Interprofessional Education in Health Informatics (IPEHI) for Health Sciences Programs

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Interprofessional Education
• Health Sciences

Background:

• The healthcare system's evolution necessitates integrating information technology into health sciences programs.
• Teamwork in healthcare delivery highlights the need for interprofessional education.
• Current health sciences education requires expansion to meet evolving demands.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the necessity of Interprofessional Education in Health Informatics (IPEHI) within health sciences programs.
• To assess the structure and content of a proposed IPEHI course.
• To enhance the training of future healthcare providers in health informatics.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-method approach combining a cross-sectional survey and Delphi meetings with experts.
• Survey distributed to individuals with health-related backgrounds and health informatics expertise.
• Expert consensus meetings to develop an IPEHI course based on the CAHIIM competency framework.

Main Results:

• 80% of respondents agreed on expanding current health sciences education.
• 74% believed the proposed IPE-HI would enhance knowledge and positively impact healthcare.
• Seven key domains for the IPEHI course were identified by experts.

Conclusions:

• IPEHI is vital for producing competent health science graduates equipped for modern healthcare.
• A validated IPEHI course structure has been developed and proposed.
• Integrating IPEHI is crucial for advancing health information technology education.