By JESSICA DAMASSA, WTF HEALTH

A few weeks ago, WTF Health took the show on the road to Australia’s digital health conference, HIC 2019. We captured more than 30 interviews (!) from the conference, which is run by the Health Informatics Society of Australia (hence the HISA Studio branding) and I had the opportunity to chat with most of the Australian Digital Health Agency’s leadership, many administrators from the country’s largest health systems, and a number of health informaticians, clinicians, and patients. I’ll be spotlighting a few of my favorites here in a four-part series to give you a flavor of what’s happening in health innovation ‘Down Under.’ For much more, check out all the videos on the playlist here

This is the final post in our series, and in it I’m sharing four interviews on the theme of the future of the health tech workforce. This was a huge topic of conversation at HIC19 — dominating the discussion more than at any other conference I’ve been to in the US or Europe — and what struck me was all the different ways Aussies are looking at ‘workforce preparedness.’ 

There’s Kerryn Butler-Henderson, Associate Professor for Digital Health at the University of Tasmania, who is leading a Health Information Workforce Census that will take place in 2020. She’ll be “counting” the health data analysts, healthcare informaticians, health information managers, clinical coders and health librarians (more on what that job does in the interview) in not only Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, but also the US, UK, Canada, and Middle East to give us a larger look at the demographics of this part of the industry. A surprising take-away from her previous work in this space? More than 70% of health information workers are over the age of 45, signaling a shortage that could come up pretty quickly if we don’t start doing a better job of recruiting for the field.

Amandeep Hansra, a clinician-turned-entrepreneur, spoke to me about an organization she launched called Creative Careers in Medicine, which gives doctors and other clinicians an “out” from a traditional career in medicine for those who would much rather launch a startup or serve as a CMO in a health tech company. The brand-new org is just 18 months old and has already attracted 5,000 members! What does that say about clinician burnout?! Yikes. 

And, finally, here are interviews from two different professional organizations that are tackling preparedness in two different ways. 

First, there’s Adam Phillips, HISA’s Workforce Director, who was a pharmacist and first-hand witness to the lack of training healthcare organizations have provided to-date to prepare their current employees to adapt to the “digital transformation” of healthcare. Now a pretty outspoken advocate from the ‘front lines’ of healthcare, Adam is leading HISA’s workforce initiatives and has some bold plans.

Meanwhile, Mark Brommeyer of the Certified Health Informatician Australiasia Board (CHIA) talks about the need for certification programs for health informaticians — the diverse group of clinicians, technicians, policy makers, academics and researchers working on the digital transformation of healthcare — in order to keep today’s workforce up-to-speed. 



from The Health Care Blog https://ift.tt/33PNEzM

Related Posts:

  • #COVID19 Symptom Data ChallengeBy FARZAD MOSTASHARI & INDU SUBAIYA Applications for the #COVID19 Symptom Data Challenge close in three weeks!  Amidst #COVID19, using analytic approaches to maximize available information and data is paramount. H… Read More
  • A New Kind of Labor Day By KIM BELLARD This is probably the strangest Labor Day in decades, perhaps ever.   Tens of millions of workers remain unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Many of those who are still working are adapti… Read More
  • Why Primary Care Should Run the Healthcare SystemBy KEN TERRY (This is the fourth in a series of excerpts from Terry’s new book, Physician-Led Healthcare Reform: a New Approach to Medicare for All, published by the American Association for Physician Leadership.) Many oth… Read More
  • The COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge WebinarBy INDU SUBAIYA & FARZAD MOSTASHARI Following the launch of the COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge on September 1st, we are excited to host a dedicated webinar providing further insights into the Challenge directly from key… Read More
  • To Avoid Pay Cuts, Doctors Must Reduce Waste By KEN TERRY (This is the fifth in a series of excerpts from Terry’s new book, Physician-Led Healthcare Reform: a New Approach to Medicare for All, published by the American Association for Physician Leadership.) Real heal… Read More

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts