Introduction by Vice Chancellor Goldstein
At UCI Health Affairs, one of our highest priorities is to educate the diverse healthcare workforce of the future to deliver whole-person, data-driven, team-based care. With the rapid evolution of informatics, data analytics and health technology, there is great opportunity – and great demand – for an inclusive, technologically-competent workforce equipped with the skills to reach vulnerable populations.
One of only 10 programs of its kind in the country, the UCI Public Health Informatics and Technology Workforce Development Program, or PHIT, is aimed at advancing diversity in the public health field, and positions students for success as they encourage positive behavior change, improve public health messaging and analyze data on the social determinants of health through emerging technology.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the burgeoning health informatics and technology field has a job growth outlook of 17% over the next 10 years. PHIT was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for nearly $7 million in the fall of 2021. With the ensuing momentum and the supporting infrastructures established through the grant, program leadership expects the program to continue beyond its initial federal funding and go on to graduate more than 120 students annually.
In addition, PHIT plans to launch two new training programs, adding to its existing summer internship program and a minor degree program. One of those programs – Healthcare and Public Health Analytics – is now enrolling learners.
For this installment of Healthcare Workforce Pathways, we explore public health informatics and technology in an interview with Tim Bruckner, PhD, professor of Health, Society and Behavior with the UCI Program in Public Health and a co-director of the PHIT program.
Informatics and Technology Training Program Prepares the Next Generation of Public Health Practitioners
With Tim Allen Bruckner, PhD
Professor of Health, Society, & Behavior; Co-Director, UCI Center for Population, Inequality, and Poverty, UCI Program in Public Health
Why is the intersection of informatics, data, and technology crucial in promoting public health?
As the COVID-19 pandemic made clear, the functioning of several public health data infrastructures, and the ability to gather and disseminate reliable data across various agencies, could stand to be improved. Systematic collection and sharing of infectious disease surveillance data holds great potential to reduce the public health burden and promote disease preparedness. Having a well-trained public health workforce in informatics, data, and technology is a core component of this preparedness.
Why are informatics, data, and technology crucial in today’s healthcare landscape?
The fact that Google probably knows more about your health (through your search history) than does your healthcare provider illustrates how far behind the healthcare system is (relative to tech companies) to appropriately monitor and satisfy your healthcare needs. Informatics, data, and technology – through a variety of applications (including wearable devices, real-time mobile app wellness check-ins) – have great potential to bridge this gap. Equally important, these technologies may reduce barriers to healthcare access among low-income and hard-to-reach populations – groups who tend to have greater healthcare needs.
Informatics, data, and technology also hold the potential to improve healthcare through initiatives that use “big data” to research and create treatments, prescriptions, and medical procedures that are tailored to each individual, which is often referred to as precision medicine.
In what ways can interdisciplinary teams, including computer scientists and public health experts, collaborate to address complex healthcare challenges?
Some examples include real-time monitoring of symptoms (e.g., cough, fever) to predict outbreaks (e.g., flu) or to alert first responders to emergencies (e.g., stroke, heart attacks). Another way that interdisciplinary teams can work together is to design information exchange platforms to encourage health promotion and adherence to the management of chronic health conditions such as diabetes. This patient-level information should also ideally be shareable to the healthcare provider in a secure way that ensures patient confidentiality while also promoting health.
There are so many other examples – such as using AI technologies to combat health dis-information, mobile app reminders for routine appointments, resource hubs for persons experiencing depression and/or suicidal ideation or self-harm… these are all opportunities for computer scientists and public health teams to collaborate to achieve innovative solutions.
In what ways can partnerships between academia, government, and private sectors help drive innovation and workforce development in the field of healthcare, informatics, and technology?
Institutions such as UC Irvine provide training, not only in desirable skills such as computer science and data analytics but also in developing thought leaders who can approach complex problems with a multidisciplinary perspective. Additionally, the societal benefit of UCI and other academic institutions partnering with government agencies and private sectors is the employment prospects of their students. These partnerships would help to identify the existing workforce gaps and illuminate key paths where academia could innovate in new directions to advance both public and private healthcare goals.
How do you envision the future of healthcare and public health evolving because of continued advancements in technology, informatics, and data analytics, and what skills will be most valuable for professionals in these fields?
I will answer the last question first. The increasing availability of large and complex data in both public health and the private healthcare sector requires a workforce with skills in informatics, data analytics, and health technology. I expect that the workforce demand for these skills will only increase, especially in the U.S. with the “graying” of the population and the large and growing demand for healthcare.
Although it is always a fool’s errand to forecast the future, I see a few trends that I expect to continue. First, I think that public/private partnerships between big tech and public health agencies – especially when it comes to public health surveillance – will accelerate. Second, telemedicine and telehealth have the potential to dramatically reduce barriers to healthcare access for underserved populations. Third, the use of wearable devices and mobile app technology for health monitoring and for health promotion of a large set of conditions will continue to be developed and improved.
