Australian Skill Needs Analysis of Health Informatics Professional

by Sebastian Garde, David Harrison, Evelyn Hovenga

In the process of developing global health informatics education, a common understanding of educational outcomes is required. Therefore, an educational framework for Health Informatics professionals is desirable to support student mobility, trans-national and borderless education. Health Professionals with various roles in Health Informatics need to be properly educated for their respective roles in Health Informatics.
To ascertain their perceptions of needs and priorities, we developed a web-based questionnaire and surveyed Australian Health Professionals on the preferred knowledge/skills set for Health Informatics Professionals. Among others, the questionnaire is based on the IMIA set of recommendations on education and IMIA’s scientific map. Benner’s 5 levels of competencies were applied to measure the degree of competency required for each skill/knowledge.
Altogether, 629 Australian Health Professionals completed the questionnaire. The Health Professionals’ perceived degree of competency required for a total of 69 specific skills and knowledge items in five skill categories is presented in this report as well as the overall results for each of the 5 categories and interesting key findings and demographical differences.
The development of a comprehensive health informatics education framework needs to take into account various health professions and the various roles in Health Informatics. Repeating the survey in other countries and for other professions is essential.

Full Report

(Acrobat Reader 6 or higher required)

• Volume 1: Rationale & Methods, Key Findings & Conclusions
• Volume 2: Paper-based Survey Results
• Volume 3: Web-based Survey Results
• Volume 4: Integrated Survey Results

Publications

Garde S, Harrison D, Huque M, Hovenga EJS (2006): Building Health Informatics skills for Health Professionals: Results from the Australian Health Informatics Skill Needs Survey . Aust Health Review , 30 (1): 34-45.

Garde S, Harrison D, Hovenga E : Skill Needs for Nurses in their Role as Health Informatics Professionals: A Survey in the context of Global Health Informatics Education . Int J Med Inform , 74 (11-12): 899-907.