Health Care Data Analyst: Career Guide and How to Become One

India’s health care analytics market is growing exponentially. The market, which is worth an estimated USD 640.28 million in 2024, according to global research firm, TechSci Research. Additionally, data suggests it will continue growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 25 per cent through 2030 [1]. This rapid growth suggests promising opportunities for health care data analysts, who rely on data analytics to unearth powerful insights into health care. These insights can reduce health care costs, deliver better care, and positively impact people’s lives.

Whether you are a data analyst interested in pivoting into health care or a health care professional seeking a more traditional 9-to-5 lifestyle, becoming a health care data analyst could be a good fit.

Discover more about the role and explore the routes to becoming one to begin your career journey. 

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HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Administrative/IT Perspective)

HI-FIVE (Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment) Training is an approximately 10-hour online course designed by Columbia University in 2016, ...

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What is a health care data analyst?

A health care data analyst uses data analytics to improve health care outcomes. By acquiring, combining, and analysing data from multiple sources, these professionals contribute to better patient care, streamlined health care processes, and well-assessed health care institutions. They work primarily on the business side of medicine, unlike doctors, nurses, or medical assistants who work on the clinical side. 

Professionals in health care data analytics may have one of many job titles. They can be broad or specific, including the following:

• Health care information management analyst

• Health care business analyst

• Health care consultant

• Clinical data analyst

• Public health data analyst

• Health care risk management data analyst

Health care data analysts typically work in these environments:

• Health care providers (hospitals and other medical care facilities)

• Health insurance companies

• Consulting companies

• Health-focused non-profit organisations 

• Electronic health record companies

• Government organisations

Health care data analyst tasks and responsibilities

Health care data analysts help health executives, providers, and administrators make data-driven, strategic decisions to achieve business goals and improve health care for all. Their responsibilities include:

• Collecting data from multiple sources

• Managing and organising data sets from database management systems

• Finding patterns and trends in data analysis

• Transforming complex data into digestible insights

• Sharing findings with stakeholders with reports and presentations

• Providing recommendations for improvement 

Health care data analysts can help improve the quality of health care patients receive and, ultimately, boost patient outcomes.

Types of data analysed

Health care data analysts must use the right types of data to generate insights that are valuable to health care. The following list offers a look at a few of the data types they work with, including big data:

• Clinical data: Clinical data analytics is the most common type of health care data analytics. It includes using medical records to improve medical outcomes directly. These days, data analysts might use electronic health records (EHRs) to assess the number of cancer patients treated in a hospital network or to determine how to reduce the risk of contamination. 

• Insurance data: Data analysts who work for health insurance providers will analyse claims data to help institutions identify which areas could benefit from more financial investment. They may also help insurance companies understand whether their premium pricing is affordable or where the organisation wastes its resources.  

• Pharmaceutical data: Health care data analysts in the pharmaceutical sector usually support research and development that can improve products, such as prescription drugs or medical devices. Pharmaceutical companies help accelerate drug development while also sharing necessary historical research data on cancer, including clinical trials, treatments, and technology.

• Behavioural data: Patient behaviour is an essential type of data to analyse because it offers qualitative and quantitative information about consumer behaviour, such as retail habits, satisfaction with a product or treatment, and more. This data can inform how health care providers deliver value-based care, medical suppliers with marketing, or governments with information campaigns.

• Public health data: A health care data analyst might work with public health data to deliver statistics, infographics, and reports after identifying methods for preventing disease or promoting health within a population.

Health care data analyst salary and job outlook

A typical salary for a health care data analyst may depend on the type of company or organisation you work for. According to Glassdoor India, the average annual salary is ₹6,25,000, with base salaries ranging from ₹4,00,000 to ₹8,00,000 [2].

Skilled data analysts are needed in the health care sector to transform data into actionable insights for companies, non-profit organisations, and governments. Technologies like big data and an increase in governmental adoption of health care analytics will continue driving the industry’s growth and employment opportunities for skilled professionals. 

Skills needed to be a health care data analyst

Health care data analysts share many of the same qualifications that data analysts need in other sectors. Technical skills are critical for any data analyst’s toolkit. A health care data analyst should have the following skills:

• Knowledge of mathematics and statistics

• Proficiency with data storage, data wrangling, data warehousing, and mining

• Familiarity with programming languages like Python, R, and SQL

• Experience with Microsoft Office, especially Excel 

• Understanding of analytics and visualisation tools like Tableau and Sisense

• Enthusiasm for working at the intersection of health care and technology

As a health care data analyst, you’ll also need workplace skills, such as effective written and verbal communication, creative thinking, interpersonal skills, and time management. Further, knowledge of the health sector and experience with EHR, medical terminology, and medical billing are beneficial—and can help you land a job more easily.

Because “health care data analyst” can be a broad job title, the specific skills and knowledge you’ll need will depend on the particular job and area of specialisation.

To boost your data analytics skills, consider enrolling in Google’s Data Analytics Professional Certificate programme:

How to become a health care data analyst

Say you’re ready to pursue this career field. What are the next steps you’ll need to take? Check out the following steps to begin on the path to achieving your goals. 

1. Get a degree or diploma.

To work as a data analyst, you’ll need a bachelor’s and postgraduate degree. Consider studying for a degree in computer science, information systems, maths, or statistics. During your education, you’ll be able to build your foundational knowledge and a robust skill set to help you succeed. 

2. Build your skills in data analytics.

You’ll want to boost your skill set in data analytics. You can do this by taking courses targeting the skills you need for a specific job. Taking data analytics and data science courses rather than health or health care courses makes more sense because the core skills you’ll need are to manoeuvre data. Some of the necessary skills include familiarity with data modelling, visualisation, and organising it using SQL and other programs. 

Consider enrolling in a Professional Certificate, such as IBM’s Data Analyst programme, to ensure you build the right skills in a structured setting while setting your own pace. If you have experience and want to further develop your data analytics skills, consider the Google Advanced Data Analytics Professional Certificate.

3. Gain work experience.

Once you feel ready to apply to health care data analyst positions, spruce up your CV with your new skills and any education you’ve received. Scour job sites like LinkedIn for related jobs, and when you find ones that interest you, tailor your CV to each job role. You’ll want to mention any previous health care experience you have.

If you land a data analyst role outside of health care, don’t fret. You’re still gaining valuable, relevant experience and developing a high-quality skill set that will be easily transferable to the health sector when you have a few years under your belt.

4. Grow your career.

If you have been a data analyst in the health sector and find yourself itching for something new, you might be ready to advance in your career. Some ways to do that include:

• Earning your master’s degree in data analytics

• Getting a data analytics certification, such as the CompTIA Data+ 

• Gaining data analyst experience in multiple health care settings

Data-driven health care with Coursera

A career at the intersection of health and technology can be rewarding and high-earning. If you’re considering becoming a health care data analyst, you might be interested in Columbia University’s class on Health Informatics for Innovation, Value & Enrichment. This 10-hour online training programme uses case scenarios to help you achieve your specific, role-based career goals.

course

HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Administrative/IT Perspective)

HI-FIVE (Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment) Training is an approximately 10-hour online course designed by Columbia University in 2016, ...

4.6

(136 ratings)

8,683 already enrolled

Beginner level

Learn More

Average time: 14 hour(s)

Learn at your own pace

Skills you'll build:

Leadership and Management