Health Informatics Specialists
Official O*NET title: Health Informatics Specialists (15-1211.01)
Also called: clinical informatics, nursing informatics, clinical electronic health record nurse, clinical informaticist, clinical informatics analyst
Do you do this at work?
Answer each card — it takes about a minute.
Do you do this at work?
Design, develop, select, test, put in place, and evaluate new or modified informatics solutions, data structures, and decision-support mechanisms to support patients, health care professionals, and their information management and human-computer and human-technology interactions within health care contexts
Swipe right for yes, left for not me. On a keyboard: → yes, ← not me, Z undo. +2 XP per answer.
How AI is changing health informatics specialists work
12 of 16 measurable main tasks for this job show up in real AI-use data, so we rate it Red (lots of AI use) — 75%.
This shows where people already use AI, not whether the job will disappear. How we measure this.
Tasks in this job and recorded AI use
- Design, develop, select, test, put in place, and evaluate new or modified informatics solutions, data structures, and decision-support mechanisms to support patients, health care professionals, and their information management and human-computer and human-technology interactions within health care contexts (main task) — a lot of recorded AI use
- Develop or put in place policies or practices to make sure the privacy, confidentiality, or security of patient information (main task) — a lot of recorded AI use
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in informatics (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Analyze and interpret patient, nursing, or information systems data to improve nursing services (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Develop, put in place, or evaluate health information technology applications, tools, processes, or structures to assist nurses with data management (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Analyze computer and information technologies to determine applicability to nursing practice, education, administration, and research (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Identify, collect, record, or analyze data relevant to the nursing care of patients (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Use informatics science to design or put in place health information technology applications for resolution of clinical or health care administrative problems (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Share information about nursing informatics science and practice to the profession, other health care professions, nursing students, and the public (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Translate nursing practice information between nurses and systems engineers, analysts, or designers, using object-oriented models or other techniques (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Develop or deliver training programs for health information technology, creating operating manuals as needed (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Develop strategies, policies or procedures for introducing, evaluating, or modifying information technology applied to nursing practice, administration, education, or research (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Apply knowledge of computer science, information science, nursing, and informatics theory to nursing practice, education, administration, or research, in collaboration with other health informatics specialists (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Design, conduct, or provide support to nursing informatics research (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Inform local, state, national, and international health policies related to information management and communication, confidentiality and security, patient safety, infrastructure development, and economics (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Provide consultation to nurses regarding hardware or software configuration (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Plan, install, repair, or troubleshoot telehealth technology applications or systems in homes — no recorded AI use
Tasks: O*NET 31.0. AI use: Anthropic Economic Index (exact or close text match).
Your first steps (guidance)
- Week 1: Open a free AI assistant and say hello. Follow our “Getting started with AI” guide. Ask it one simple question about your work.
- Week 2: Use AI on one task you do often. Try the prompt for: “Design, develop, select, test, put in place, and evaluate new or modified informatics solutions, data structures, and decision-support mechanisms to support patients, health care professionals, and their information management and human-computer and human-technology interactions within health care contexts”. Try the prompt for: “Develop or put in place policies or practices to make sure the privacy, confidentiality, or security of patient information”.
Tick your own tasks above to get a plan based on what you really do. The first 2 weeks are free; Premium (coming soon) adds weeks 3–12. New to AI? Read our beginner’s guide.
Questions about AI and health informatics specialists
Will AI replace health informatics specialists?
Our data can’t predict job losses, and we don’t try to. What it does show: 12 of the 16 main tasks for this job match tasks people already use AI for (Anthropic Economic Index), giving a Red rating (lots of AI use). Using AI on a task is not the same as AI doing the whole job, and 5 of the 17 listed tasks show no recorded AI use yet.
Which health informatics specialist tasks is AI used for most?
In the data, the most AI use among this job’s tasks is for: design, develop, select, test, put in place, and evaluate new or modified informatics solutions, data structures, and decision-support mechanisms to support patients, health care professionals, and their information management and human-computer and human-technology interactions within health care contexts; develop or put in place policies or practices to make sure the privacy, confidentiality, or security of patient information; read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in informatics.
Which health informatics specialist tasks show little or no AI use?
For example: apply knowledge of computer science, information science, nursing, and informatics theory to nursing practice, education, administration, or research, in collaboration with other health informatics specialists; design, conduct, or provide support to nursing informatics research; inform local, state, national, and international health policies related to information management and communication, confidentiality and security, patient safety, infrastructure development, and economics. These are good places to keep building your own skills.
How does this job compare to others?
In Microsoft Research’s “Working with AI” study, this job’s AI applicability score is equal to or higher than 90% of the occupations they scored. That measures overlap with AI chat use, not risk of job loss.
How can a health informatics specialist start learning AI?
Start small: open a free AI assistant, try it on one task you do often, and always check facts and numbers yourself. The plan on this page is guidance, not professional advice.
See how this job ranks
Health Informatics Specialists ranks #42 of 572 jobs for the share of main tasks with AI use (#1 = most), and #7 of 30 in Tech. It’s in our top 50 jobs most changed by AI.
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