How Is AI Used in Health Informatics?

Health informatics is where healthcare, technology, and data meet. Health informatics professionals use digital tools and systems to collect, manage, and make sense of health information. The data provides healthcare organizations and providers with valuable insights they can use to provide safer, more efficient, and more personalized care to their patients.

While health informatics has a long history, with roots going back decades, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to advance the field, as it is in many other fields across various industries. New AI tools and approaches are being introduced for handling, managing, and, most importantly, leveraging health informatics data.

Professionals interested in extracting value—life-saving value—out of the ever-increasing volume of health data available need to learn everything they can about this fast-growing field, including the importance of AI in health informatics. That can start with getting an advanced degree in the field, such as a master’s in healthcare informatics and AI.

What Is Health Informatics?

Health informatics is a technology-based field in healthcare focused on:

• Organizing healthcare records and patient data, including public health data, to help improve health and prevent disease
• Optimizing digital and technology tools such as electronic health records (EHRs) and clinical decision support systems to facilitate healthcare decision-making while also protecting the data
• Improving how providers and patients interact and exchange information, which can result in improved health outcomes 

In essence, the field is dedicated to determining the best ways for healthcare organizations to collect, store, and use their large volumes of data. 

Health informatics relies largely on technology, but people play a key role. For example, EHRs capture up-to-date, secure patient information across providers. However, it is the health informatics professional who gains insights from that information, and the healthcare professional, whether a nurse or physician, who leverages those insights to make the care they provide more coordinated and effective.

Health informatics started taking shape in the 1960s when hospitals began using computers to automate their medical records and streamline their operations. The field has grown along with technology, and, today, is influenced by emerging trends and technologies such as telemedicine, wearable devices, big data, machine learning, and AI.

The Role of AI in Health Informatics

The excitement over AI’s potential impact on the healthcare industry is palpable. Just a cursory glance through the literature finds AI repeatedly lauded as “revolutionary” or “transformational” in healthcare. For AI in health informatics, that means helping healthcare organizations analyze vast amounts of data, identify trends, and extract insights to lower their costs, support faster clinical decision-making, and improve the quality of the care they provide. 

AI can play a role in administrative tasks, such as by automating the organization and retrieval of medical records, and in clinical tasks, such as by suggesting treatment plans based on a comprehensive evaluation of patients’ data and medical guidelines. 

Already, AI’s use in managing and analyzing healthcare data is making a measurable impact in several areas, including the following:

Early Detection

There are a growing number of applications of AI in health informatics being used for the early detection of diseases, such as cancer. For example, a study in the European Journal of Cancer found promising results in using AI for the early detection of breast cancer. AI-powered techniques such as recurrent neural networks and artificial neural networks proved to be 96% to 98% accurate. To get results such as these, the study notes, the healthcare and patient data must be accurate, complete, and readily available.

Disease Monitoring

Health informatics professionals can use AI tools to manage and integrate data on disease progression and treatment to help physicians enhance the care they provide to their patients. For example, an AI algorithm might be able to pull data from physicians’ notes to extract their diagnoses and treatment plans, which can be used to help physicians continually monitor their patients’ diseases. However, the data must be high quality and accurate to effectively support the patients’ care.

In another example, AI models can be used to analyze patients’ genetic data and tumor profiles to help oncology physicians identify the best targeted therapies for each patient. This information also enables the physician to track whether their care plan is effective. For instance, an AI model might detect a certain mutation in a patient’s lung cancer, which might lead their physician to prescribe a specific treatment. With real-time data from imaging and blood tests, the physician can track the treatment’s effectiveness and promptly adjust it if necessary.

Healthcare Workflows and Operations

Using AI in healthcare informatics can help healthcare organizations improve their workflows by automating certain tasks that range from billing and scheduling to patient recordkeeping and resource allocation. For example, AI-powered scheduling tools can reduce no-shows, document management systems can streamline recordkeeping, and automated billing systems can speed up reimbursements.

AI-powered automation frees up time for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers, allowing them to concentrate on providing direct patient care. It also enables healthcare informatics professionals to spot trends in patients’ information, helping hospitals better allocate their staffing and equipment, reduce waste, and enhance overall care.

Benefits of an AI-Focused Health Informatics Program

Health informatics is a robust and growing field, and completing an AI-focused health informatics program, whether an advanced degree program or a graduate certificate program, can help students prepare for a successful career. These programs help students learn the fundamentals of the field as well as gain skills in using the new and advanced technologies that are necessary to excel in today’s environment. 

Courses in these programs may cover areas such as: 

• Introduction to healthcare informatics and AI
• EHRs and AI
• Data visualization
• Healthcare operations and systems
• AI applications in healthcare
• Health analytics
• Project management

With the technology, analytical, and critical thinking skills developed in a health informatics graduate program, professionals are ready to compete in this dynamic field. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual salary for computer and information research scientists was $145,080 as of May 2023. The BLS projects 26% job growth for this occupation from 2023 to 2033, which is significantly higher than the 4% average growth projected for all occupations.

Advance in Your Career in Health Informatics

Healthcare organizations increasingly rely on new digital technologies and data analytics solutions to boost their operational efficiency, lower their costs, and enhance their patient care. For individuals looking for opportunities in this expanding field, ongoing learning can pave the way for advanced roles and long-term career growth.

Bryant University offers programs that can help professionals develop the tools they need to meet these challenges head-on in a number of roles that range from healthcare informatics specialist to healthcare data analyst. 

Bryant’s in-person and hybrid Master of Science in Healthcare Informatics and AI program’s coursework blends healthcare fundamentals with artificial intelligence and information technology knowledge. The STEM-designated program helps prepare students to transform data into actionable insights that can be used to improve patients’ outcomes and drive operational efficiency in healthcare organizations. Bryant also offers an online Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics and AI that provides a flexible format for working professionals to increase their impact in the healthcare field. 

Take the first step toward career advancement. Explore how Bryant University can help you make a difference in this important and growing field.