Education and training of health information systems--a literature review

This review concerned the content of education and training in health information systems targeted for healthcare professionals. The publications selected for the review were explored as to their educational content, theoretical approaches, available options, learning outcomes and the respective impact on organisational learning. A total of 1772 abstracts were screened and up to 423 abstracts studied in more detail. Two reviewers independently assessed the extracted data and decided to include 21 articles for the final review. The studies were analysed in relation to health informatics competence level, previous knowledge of information system usage, learning environment, teaching methods, pedagogical approaches, goals of training and assessment of learning. The review revealed that any level of competence in health informatics contributes to the learning process. The review suggested that more attention should be paid to setting up goals for training and measuring the preferable competence level of learning. It also clearly indicated the need for further research on teaching health informatics to healthcare professionals.