Job opportunities in the healthcare field are soaring, with millions of new jobs likely to be created in the coming years. With all of the demand for health care services, and the government mandates to have all health records in electronic format, the field of health informatics is growing quickly.
Health informatics is a relatively new field that describes how health care information is acquired, stored, retrieved and used, to improve how different health care providers collaborate with each other. Health informatics is playing an increasingly important role in improving how health care is delivered, while keeping quality high and costs low.
As noted above, the growth in the health informatics field has been spurred largely by the demand for electronic health record adoption that the federal government has been pushing since the passage of Obamacare.
As more health care providers move towards EHRs that contain all of their patients’ health care information, health informatics managers will be in great demand as health care providers are implementing new computer systems and upgrading their existing databases to handle all of the new electronic patient data.
What Health Informatics Professionals Do
As a professional in the health informatics field, you will use your extensive knowledge of health care, databases, IT and healthcare information systems to gather, store and interpret patient data. You will become well verse in medical coding so that you are able to quickly categorize medical procedures in a health care environment.
Typical duties in this field include:
- Analyze health care and patient data to facilitate actions and decisions
- Develop solutions driven by data to enhance the health of patients
- Collaborate with all health care departments to cut expenses by using strategic data analysis
- Design and implement tools to measure patient data and to increase and measure patient care effectiveness
- Improve communication and translation of IT and regulatory requirements between various departments of your healthcare facility
Earn Your Master’s in Health Informatics with No GRE Online
With all of the growth in health care jobs and health informatics, there are more education programs today to get a health informatics degree. Many universities offer completely online master’s degree programs in health informatics.
This allows you to continue your normal work schedule and to take your classes as you have time. You also will not necessarily have to take the GRE exam, as many of these programs no longer require standardized test scores.
Click request information to learn about tuition and financial aid, courses & curriculum, admissions and starting dates.
Accreditation
As you are thinking about which university to attend online, you should consider the accreditation that each university has. You should first look for a general accreditation from the US Department of Education for the university itself. These are the regional accreditation agencies that are recognized by the Department of Education:
- Western Association of Schools and Colleges
- Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE) Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Also, you should check if the program itself has been accredited by a respected accreditation body. For health informatics programs, look for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIM).
As you consider your health informatics career, you should take a look at these quality, online master’s in health informatics degree programs we have found:
#1 University of Miami (FL)
The University of Miami offers a high quality Master of Science in Health Informatics that will prepare graduates for a well paid and rewarding health informatics career. You will be well educated so that you can work within any health care informatics environment, including hospitals, government, health care providers, medical vendors and pharmaceutical companies.
This two year master’s program will prepare you for critical roles in any healthcare organization as they move their records keeping systems towards electronic forms. This is the ideal program for people who work in IT and healthcare, but have more experience in one of those fields that the other.
Your core classes will cover these critical subject areas:
- Information security
- Data analytics
- Project management
- Public health informatics
- Health information exchange
- Database design
Also, you can earn your health informatics certificate at the University of Miami first, if you like. You can earn this certificate after you complete the five core classes, and then you may opt to complete the MS later.
More information:
- Campus: Miami FL; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
- Tuition: $460 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 24 months
- On Campus Requirements: No
- Programs Offered: Master of Science in Health Informatics
#2 University of South Florida
You can position yourself to lead the transformation of the health care industry into the 21st century with a Master of Science in Health Informatics from the University of South Florida.
Many professionals interested in health informatics choose USF because of the following:
- University of South Florida is highly ranked by US News and World Report as one of the best colleges in the US for online programs
- US News and World Report has found that the USF’s Morsani School of Medicine is one of the best in the US for 2016.
- The USF program takes only 32 hours to complete which means that you can possibly complete this master’s degree in only one year.
In this accredited program, you will learn the following:
- How to acquire, store and interpret healthcare and patient data for healthcare professionals
- Manage data with relational database systems and the structured query language and to have a good understanding of how to warehouse and store critical data, as well as emerging cloud databases
- How to integrate electronic medical records and patient care to offer a better quality of care through better data management
- How to develop and assess tools that collect and store medical data
More information:
- Campus: Tampa FL; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
- Tuition: $360 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 12 months
- On Campus Requirements: No
- Programs Offered: Master of Science in Health Informatics
#3 Drexel University
The Master of Science from Drexel University provides professionals from many backgrounds with the skills and knowledge that are critical to handle health information technology and data efficiently and responsibly to improve the outcomes for patients. All students will graduate from this 30 month program with an excellent understanding of IT and health care systems.
Your required classes include these:
- Foundations of Information Systems
- Introduction to Database Management
- Human Computer Interaction
- Web Systems Architecture
- Information Systems Analysis and Design
- Healthcare Informatics
- Information Assurance
- Healthcare Informatics Planning and Evaluation
More information:
- Campus: Philadelphia PA; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
- Tuition: $470 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 24 months
- On Campus Requirements: Yes
- Programs Offered: Master of Science in Health Informatics
#4 Northwestern University
The Master of Science in Health Informatics from Northwestern University is offered in conjunction with the Feinberg School of Medicine, which is a world leader in medical education. This program will prepare you for many exciting health informatics opportunities in all types of health care facilities.
Students will be able to leverage advanced technology tools and data so that their health care organization is able to provide more efficient and patient centered health care to improve population health.
Students in this 24 month program come from many backgrounds, and they may choose from three concentrations:
- Clinical Informatics
- Health Technology Informatics
- Health Administration Informatics
If you have substantial background in information technology and clinical practice, some courses may be waived in the first year. The general program has 12 courses, with five core courses, as well as a leadership class and a capstone. You also must take three electives in your speciality area.
More information:
- Campus: Evanston IL; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
- Tuition: $570 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 24 months
- On Campus Requirements: Yes
- Programs Offered: Master of Science in Health Informatics
#5 George Washington University
The Master of Science in Management of Health Informatics and Analytics at George Washington University. This online master’s program is made for professionals who have at least three years of health care and IT experience who want to improve their leadership skills and decision making abilities.
The mission of this health informatics program is to create leaders who have the values, knowledge and skills to achieve the best possible delivery of health care through the efficient use of information to make strong decisions. GWU also offers a No GRE Masters in Public Health degree 100% online.
More information:
- Campus: Washington DC; online
- Type: Non-Profit
- Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
- Tuition: $1600 per credit hour
- GRE/GMAT Required: No
- Minimum Time Commitment: 24 months
- On Campus Requirements: Yes
- Programs Offered: Master of Science in Management of Health Informatics and Analytics
The health informatics career field is growing very quickly, and with your skills in IT and health data management, you will be able to secure a high paying health care position with excellent job security.
