New Publication Spotlight: Health Informatics Education And Training Programs: Important Factors To Consider

What does the field of health informatics have to do with health workers? A new CapacityPlus technical brief explains that health informatics—the process of making health-related data accessible and useful for decision-making—is of growing importance in efforts to improve health outcomes across the globe, and makes the case that health workers must be able to use a number of different computerized resources and tools in their daily work for patient care and health service management, as well as access relevant data and be comfortable with its application. In addition, policy- and decision-makers in the health sector need up-to-date data on the health workforce and population health needs in order to plan and manage a workforce that is capable of responding to local health needs. Therefore, education and training in information technology should be part of the national investment in health systems.