Healthcare Informatics Salary, Salaries

By an allied health world contributing writer
Published: January 14th, 2010

Nursing Informatics Salary

The Healthcare Management and Information Systems Society conducted a survey in 2008 with salary information from people in the nursing informatics field. The result was that in the United States, in 2008, the median salary for these professionals was $96,000. Those in the Pacific Coast made the highest salaries at over $124,000 on average, while those in the Central region made the lowest of all the regions at close to $99,000 annually.

Other factors that affect the salary include professional level, the annual net revenue of the organization of employment, number of years of employment in the field, and organization’s primary business. From these figures it is obvious that this is a very lucrative profession that pays far above average. More detailed results are available on the HIMSS website.

Learn more about nursing informatics jobs.

Are jobs in this field in high demand?

Especially with the current government initiatives to move to electronic health care documentation, nursing informatics is an important and growing profession. Medical organizations are striving to reduce medical errors along with improving patient care. According to William Hersh, M.D. and chair of the Department of Medical Informatics at Oregon Health and Science University, in the U.S. the healthcare system will need 40 percent more health IT professionals than hospitals now employ which equals approximately 40,000 new positions. So if you have interest in the field of nursing and technology, this is a stable and growing field to pursue.

Is there room for advancement in this field?

There is great opportunity for advancement in the field of nursing informatics. For those individuals with the desire to advance, there are manager of informatics, director of informatics, and even CIO of informatics opportunities available. Continuing to stay on top of current happenings in the field and gaining further education and training will help prepare one for advancement.

Learn more about the nursing informatics degree.

What are the hours like in this field?

Most informatics nurses are exempt and work a minimum of 40-45 hours per week; depending on the current needs at the facility they are employed. If there’s a new implementation occurring, a lot greater coverage and support are needed and longer hours may be required. While some hospitals that have nursing informaticists housed in the IT department have them working regular daytime hours, other hospitals prefer they work shifts so they are on the same schedule as nurses and can assist in supporting them as well as troubleshooting.

Who do nursing informaticists generally report to?

Nursing informatics professionals generally report to a clinical director. There are some organizations that have nursing informaticists reporting to the Information Technology Department, which can be problematic since these individuals don’t have a good understanding of nursing or the clinical processes. The Nursing Informatics nurse helps to bridge those types of gaps and increase understanding of the nurse’s role.