The healthcare industry is evolving in line with technology. There is an increasing demand for healthcare data experts. The challenges of manual data collection and analysis make the use of technology inevitable for accuracy. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have replaced the custom paper files, requiring experts to manage different medical data. As a healthcare data expert, your unique role is to bridge the gap between medical science and technology. A healthcare data expert specialises in collecting, analysing, managing and interpreting data. This helps to streamline operations and improve patient care through accurate, secure and actionable data collection, manipulation and interpretation. The following steps are invaluable to excelling in on-demand healthcare data careers:
Build Core Technical Skills
The role of a healthcare data expert requires specific hard skills. To stand a chance of getting hired, you have to get training in data skills. Some of the important hard skills needed for the role of a healthcare data expert:
- Data analysis, e.g. SQL, Python, R
- Health IT systems, e.g. Epic, Cerner, HL7, FHIR
- Data visualisation, e.g. Tableau, Power BI
- Basics of machine learningÂ
You can learn these on-demand skills on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, etc. Some important certifications are critical to stand out. These certifications include AHIMA for health data management and Azure Data Scientist for AI in healthcare.
Gain Healthcare Domain Knowledge
Learn the important terminologies in use in healthcare and clinical workflows. Follow trends in healthcare through research, podcasts, health journals and books. Healthcare knowledge is crucial to understanding patient care and delivery, data collection, population health and treatment practices.
Get Hands-On Experience
Certifications will help you stand out, but experience and competence will help you to remain in the job and earn well. Consider job shadowing professionals in the area you find more appealing and interesting. You can explore opportunities with entry-level jobs, internships and freelancing.
Network and Find Mentors
Network with fellow professionals for more opportunities. Join professional platforms like LinkedIn to find mentors, attend conferences and seminars. Join healthcare data groups on LinkedIn, e.g. Health Data Management, Digital Health Innovators. Networking is critical to learning new trends and finding new opportunities.
Healthcare Data Careers
The following are top data careers and how to land them:
- Health Data Analyst
- Clinical informatics specialist
- Heathcare data scientist
- EHR implementation consultant
- Healthcare IT project manager
The healthcare industry is evolving to meet growing trends. With the flurry of changes, there is a high demand for healthcare data experts to collect, analyse, manage and interpret data. However, gaining specific hard skills and experiences is required to stand and remain relevant.