Objective: To assess the medical informatics needs of healthcare organizations and the work roles for informaticists in those organizations. Methods: A 128-item survey was developed and administered as a structured interview to thirty-two information managers in eighteen organizations. The survey included items about medical informatics training, prior work experience, skills for informaticists, and programming proficiency. Results: There was a strong preference for informaticists with prior clinical work experience and an understanding of healthcare. Project management and data warehousing were highly rated skills. Informaticists were expected to know about healthcare processes, clinical guidelines, and outcome management. They were not expected to be expert programmers. Conclusion: There is a role in healthcare organizations for interdisciplinary workers who understand clinical medicine, healthcare management, information technology, and who can communicate and work effectively across these organizational boundaries.
Objective: To assess the medical informatics needs of healthcare organizations and the work roles for informaticists in those organizations. Methods: A 128-item survey was developed and administered as a structured interview to thirty-two information managers in eighteen organizations. The survey included items about medical informatics training, prior work experience, skills for informaticists, and programming proficiency. Results: There was a strong preference for informaticists with prior clinical work experience and an understanding of healthcare. Project management and data warehousing were highly rated skills. Informaticists were expected to know about healthcare processes, clinical guidelines, and outcome management. They were not expected to be expert programmers. Conclusion: There is a role in healthcare organizations for interdisciplinary workers who understand clinical medicine, healthcare management, information technology, and who can communicate and work effectively across these organizational boundaries.