The Importance of Data Visualization in the Health Informatics Field
In previous newsletters, we recapped the importance of creating a healthcare data analyst portfolio project when applying for healthcare analyst roles and what common skills are requested by employers, specifically knowledge of SQL. In this newsletter, I will go over the importance of data visualization in healthcare.
When speaking about the use of SQL the purpose is to be able to slice and dice large amounts of healthcare data. When it comes to data visualization the purpose is to be able to quickly get insights from the data we have queried using SQL to be able to make decisions.
Do you prefer Option A or Option B when it comes to making a quick decision about the data?
Option A
Option B
Most would prefer B because you can at a glance identify that Hospital F has the highest admission rates among the hospitals studied and that is doubly so when analyzing data is not your primary job and your job is about focusing on providing care for patients. As a healthcare analyst, your role might consist of synthesizing large volumes of data and then presenting the data in the form of charts and graphs so that clinical staff can apply their expertise to make the best decision for the patient.
In addition, plotting data over time can help researchers and clinicians spot seasonal trends that can be used to predict future disease outbreaks or potential Emergency Department closures.
You can check out some great healthcare data visualizations from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality here. Learning data visualization skills is not only fundamental to becoming a data analyst but also a healthcare analyst, stay tuned for the release of my course: Learn the Skills to Get Your First Role as a Healthcare Analyst where we go step-by-step using Power BI on how to build a Hospital KPI Dashboard, which you can link to on your resume for hiring managers to view.
Best,
Alana
Resources
Interested in learning more about how you can become a healthcare analyst? Join me at 6 PM EST on Tuesday, February 20th! Please register here:
In this free workshop, I will provide context on a typical day in the life of someone working in the health informatics field, as a healthcare data analyst, and will highlight key technical and soft skills used in this role. I will then review common skills outlined in job descriptions and go over some popular interview questions and tips on how to format your resume, to improve your chances of getting your dream role!
Job Posting: Analyst