Soft Skills in Health Informatics: Why Being Good with People is Just as Important as Being Good with Data

Here’s a secret: the real game-changer in health informatics isn’t just your ability to code or analyze data—it’s your soft skills. Your knack for connecting, communicating, and empathizing is what will set you apart from the person next to you with the same degree. While technical skills get you in the door, it’s your people skills that will take you further.

Think about it this way: you could be the Einstein of data analytics, but if you can’t explain your insights without putting your audience to sleep, you might as well be speaking in SQL queries. No one ever said, “Wow, that spreadsheet really spoke to me emotionally.”

Spoiler alert: People remember how you make them feel, not just the algorithms you run.

The plot twist? Without those people skills, even the fanciest software or most brilliant data analysis could fall flat. Why? Because health informatics doesn’t just deal with data; it deals with people—patients, clinicians, administrators, entire communities, and families just like yours.

So, if you’ve been avoiding health informatics because you think it’s all about coding and crunching numbers, think again. You might already have the most underrated superpower this field needs: soft skills.

This is part two of my series,?1000 Different Jobs You Can Get in Health Informatics,?where I explore the many ways this field bridges healthcare, data, and technology.

Why Soft Skills Matter in a Data-Driven World

Think about it: What good is creating a user-friendly patient portal if you don’t take the time to?understand?what patients actually find friendly? Or imagine presenting groundbreaking analytics to a hospital board, only to have your insights lost in translation because you used too much jargon. Health informatics professionals are the bridge between healthcare and technology, and the key to making that bridge strong is?effective communication and collaboration.

Health informatics is where data meets humanity. While algorithms are important, they can’t answer questions like: How do we help doctors trust a new EHR system? What features will make a digital health tool accessible to elderly patients? How can we empower healthcare providers to use data to improve patient care? The answer to these questions often lies in understanding people’s needs, fears, and motivations—not just their data points.

A Personal Story: Health Literacy in Action

Let me share a bit of my own experience. While working on my Ph.D., one of my published papers explored how ChatGPT could simplify informed consent documents for clinical trials, making them easier for patients to understand. This is something I’m deeply passionate about—health literacy. Why? Because if we want patients to make informed decisions about their care, we need to make sure they actually?understand?the information we’re giving them.?

Imagine this: You’re sitting in a hospital waiting room, anxious about your next steps in cancer treatment. The nurse hands you a dense, jargon-filled clinical trial document full of words you’ve never heard before, phrases that might as well be written in Latin (actually some of it is!)

“Participants will receive an intravenous infusion of pembrolizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the PD-1 receptor, to assess its efficacy in modulating immune checkpoint pathways and enhancing antitumor activity.”

Or how about:

“The study involves a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design to evaluate the impact of bevacizumab on angiogenesis inhibition and its subsequent effect on tumor progression and overall survival rates.”

You’re asked to review it, make sense of it, and decide whether to participate—all while dealing with the emotional and physical toll of your diagnosis.

Hold on, am I signing up for a clinical trial or did they just hand me a medical riddle to decipher? It feels more like being handed a research paper no one thought to translate.

Let’s be honest: most people don’t have the mental bandwidth in that moment to decode technical terms like “immunotherapy” or “randomized control trial.” It’s not because they’re unwilling—it’s because the system hasn’t met them halfway. Lets leave the scientific lexicon for the PI and stop turning consent forms into a confusing medical crossword puzzle.

Health literacy isn’t a side note in healthcare; it’s a core issue. Patients deserve to understand what’s happening to their bodies, what their options are, and what’s being asked of them. They need to know that participating in a clinical trial doesn’t mean they’re being given substandard or unsafe care, but rather that they’re contributing to carefully monitored, ethically designed research aimed at advancing medicine.

Often, patients fear they’ll be treated like guinea pigs or clinical trials means receiving substandard care. These misunderstandings don’t reflect skepticism about the medicine itself; they highlight a failure on our part to clearly communicate what clinical trials are and how they work. A breast cancer patient, for instance, should feel assured that their participation not only gives them access to innovative therapies but also contributes to breakthroughs that might one day save their child or someone else they love. Clinical trials are a partnership between patients and science, designed to prioritize patient safety while advancing care and delivering meaningful progress.

We need to?meet patients where they are. That means creating documents that:

• Use plain language, not medical jargon.
• Clearly explain concepts like immunotherapy or the difference between standard care and experimental treatment.
• Include easy-to-follow visuals and definitions.

Allow patients to take the information home, digest it at their own pace, and ask informed questions later. It's not just patients who benefit, either. Every stakeholder in healthcare has a unique perspective. Cancer patients want the best care and treatments. Physicians want to connect patients to the best clinical trials. Data analysts need clean, accurate data to generate meaningful reports. Executives want to improve quality while reducing costs.

But guess what? Health informatics professionals need to look at?all of it. We’re the ones bridging these priorities and ensuring the systems work for everyone.

Who Thrives in Health Informatics?

Spoiler alert: It’s not just tech experts.

If you’re someone who enjoys solving problems, listening to others, and bringing people together, you’re already primed for a career in health informatics. This field needs more than just data scientists and IT specialists; it needs?people whisperers.

Consider this: A nurse transitioning to health informatics can use their empathy to design systems that make clinicians’ lives easier. A project manager’s knack for organization and communication can keep large-scale implementations running smoothly. Even someone with a background in customer service can excel at user training for new healthcare technologies. The point is, health informatics thrives on diversity—of backgrounds, skills, and, yes, soft skills.

10 Health Informatics Jobs Where Soft Skills Shine

Here’s where things get exciting. Whether you want to work in healthcare, tech, or an entirely different industry, there’s a role for you in health informatics.?

Traditional Healthcare Roles

1. Clinical Informatics Specialist: Work closely with doctors and nurses to ensure technology meets clinical needs. Soft skills like empathy and collaboration are critical for success.
2. EHR Implementation Manager: Rollout of electronic health record systems. Your ability to manage teams and address concerns will keep projects on track.
3. Health Data Analysts : Analyze data to improve patient outcomes. Presenting insights clearly and persuasively can make your findings actionable.
4. Patient Experience Coordinator: Use informatics tools to enhance the patient journey. Strong communication helps bridge the gap between patients and providers.
5. Population Health Manager : Work with community stakeholders to address public health challenges. Collaboration and cultural competency are essential.

Non-Traditional Roles

1. User Experience (UX) Designer: Help design user-friendly health apps and platforms. Your ability to think like the end user will set you apart.
2. Health Informatics Consultant: Advise organizations on improving workflows and technology use. Soft skills like adaptability and negotiation are key.
3. Training Specialist: Teach healthcare staff to use new systems. Your patience and ability to simplify complex concepts will make you a rockstar.
4. Healthcare Project Manager: Coordinate large-scale projects across departments. Leadership and conflict resolution are your secret weapons.
5. Data Storyteller: Turn raw data into compelling narratives that inspire action. Creativity and communication skills are non-negotiable.

Why Health Informatics Needs YOU

In health informatics, your technical skills might help design a brilliant system, but your soft skills—your ability to understand the emotional and psychological weight of a cancer diagnosis, for example—will ensure it actually gets used.

So, the next time you hand someone an informed consent document or a patient portal login, ask yourself: Is this something I’d want to deal with and/or understand if I were in their shoes? If the answer is no, it’s time to rethink your approach.

In health informatics, every skill matters, and every person has something valuable to offer. Whether you’re creating a user-friendly app, analyzing data to improve outcomes, or simplifying a clinical trial document, your work can make a meaningful impact.

This is why health informatics excites me—it’s a field where you can use both your head and your heart to make a difference.

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