Informatics is on the rise across multiple industries as leaders begin to recognize the positive outcomes that result from evidence-based practices. Whether it’s increasing profit margins, improving patient outcomes, or developing impactful educational tools, informatics helps teams harness the power of data to make informed, strategic decisions for long-term success.
To help professionals in business, education, nursing, and other health professions learn how to interpret and utilize data, we created our graduate certificate in inter-professional informatics. In just 15 credits, you can learn the tools and strategies necessary to go back to your job and start implementing new practices that are informed by data rather than tradition or opinion.
Here are just 5 of the benefits that you can gain by taking advantage of our certificate program.
1. Test the informatics waters
Not everyone has the time or the resources necessary to pursue an entire degree in informatics. That’s why we offer a 15-credit certificate—it gives you the chance to dip your feet in the world of informatics before you commit to an entire degree program. Plus, if your employer provides tuition reimbursement, a certificate program can appear much more attractive financially than a full degree. The best part? If you decide that you do want to pursue a degree, you can often apply your certificate credits toward it.
2. Become a master at interpreting data
Data is everywhere in every single industry. For example, in the hospital setting, nurses have access to hundreds of data points on every single patient via electronic health records. However, more often than not, that data goes underutilized. With the skills you gain from informatics, you can start interpreting data on your own, drawing connections between events, results, and more—ultimately using that evidence to design and implement new, more informed and efficient practices that help save lives.
3. Back up your decisions with data
Even before you gain informatics knowledge, you are held accountable for the decisions you make in the workplace. Informatics helps you back up those decisions with data so that when accountability calls you to the floor, you have the evidence to show why the decision you made was the right one. For example, informatics can help you determine which demographic is most suited for a new product, how long a catheter can stay in a patient before it poses health risks, or which activity in the classroom is most effective for long-term learning.
4. Elongate your career
Gaining a specialization in informatics prepares you to take a step up the ladder at your organization. Rather than being the one implementing decisions and new practices that come down from the top, you get to move up the ladder and join the decision-making team that’s determining the best course forward for the facility, business, or school district.
5. Increase in pay
Of course—with a step up the ladder comes an increase in pay. But an increase in pay isn’t just a benefit for nurses; across all industries, adding a certificate in informatics dramatically increases your worth to employers, paving the way for you to increase your salary.
Whether you’re wanting to create an impact at your place of work with data-driven decisions, are looking for the next step forward in your career, or both, informatics helps you get there.
Our graduate certificate in healthcare informatics is 100% online, allows you to choose between health care or non-health care tracks, gives you the opportunity to network and collaborate with peers, and features a capstone project that’s personalized for you to implement at your current workplace. Plus, if your employer is one of our business, academic, or community partners, you get access to scholarships and discounts to lessen the total cost of your tuition. These partnerships also benefit your employer, particularly in ongoing tuition reimbursement programs as the scholarships lessen the strain on those funds. Check with the human resource department at your workplace to see if you can take advantage of this offer.
What to do next?
If you’re ready to get started on the full certificate program, connect with a counselor or start your application.
Originally published on April 29, 2019. Now updated with current information.