Best Online Master's in Health Informatics Degrees

Health care informatics refers to the intersection of the health care industry with computer science and data science. A master’s degree in health care informatics helps students develop the skills they need to pursue data-centric careers in health care and health management, such as researchers, analysts, and information specialists. Health care informatics is an interdisciplinary field that draws on a range of disciplines, including medicine, software engineering, bioinformatics, data science, information technology, business, and more.

Master’s degrees in health informatics typically take around two years of full-time study to complete. Students who choose to pursue a master’s degree at a part-time pace may take longer to complete the program. Applicants with any academic background may apply for this degree, but familiarity with statistics or computer science can be helpful. Some programs may require entrance exams, like the GRE, or a certain minimum GPA.

Health informatics is a larger umbrella discipline that includes many subdisciplines. Some branches of health informatics include the following:

• Bioinformatics
• Clinical informatics
• Consumer health informatics
• Dental informatics
• Nursing informatics
• Pharmacy informatics
• Public health informatics

Students may choose to focus on one or more of these branches during their studies, and depending on their chosen school, they may be able to take a concentration in that field. The skills involved in these branches are similar, but students may develop familiarity with and competency in different areas of health care that will prepare them for careers in this area of specialization.

Is Clinical Informatics the Same as Health Informatics?

Clinical informatics and health informatics are similar — and sometimes the terms are even used interchangeably — but there are a few important differences between these two terms. You can think of health informatics as a broader umbrella term, which encompasses clinical informatics as well as other types of health informatics, such as nursing informatics or pharmacy informatics. Clinical informatics, on the other hand, refers specifically to using data in order to support the clinical decision-making process.

It’s possible to get a health informatics master’s degree online. Pursuing an online degree can be a good fit for students who have other family or career responsibilities, those who don’t live near a school that offers degrees in this field, and those who prefer the convenience of online learning.

Students interested in an online degree in health informatics should make sure that the school they enroll in is accredited. Accredited schools are reviewed by an independent third party to ensure that they meet certain educational standards. Students should also review information including cost, scholarship and funding opportunities, and student satisfaction ratings.

Students wondering if health informatics is a good career choice can rest assured by the fact that it's a growing field with a variety of different specializations available. Those who graduate with a master’s degree in health informatics can pursue careers at the intersection of health care and data science. Below are some common career options in this field, but it's important to note that none of these jobs require a master's degree:

As health care and data become more and more intertwined, health care informatics workers are increasingly in demand over the next decade. Demand for most jobs in this field are expected to increase at either an average or higher-than-average rate. For example, the jobs of medical and health services managers are projected to increase by 32% over the next ten years, as indicated above.

Health informatics and bioinformatics are two different but related disciplines:

Determining which course of study is right for you depends on your interests and what career paths you want to pursue. A degree in health informatics is broader and will prepare students for careers in a variety of different health care adjacent disciplines. Bioinformatics, on the other hand, is a more specific degree that has a stronger emphasis on biology, chemistry, and genomics.