Health Informatics for Medical Librarians

Citation

Lindsay, M. (2010), "Health Informatics for Medical Librarians", Library Review, Vol. 59 No. 5, pp. 375-376. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531011047091

Health informatics is about applications which lead to the improvement of health care. It is about communication, systems, networking, devices and instruments, human psychology, economics, and of course, information technology in all its forms. The primary focus of public health informatics is on applications of information science and technology that promote the health of populations as opposed to the health of specific individuals. Consumer health informatics focuses on the design and implementation of systems that collect related information and funnel it to consumers. It is claimed that a basic knowledge of health informatics is essential for anyone seeking to work in the healthcare environment today. Informatics impacts on modern health care, through medical decision‐making, documenting healthcare operations and the medical decision‐making process.

There are different kinds of informatics. An informationist is an expert in both information processes and clinical medical informatics. They are skilled in both information resources management and medical informatics. They are a hybrid of both information sciences and clinical work. There are clinical informationists and research informationists. The American preference for long job titles encompasses: health informationists, licensed practical/vocational nurses or information specialist in context (ISIC), or what we know as clinical librarians. Behavioural informatics is defined as a broad interdisciplinary field that addresses a wide range of issues related to illness awareness and good health. Job title inflation may be an ego booster or an answer to recessionary salary budget cuts. It is cheaper to give people a new title than a rise in salary. The authors do, however, acknowledge that there are concerns about the education of health informationists, particularly with the perception that too many practitioners have limited education and training specifically related to what they do. Because of the overlapping disciplines within health informatics and the lack of common jobs in the field, there is no set health informatics curriculum.

By providing support services for healthcare staff, health sciences librarians are advised to expand their mission, goals, and personal skills in order to remain partners in the changing healthcare environment, especially with the push toward integrating advanced information management technologies into health care. We are warned that: “If librarians want to have a meaningful role in informatics, it is essential that they obtain a more substantial amount of medical knowledge”. This is a chance to promote ourselves and: “Convince health professionals that the librarians are up to par with the other members of the health team”. Librarians must modify their role, to become more involved in information systems design and implementation. This also involves training and mentoring health professionals in the use of new information systems. It is claimed that those involved in health information management in the coming years will need to acquire an understanding of genetics, genomics, and genomic medicine.

A National Health Service (NHS) career booklet explains that: “Anyone can enjoy a career in health informatics. There are roles for everyone, no matter what qualifications or previous work experience you have”[1]. They explain that this is one of the fastest growing areas of the NHS. A 2009 survey of the Health Informatics workforce in the NHS in England reported an estimated 25,000 whole time equivalents. The British workforce is keen for faster progress towards a widely supported establishment of a formal profession of health informatics[2].

The authors have provided a stimulating textbook which indicates that the future for healthcare librarianship is exciting. Another challenge now is for people working and teaching health informatics to produce a text in the context of the NHS. In the meantime, Cleveland's book is an invaluable survey of health informatics to inspire and provoke librarians and other healthcare staff working with clinical information. For information about training in health informatics see links below.

The Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education in University College London: http://www.chime.ucl.ac.uk/

Training for a career in health informatics: http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/details/Default.aspx?Id = 772

The MSc in Health Informatics with distance learning (a Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals accredited programme): http://www.shef.ac.uk/is/prospectivepg/courses/health

Notes

1. 1.

   Health Informatics in the NHS (2006).

2. 2.

   Informatics Workforce Survey http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/workforcesurvey_2008. pdf, 65pp.