialist do?

A clinical informatics specialist is a mid-level healthcare role; specialists both manage and analyze data to advance the quality of care for patients.

Take for example, by combining EHR data with clinical research data and personal generated health data, it is easier to provide more accurate, personalized and up to date management of conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cancer etc. to match rapidly changing knowledge. Clinical Informatics professionals help create and extend value for everyone in the health ecosystem including patient, provider, payer, regulators etc. contributing to a more sustainable health system. In my experience across academic institutions and industry (pharma, technology, biosciences), I have come to appreciate the wide application of clinical informatics to make clinical and strategic decisions in a safe, reliable and agile way.

I am seeing more and more that the clinical and/or medical informatics role is focused on deriving value from available data through the myriad of digital tools to inform and improve quality of care as well as reduce the intellectual burden that so many tools have created in clinical workflow. Informaticists have become the bridge between IT and end users, somewhat harkening back to the IOM book, Crossing the Quality Chasm, to realize the vision of precision medicine and care.

I consider informaticists the bridge between providers, nurses, and clinicians, and the data need for each to perform at the top of their license, to change workflow and processes to adopt technology, enabling the most effective and efficient use of available, data. Informaticists assist in understanding how to gain value from data, and how to advance the use of data to improve care quality (safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient centered) and promote evidence-based practice.

Com a chegada da medicina de precisão, eu acrescentaria aqui também os conhecimentos em manipulação, organização e tratamento de dados multi-ômicos, que pode ser um conhecimento específico e não exigido para todas as posições de informática clinica, mas que pode ser um nicho interessante no futuro.

No Brasil temos a SBIS (Sociedade Brasileira de Informática em Saúde) que oferece muitas oportunidades de educação continuada e um espaço de ampla discussão sobre as questões que envolvem a transformação digital em saúde. Também oferecem o cpSBIS, que é uma certificação para profissionais que desejam ser reconhecidos na área.

Clinical informatics role requires a diverse skill set and a deep understanding of the healthcare industry. It's a fusion of technology and healthcare expertise. A Clinical Informatics Specialist adeptly blends technical proficiency with healthcare expertise, overseeing data and hospital processes to empower healthcare professionals with cutting-edge systems, ultimately improving patient care. They serve as the unsung heroes of digital healthcare, working diligently behind the scenes.

Although this role is not common or known in many countries, clinical informatics specialists are vital in the healthcare industry. They are responsible for managing complex data (usually Personal Identifiable Information - PII ) while keeping up with technology and privacy standards. Professionals in this area have skills in Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Healthcare, such skills are combined to keep data securely communicated between parties.

Outra questão ética que é sempre importante levantar quando se fala de criação e uso de modelos analíticos baseados em big data é o viés sócio-econômico dos grupos em fragilidade social, seja ela étnica, de gênero e sexual, racial ou econômica. A organização mundial da saúde publicou recentemente sua preocupação com a exclusão de populações pobres nesse avanço da saúde. Buscar a equidade, dentro da informática clinica também é fundamental.

As a former healthcare private practice owner and health tech entrepreneur who has trained in Digital Transformation at Harvard Medical School, I know that it takes a breadth of skill and knowledge of the healthcare sector to be able to operate effectively in a clinical informatics role. There are complexities in this specialised area that go beyond the data and systems, to understanding how the different people involved are interacting with the system. Personally, I think that the focus on clinical informatics can be heavily swayed to the technical side, whereas the people elements are also very important.

A Clinical Informatics Specialist is a tech-whiz meets healthcare. They juggle data, tech, and medicine, ensuring that doctors and nurses have super-smart systems to save lives. Think of them as the digital doctors behind the scenes!

4. My primary focus was on using HL7 to communicate with other systems such as lab and radiology. I’m sure it was also useful in migrating from Siemens or GE to Epic.