Boom in healthcare analytics creates demand for skilled professionals

Any health crisis makes us all painfully aware of the dire need for better health data collection, sharing and analysis among communities, provinces and even countries. The Canadian healthcare industry has long recognized the critical need for enhanced health analytics to improve delivery, evaluation, decision-making and management. Canada is gearing up to be one of the top three healthcare hubs in the world by 2025. Such growth depends heavily on advanced technologies and analytics.

This is good news if you’re planning a career in this field. As the industry generates an ever-increasing volume of data, it demands professionals with the knowledge, skills and credentials in health analytics.

Health Analytics could propel your career

The Canadian government plans to double the size of our health and biosciences sector to become a top-three global hub in the upcoming years. To attain this massive move forward, one of the primary objectives is to overhaul our country’s “disconnected digital health systems” and replace them with a “nationally robust, digitalized, interconnected and patient-centred health data infrastructure”.¹  

As a healthcare professional, possessing the skills to study existing data and predict future requirements of a community, a pharmaceutical company, a healthcare institution or a provincial or national system is invaluable. “Predictive Health” is the coming revolution. It includes the analysis of disease progression, epidemics and outbreak locations, diagnosis of disease, lifestyle risk factors, environment, nutrition and genetic factors, as well as the ability to predict budgets and pharmaceutical, equipment, hospital, clinical and personnel requirements.

Reaping the rewards

Health Analytics careers are profitable and salaries are continually on the rise. Currently, the “average health analyst salary in Canada is $73,593 per year. Experienced workers make up to $94,756 per year”.³

Health organizations at every level acknowledge the growing need to use data to generate the kind of insights that will drive decisions and actions. There is a seismic shift in the recognition that personalized and digitalized healthcare will provide better, more cost-efficient service that will depend heavily on analytics.

The boom in health analytics is everywhere in the news:²

Canada hosts the Annual Data Analytics for Healthcare Summit

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador invests $3.8 million in a Health Data Lab focusing on analytics and artificial intelligence to improve healthcare delivery

St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto establishes an in-house data science and advanced analytics team – including a multimillion-dollar infrastructure investment and the creation of a vice-president of Data and Analytics position

An IBM company provides Canadian healthcare professionals with clinical insights into medication uses, dosing and warnings

Are you ready for the future of healthcare?

Whether you’re looking to expand your healthcare role or you are a data analyst seeking a new position in the healthcare industry, taking a Health Analytics program could lead to the following exciting careers:

• Clinical Informatics Analyst
• Health Data Analyst
• Planning Analyst
• Billing Analyst
• Health Information Analyst
• Analyst – Privacy and Access Operations
• Data Analyst – Health Surveillance

If you want to add this in-demand data analytics skill set to your market value, you should look for a program like Health Analytics at McMaster Continuing Education, which offers you the chance to:

• Learn the foundations of health data
• Examine how information is collected, stored, mined, analyzed and interpreted for reporting, quality, performance management, decision-making and research
• Explore the different types of health information and information systems used to collect, store, assess, distribute, and protect health data
• Apply statistical analysis and predictive analytics techniques with real-life examples and cases to gain practical, hands-on experience
• Assess how health data is used in our healthcare system by key decision-makers, quality and risk managers
• Investigate the application of big data and machine learning practices for health data analysis
• Understand the Canadian Healthcare system in terms of history, governance and related regulations and legislation, as well as how a Health Informatics professional fits into this large and complex system

Your skills and knowledge as an analyst can have a profound effect on health and well-being. If this appeals to you, consider a career in Health Analytics, working with the metrics that matter, to truly influence and impact our healthcare system.

Learn more:

Health Analytics program

1  Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

2  Canadian Healthcare Technology

3  Talent.Com