r/HealthInformatics

Hi all! I have been an employed registered nurse for about 3 years and studied for 4 years to get where I am today.

I was someone who always wanted to be a surgeon like Meredith Grey but my academics and social circumstances didn’t allow for it so I studied nursing through a government funded program.

I’m glad for the experience and am not unhappy in my current position in nursing. I left bedside and work in Psychiatry now which is definitely more interesting an less physically taxing.

I have always had an affinity for technology and computers from a young age. I played on paint on an old windows XP computer in the early 2000’s and mastered microsoft office, excel etc in school. I wasnt able to take IT/Computer Science as a subject in school due to not having a good enough laptop to run the software we needed (and other financial constraints).

I have been learning to “code” and learning different languages in my free time and am enjoying figuring it out.

I’m considering trying to get into an industry where healthcare informatics and digitalisation is developing. In my country most hospitals are still writing everything down and patient records are still stored in files in stinky musty storage closets.

I would be very interested in digitalisation of patient records, helping optimise the interfaces and software developed for healthcare professionals to suit their needs and make it user friendly and efficient.
I love efficiency, clarity and neatly designed websites and computer applications. Most of the software that has been implemented thus far are super glitchy and rudimentary.

Are there opportunities for this kind of shift in a career? I feel like someone who has clinical knowledge would be very helpful in designing software specifically designed for healthcare professionals.

Any advice, opinions or suggestions are welcome!

What healthcare is most stable long term

I’m trying to make a smart long term career decision rather than collecting another degree that won’t actually improve my job security.

My background:
• Bachelor’s degree in Social Science
• Diploma in Business Project Management
• Currently completing my PMP
• Several years of healthcare IT experience at Kaiser (big healthcare org)
• Experience with EMR/EHR implementations, workflows, healthcare systems, stakeholder management and process improvement

My biggest concern is **job stability**. I have worked in project management, but I’m tired of project based roles where the project finishes and the position or contract disappears. I’m looking for a healthcare career that organizations need continuously, preferably a permanent operational role.

I also do **not** want to become a bedside nurse or work directly with sick patients given I would be too emotional for that.

I’m currently considering:
Health Systems Analyst / Application Analyst / EHR Analyst

Healthcare Operations or Administration
Health Informatics

Healthcare Privacy / Compliance / Data Governance
Public Health Administration

Health Policy / Program Administration

I’m considering completing a one year Digital Health or Health Informatics certificate after my PMP, but I’m open to other education if it leads to significantly better stability.

For people actually working in these areas:
Which career has the best long term job security over the next 10 to 20 years?

Which roles are usually permanent rather than contract?
What is the realistic salary range?

How difficult is it to break into the field?
Have you experienced layoffs?
Which field has the strongest advancement opportunities?
Which skills, certifications or additional education would you recommend?
Are these careers transferable between Canada and the United States?
If you were in my position and wanted **stability first, good income second,** which direction would you choose?

I’m about to enter my second year of college, and I’m still undecided on what I want to major in. I originally had a different major in mind, but I’ve been looking into other options and recently came across Health Information Management.

I don’t know much about the field yet, but it seems interesting to me because it’s healthcare-related (I’ve been leaning towards healthcare for some reason) without being as hands-on with patients as something like nursing. I’m also looking for a major that can lead to a decent-paying, stable job without requiring grad school, and ideally a job that isn’t extremely stressful or demanding.

Is it worth it? What are the job opportunities and pay actually like after graduating? Do you regret choosing it, or would you recommend it?

Hi! I am asking for advice on how to get into health tech... I am a Physician Associate... I have worked as one for the past three years so I am licensed but recently realized that I do not find it fulfilling.. hated being in the hospital and interacting with patients really irritated me. So I decided to study something in tech, I have a data analyst certificate but felt like it's not enough and got into AI... got the AWS AI practitioner certification. Got into an internship and they offered to teach UI/UX. So I'm currently working on two capstones, an AI one and a UI/UX one both are health related. I then got an AWS scholarship for Agentic AI Business Professional, and at this point I'm not sure I can link the three. It's basically AI+Data analytics+UI/UX. My AI capstone is building agent that is in my UI/UX capstone. The Data analytics capstone is research on the area where the UI/UX capstone is in.

So, my question is... am I doing too much? And in what area of tech am I in at this point? I feel like I'm a hybrid or something. Also, what job titles should I look in?

I just need guidance....

To be clear I am enjoying every part of building what I am building, it's the best thing that's happened to me in 3 years. I'd never want to give it up. But still thinking whether I should pick one and go deep or do all three and become a hybrid of some sort.

Also what is needed in a portfolio to actually get noticed? And how do I make mine better?

Hi everyone, I have a Master’s in Bioinformatics and a background in Computer Science, and I’m currently looking to start my career in healthcare data analytics/healthcare analytics in India.
I have experience with Python, SQL, Excel and Power BI through projects, but I’m finding it difficult to get entry-level opportunities.
I’d really appreciate advice from people currently working in healthcare analytics, especially on how you got your first role, what skills companies actually look for, and whether there are any entry-level opportunities or teams I should look into.
Thanks!

