Who is Clinical Data Analyst?

In the healthcare department, a clinical data analyst is a professional who has all the healthcare information and is responsible for keeping a check on the validity of different scientific experiments. With that, he also has to keep a check on the authenticity of the data gathered. Clinical data analyst has to develop and manage databases for all the healthcare organizations out there and work in a clinical setting.

What a team of clinical data analysts do is gather the data and then report the entire results of the clinical business intelligence to all the relevant personnel. This includes the management, stakeholders, and third party or interested party. Similarly, they also have to stay in touch with other departments and point out the areas that need to be analyzed. Next, they have to find appropriate measures to make sure that the data analysis is done correctly and thus was useful. You might also be interested in learning about some data analysis tools like DOMO.

What does a Clinical Data Analyst do?

A clinical data analyst has a lot on his plate as the healthcare information is gigantic. So below are the details of what a clinical data analyst actually does.

• He has to validate results and then make conclusions from different experiments.
• He has to oversee both external and internal data management activities.
• Similarly, it is his job to expand and modify the system according to the requirements. It can be to improve the workflow or for serving new purposes. 
• Next, a clinical data analyst has to train the entire staff to work efficiently with different computer systems. He might have to run different programs as well for collecting and recording the data accurately. So he must know how to use different computers.
• Moreover, he also has to design and test data collection systems.

Who needs clinical data analysts?

Healthcare sector clearly needs clinical data analysts. With that, all such organizations that have to analyze current and future end-user requirements for improving clinical operations also demand clinical data analysts. These analysts work day and night to do the following;

• Designing clinical and administrative reports.
• Creating effective mechanisms that would approve and distribute information correctly.
• Similarly, other roles include extracting, reviewing, and analyzing patient data that is available in the coded financial and medical records.

Required Qualification or Certifications:

If you want to become a clinical data analyst, then below are the requirements;

First you need to earn a bachelor’s degree:

A four year bachelor’s degree program and that too in health information management is required. This degree is focused on healthcare and IT as well. Following are the courses included in this degree;

• Record management.
• Computer technology.
• Health information systems.
• Medicine.

Then gain some work experience:

Once you have completed the degree, the next thing to do is get experience in statistical data analysis. And for this to happen, you can work in hospitals or pharmaceutical companies. This will help you develop project management skills.

Get certified through American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA):

There are some certifications as well that can be obtained through AHIMA.

CHDA:

The Certified Health Data Analyst is an exam that is open to all such individuals who meet any one of the following requirements;

• They have AHIMA’s RHIT certification and also an experience of three years in their respective field.
• They have a bachelor’s degree and three years of experience in the relevant field.
• Similarly, a master’s degree in health information management and that too from an accredited school would be perfect.
• Lastly, a master’s degree and one year data work experience in healthcare. 

Therefore, if you meet any one of the above requirements, then you are eligible for CHDA certification.

Is Clinical Data Analyst a good career? 

Now comes the most important question that is, whether this field is a good career option or not. We believe healthcare industry has progressed so much that its demand is increasing day by day and same goes for clinical data analysts. Below statistics and salary details can help you understand better whether this is a good career choice or not.

Salary Statistics:

How much clinical data analysts can earn depends on more than one factor which includes;

• Experience they have.
• What education they have.
• What is their role in the organization they work for?
• Their work location and many other factors. 

But the one with most experience is most likely to earn better. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has the following salary stats;

• An operations research analyst who is working in a similar position is making a median salary of $84,810 per year. 
• Payscale states an entry level analyst who has less than 5 years of working experience can make around $69,853 annually.
• Moreover, a clinical data analyst who has experience of 10 to 20 years can make around $75,000 per annum. 
• And clinical data analysts after becoming clinical data managers are making around $77,213 annually. Check out the comparison between Power BI Pro vs Premium.

Conclusion:

The above stats show a clinical data analyst can make a good career out of this field. Therefore, if you wish to start a career as a clinical data analyst and need guidance to get started or getting a clear picture of the requirements and so on then this article has everything you need to know.