Lee McKinley (Photo from GPC Archives)

Q. What is health informatics?

A. It is the use of computer technologies in health care to store, share, transmit and analyze clinical knowledge and data. When you visit your family doctor these days, chances are your doctor is viewing and/or typing on a laptop or tablet while discussing symptoms, diagnosis, etc. In addition, your doctor can probably access records of previous hospital stays and get a list of current prescriptions. Our medical records are now becoming interconnected—the data is now being formatted and shared across multiple platforms. This technology advance has helped reduce misdiagnoses and the prescribing of medications that can interfere/react with current prescriptions. This is just one of the many areas to which a Health Informatics degree can be applied.

Q. What kinds of classes are required for this major?

A. The program is housed under the business discipline, but also works
closely with allied health, math and science disciplines.

Q. Where might a health informatics specialist be employed?

A. Hospitals, insurance companies and software/technology vendors.