For those who transitioned—or are currently trying to transition—from a clinical, patient access, healthcare operations, or Epic end-user role into an Epic analyst or health IT role, I’d love to hear about your experience.

I started as an Epic end user before eventually transitioning into an Epic analyst role myself. One thing I remember clearly is how difficult it was to understand the pathway from using an EHR every day to actually working on the systems behind it.

As part of a Drexel University student entrepreneurship project, I’m researching this career-transition problem.

What was—or currently is—the most difficult part for you? Knowing where to start? Understanding which Epic application fits your background? Translating healthcare experience into technical/informatics skills? Certification? Getting interviews? Finding your first opportunity?

I’m developing a free resource around this problem and would really value perspectives from this community. Nothing is being sold, and no payment is required.

If anyone is interested in seeing what I’m working on or providing additional feedback, I can share the link in the comments.

Thank you!

I have been in the IT field for quite some time, and as I explore new opportunities, I find healthcare IT to be particularly intriguing. However, I’ve noticed that many roles require certifications such as Epic, RHIA, and RHIM. I’m especially interested in obtaining the Epic certification. Could you please provide guidance on how and where to obtain these certifications? Thank you!

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Hey everyone,

I wanted to share something I've been building: AI Health Suite (aihealthsuite.org), a health management app I developed and recently launched.

A quick rundown of what it does:

Covers 18 medical specialties, with specialty-specific patient history tabs for each visit

Tracks medications, lets you select and print attachments, and export visit records as PDF etc .

Runs cross-platform: Windows, macOS, and Android, with an iOS version in the works (not on the App Store yet)

On the Play Store now (v1.3.4), live in 177 countries

I built most of it solo, so it's been a real learning process — from the core feature set to actually getting it in front of users (ran a TikTok campaign that drove a good chunk of the early downloads, ).

I'm not a marketer by trade — my background is actually in healthcare (I've spent 10 years working in specialized surgeries) plus software development, so I tried to design this around what clinicians and patients actually need day to day, not just feature-checklist stuff.

Would genuinely appreciate feedback from anyone in healthcare IT, clinicians, or just people who've tried similar tools — what's missing, what's confusing, what you'd want to see next. Happy to answer questions about the build too.

Link: aihealthsuite.org or you can find it in playstore: ai health suite

Hello everyone. I am planning for doing HI, I am a public health graduate. Can anyone give me few list of universities where masters in HI is taught in a better way of understanding.
USA.

Hi everyone! I’m 25 and seriously considering pivoting into Health Informatics/Healthcare IT, and I’d love to hear from people currently working in the field. I have a
B.S. in Health Sciences and I am a Licensed Master Esthetician (ik this is irrelevant but just a little background)
Currently working full-time as a Dermatology Medical Assistant (7 months of experience) My original plan was PA school, but after getting healthcare experience, I’m realizing that I’m much more interested in the tech aspect of things.

My Questions are:

1. Is informatics/data analytics a good career to move into in 2026 with the growth of AI?
2. With my Health Sciences degree and clinical experience, could I realistically transition into the field without getting another bachelor’s degree?
3. Would learning Excel + SQL + Tableau/Power BI be enough to make me competitive for entry-level roles?
4. For those of you already working in HI/healthcare IT, what would you do differently if you were starting over?
   I’m currently making $18/hr, so I’m trying to make a strategic career move rather than spend years and a ton of money getting another degree without knowing whether it will actually pay off.
   I’d especially appreciate perspectives from people who started in clinical/healthcare roles and successfully transitioned into informatics or healthcare IT.
   Thank you!

Hello All,

I am curious to know this community's thoughts on graduate certifications in healthcare informatics / analytics. Do they really offer value, especially for career changers? Will they help given the complexity of this current job market? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Hi everyone, I’m a PACU nurse of 5 years and a CS student graduating with my BS this winter. I’m in the running for a Business Intelligence/Epic Analyst role and wanted to ask my community here for advice.

For people in these roles -

Is there much upward growth potential? If so, what would the career ladder look like? This role is at a major hospital system, so I know there are paths to senior analyst roles, but how does career trajectory build from there? Is there much room for contractor/healthtech roles outside the hospital in the future?

What tech stack do you use? Do you often have opportunities for more technical work? What technical projects have excited you?

I’m a very data oriented person. I love working with Python, SQL, etc. I enjoy coding and logic problems in general. Does this seem like a good fit for me? I’m a bit worried that I won’t get much of this sort of technical action that fuels me. At the same time, I can’t wait to dive into healthcare tech and see this as an interesting entry point.

Thanks all for your advice :)

hi just started studying for the ABPM informatics exam - is it too late to start now?

Any board questions bank recommendations?

I'm an MBBS graduate wanting to pivot into the technical and date side of Medicine. I'm willing to learn the akills necessary to pivot the gap between clinical and technical sides. Would you recommend this transition and what's the international job market for this specific combination?