Identifying and prioritizing competencies for health informatics master’s graduates to support the health sector transformation program in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The 2030 Health Sector Transformation Program (HSTP) in Saudi Arabia includes digital health as one of its objectives. To achieve this transformation a knowledgeable and skillful workforce is needed. No research identifies the specific health informatics competencies needed to support HSTP's objectives. Our study aims to identify and prioritize key competencies for health informatics master's graduates needed to support Saudi Arabia's digital health transformation strategies for 2030. METHODS: A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 health informatics experts in Saudi Arabia, identified through LinkedIn, with over 10 years of experience working on large-scale national projects. Interviewees were conducted in August and September of 2024. Experts ranked competencies based on their priority and alignment with HSTP's digital transformation goals. The competencies were drawn from of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) international recommendations in biomedical and health informatics (BMHI) educational framework, which served as the gold standard. RESULTS: A total of 37 competencies were ranked as high priority, 38 as moderate priority, and 5 as neutral. The top high-priority competencies for health informatics master's graduates included change management, patient safety, data and information analysis, system security, business alignment, ethics, security and privacy, and leadership. The management science and social and behavioral domains were identified as the most critical for developing health informatics curricula and professional training programs. Two new competencies were identified: innovation, and emerging digital health technologies. CONCLUSION: The findings reflect the changes that the healthcare system in the country is experiencing specifically related to data and digitalization as identified by the 2030 HSTP. There needs to be more standardized educational programs focused on the competencies needed for the workforce to contribute to the digital health transformation plans. These findings can serve as a standard guide in revising or establishing BMHI educational programs.

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