Clinical systems analyst vs informatics

ccweisbard · Aug 17, 2013

There is a thread on this forum about the different names clinical informatics nurses have, that would be one of them. I personally am a clinical information analyst

trein · Aug 17, 2013

What kind of education do you have other than rn. I have a bsn and thought maybe i should get some computer science ed too. But i coud also get informatics ed. I just dont know which would have more job opportunities..

ikarus01 · Aug 17, 2013

What kind of education do you have other than rn. I have a bsn and thought maybe i should get some computer science ed too. But i coud also get informatics ed. I just dont know which would have more job opportunities..

The difference is that a clinical analyst job is a catch phrase for all jobs out there. For example, do you need a nursing degree to configure the scheduling application of surgical center? No. Thus, the job title for that role could simply be, scheduling analyst. But because you'll be working in a clinical setting, the job title might be, clinical scheduling analyst, or simply, clinical analyst. Thus, you could be a dentist, a doctor, a nurse, a physical therapist, an LPN, and your title could be clinical analyst.

Matter of fact, you could be scheduling clerk who got promoted to be a scheduling analyst, so in theory, you could have no healthcare degree and have clinical analyst job title. Many times clinical analyst is just a generic job title given to somebody working with an application that is in a clinical setting.

A while back I used to work at a hospital where everybody had the title clinical analyst, preceded by their application name. For example, revenue clinical analyst, scheduling clinical analyst, ER clinical analyst, and so on.

However, sometimes some employers are looking precisely for a nurse to be an analyst,and then they could title their job role as "informatics analyst" or more precisely, "nursing informatics analyst."

To think of it, I have never have had the title of informatics analyst or nursing informatics analyst. It has always been some type of generic name like, consultant analyst, application specialist, clinical analyst, etc. And for all these roles, I always did the same thing...analyze data, configure applications, test applications, implement applications, support applications, training, etc.

So is one job title better than the other? I wouldn't think so.

And about what you need to do to get a job in the field, this has been covered intensively in the forum, but it always comes to the same: get involved with your informatics department in any way you can, and then you can transfer that experience to your resume, and then apply for jobs using that experience. In theory, you don't need to get another degree, although some people will swear that they only got a job because they got a master's in informatics.

Look through this forum and you'll see your question being asked numerous times. Although that might require you to go through a few pages of posts.

trein · Aug 17, 2013

The difference is that a clinical analyst job is a catch phrase for all jobs out there. For example, do you need a nursing degree to configure the scheduling application of surgical center? No. Thus, the job title for that role could simply be, scheduling analyst. But because you'll be working in a clinical setting, the job title might be, clinical scheduling analyst, or simply, clinical analyst. Thus, you could be a dentist, a doctor, a nurse, a physical therapist, an LPN, and your title could be clinical analyst.
Matter of fact, you could be scheduling clerk who got promoted to be a scheduling analyst, so in theory, you could have no healthcare degree and have clinical analyst job title. Many times clinical analyst is just a generic job title given to somebody working with an application that is in a clinical setting.
A while back I used to work at a hospital where everybody had the title clinical analyst, preceded by their application name. For example, revenue clinical analyst, scheduling clinical analyst, ER clinical analyst, and so on.
However, sometimes some employers are looking precisely for a nurse to be an analyst,and then they could title their job role as "informatics analyst" or more precisely, "nursing informatics analyst."
To think of it, I have never have had the title of informatics analyst or nursing informatics analyst. It has always been some type of generic name like, consultant analyst, application specialist, clinical analyst, etc. And for all these roles, I always did the same thing...analyze data, configure applications, test applications, implement applications, support applications, training, etc.
So is one job title better than the other? I wouldn't think so.
And about what you need to do to get a job in the field, this has been covered intensively in the forum, but it always comes to the same: get involved with your informatics department in any way you can, and then you can transfer that experience to your resume, and then apply for jobs using that experience. In theory, you don't need to get another degree, although some people will swear that they only got a job because they got a master's in informatics.
Look through this forum and you'll see your question being asked numerous times. Although that might require you to go through a few pages of posts.

Thank you so much for all the info! I will also dig deeper into this forum!

trein · Aug 17, 2013

Thank you so much for all the info!

mydesygn · Aug 17, 2013

For a systems analyst, you would not necessarily need a clinical degree/background. A systems analyst could support any part of the healthcare IT - anything from financial applications (such as Kronos) to administrative applications to medical records. As a systems analyst, you can work with any application or dept within the healthcare system. You may be expected to do development or programming, report writing etc.

An informaticist is mainly dedicated to clinical applications - they tend to focus almost exclusively on clinical depts (nursing, respiratory, physicians, pharmacy). They tend to help develop training/ education and serve in a liaison role with clinical user. As an informaticist, you would be expected to have worked as a clinician (nurse, therapist, physician) whereas a systems analyst does not need or require a clinical background or clinical job experience - a technical background is sufficient

Debbie Gring · Aug 18, 2013

I am an RN (Diploma) with 40 years experience. The past 12 years in the informatics field. The rest of the time I was on a Med/Surg unit and then a VIP unit. I got into informatics because my then hospital was changing HIS vendors. I worked with order management first, then assisted with the pharmacy install, then the CR, physicians information system (not CPOE) and then finally our new nursing documentation system for M/S. In there I also did the OM side of the new ED system. At that hospital I was titled "Nursing Systems Team Leader". I retired from there in 2010 and moved to Vermont. I now have the title of Clinical Systems Analyst. Here I deal primarily with CPOE and assist with Pharmacy. These two go hand in hand. How did I get started? The last unit director I had knew I was very interested in computers. She knew I would be very interested in this job. Plus, I had assisted her with testing of out then clinical documentation (before I ever knew what I was doing) and wrote the manual for the education of rest of the nursing staff. I then ended up doing most of the education. So, volunteer for IT/clinical projects! Good luck!