Location
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
7-1-2025 12:00 AM
End Date
10-1-2025 12:00 AM
Description
The healthcare sector anticipates substantial growth, with 125,000 job openings by 2026, including 69,000 middle-skilled positions. Despite this growth, data use and integration inefficiencies cost the sector $750 billion annually. Health informatics, an interdisciplinary field blending healthcare, computer, information, and cognitive sciences, can address these challenges through enhanced healthcare management via information technology. However, there is a critical disparity between competencies taught in educational programs and those demanded by the job market. This study examines competencies from job postings on Indeed.com and accredited health informatics programs, comparing them with the Health Information Technology Competencies (HITComp) database. Utilizing advanced text-embedding models, the study found that while educational programs focus on foundational competencies, the job market demands practical applications. Forty-six specific competencies, particularly in administrative, direct patient care, informatics engineering, and research domains, are identified as gaps. Addressing these gaps is essential to prepare the workforce for the evolving healthcare industry.
Recommended Citation
El-Gayar, Omar; Wahbeh, Abdullah; Al-Ramahi, Mohammad; and Elnoshokaty, Ahmed, "Highlighting Competency Gaps in Health Informatics Education Using Advanced Text-Embedding Models" (2025). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025 (HICSS-58). 10.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/ks/higher_education/10
Highlighting Competency Gaps in Health Informatics Education Using Advanced Text-Embedding Models
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
The healthcare sector anticipates substantial growth, with 125,000 job openings by 2026, including 69,000 middle-skilled positions. Despite this growth, data use and integration inefficiencies cost the sector $750 billion annually. Health informatics, an interdisciplinary field blending healthcare, computer, information, and cognitive sciences, can address these challenges through enhanced healthcare management via information technology. However, there is a critical disparity between competencies taught in educational programs and those demanded by the job market. This study examines competencies from job postings on Indeed.com and accredited health informatics programs, comparing them with the Health Information Technology Competencies (HITComp) database. Utilizing advanced text-embedding models, the study found that while educational programs focus on foundational competencies, the job market demands practical applications. Forty-six specific competencies, particularly in administrative, direct patient care, informatics engineering, and research domains, are identified as gaps. Addressing these gaps is essential to prepare the workforce for the evolving healthcare industry.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/ks/higher_education/10