Whetton Sue, Hazlitt Cherie
University Department of Rural Health, Tasmania.
Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania.
Stud Health Technol Inform. 2015;214:159-66.
The successful implementation and utilisation of electronic health information systems is dependent on a highly knowledgeable and skilled workforce. In Australia there is a range of education and training opportunities that seeks to meet these workforce needs. This range of programs reflects both the multi-disciplinary characteristic of health informatics and its wide application within the healthcare environment. We need to discuss the role of each program or type of program in developing a skilled and knowledgeable workforce, and in expanding the knowledge base of the discipline. This paper contributes to such a discussion by describing a pilot study that focused specifically on the role/impact of the University of Tasmania academic health informatics program.
The study comprised an anonymous on-line survey followed by a small number of interviews. The online survey included closed questions which gathered quantitative data about Quantitative data were analysed using appropriate numerical methods such as response counts and/or percentages. Open-ended questions were analysed using thematic analysis.
Qualitative data indicated that course graduates reside in every state and territory, with the majority being employed by the various state health services. The majority of respondents had moved into health informatics professions or into senior positions in health informatics. Eighty percent attributed this directly to their participation in the course. Respondents indicated a strong socio-technical orientation in their approach to health informatics.
The program appears to be having an impact on the health informatics workforce, particularly in promoting a strong socio-technical focus.
Evaluation of health informatics programs would enable the development of a comprehensive and complementary network of offerings that would meet the diverse needs for health informatics professionals in the healthcare and academic environment.
电子健康信息系统的成功实施与应用依赖于一支知识渊博且技能娴熟的劳动力队伍。在澳大利亚，有一系列教育和培训机会旨在满足这些劳动力需求。这一系列项目既反映了健康信息学的多学科特征，也体现了其在医疗环境中的广泛应用。我们需要探讨每个项目或项目类型在培养熟练且知识渊博的劳动力队伍以及拓展该学科知识库方面所发挥的作用。本文通过描述一项专门聚焦于塔斯马尼亚大学学术健康信息学项目的作用/影响的试点研究，为这一讨论做出了贡献。
该研究包括一项匿名在线调查以及少量访谈。在线调查包含封闭式问题，用于收集有关定量数据的信息。定量数据使用诸如应答计数和/或百分比等适当的数值方法进行分析。开放式问题则采用主题分析进行分析。
定性数据表明，课程毕业生分布在每个州和领地，大多数受雇于各个州的卫生服务部门。大多数受访者已进入健康信息学专业领域或担任健康信息学的高级职位。80%的受访者将此直接归因于他们参与了该课程。受访者表示，他们在处理健康信息学时具有强烈的社会技术导向。
该项目似乎正在对健康信息学劳动力队伍产生影响，尤其是在促进强烈的社会技术关注方面。
对健康信息学项目进行评估将有助于建立一个全面且互补的课程网络，以满足医疗保健和学术环境中对健康信息学专业人员的多样化需求。
