Creating an Informatics Job Classification Series for Health Departments

December 15, 2025 | Ari Whiteman

Why a Public Health Informatics Job Classification Matters

The push to modernize public health data infrastructure has highlighted that traditional job classifications (e.g., Epidemiologist, IT Specialist, or Developer) do not fully capture the unique skill set and value of public health informaticians. Informatics professionals specialize in integrating, standardizing, and managing health data systems to ensure interoperability across platforms and agencies. Their expertise includes health data standards (e.g., HL7, FHIR, LOINC, USCDI), database management, extract-transform-load (ETL) processes, business intelligence tools, and cross-system data exchange, all of which are skills and proficiencies needed for data modernization transitions and processes.

According to the 2022 ASTHO Profile of State and Territorial Public Health, 25 states and territories did not have a dedicated public health informatics job classification series, which would create several key advantages over forcing informaticians into traditional public health classifications that may not adequately reflect their job duties or the expertise needed to perform them:

• Recruitment: Public health informatics job descriptions are likely to attract more qualified and better-fit candidates for the responsibilities of the role, which differ from that of IT professionals or epidemiologists.
• Retention: Informaticians often leave for the private sector due to higher pay opportunities, as governmental roles often pay less than similar roles in the private sector. A well-defined classification series with competitive salary benchmarks helps retain talent.
• Role Clarity: Differentiating informaticians from epidemiologists or IT ensures staff are linked to projects that fit their skills and experience, which can improve performance and morale across disciplines.
• Future-Readiness: Quality health data infrastructure is a preparedness necessity. Informatics positions enable agencies to respond to emerging health crises by linking response and surveillance data with other state and national reporting systems.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Anticipating challenges can help maintain progress and understanding across all involved parties.

• Challenge: Resistance to creating new classifications.
  Solution: Propose consolidation or sunsetting of outdated roles and highlight national best practices.
• Challenge: Salary constraints compared to private sector.
  Solution: Emphasize total rewards (retirement, benefits, meaningful work) and seek flexibility for exceptions. Provide salary data from sources like Lightcast, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, American Health Information Management Association, or surveys from the American Medical Informatics Association.
• Challenge: Limited internal public health informatics expertise.
  Solution: Build capacity through “train-the-trainer” models, upskilling, and leveraging partnerships with universities.
• Challenge: Slow civil service processes.
  Solution: Start early, maintain persistence, and adapt business case arguments to different decision-makers (HR, unions, leadership). See ASTHO’s Data Modernization Primer and Tactical Guides for more information, in particular:
• See the Tactical Guide on Building, Equipping, and Sustaining a Data Modernization Workforce for strategies for upskilling, training, recruitment, and retention of a data modernization workforce.
• See the Tactical Guide on Planning Data Modernization Activities for strategies to mobilize a team, conduct current state assessments, develop plans, and gain support from leadership.
• Challenge: Overlap with other roles (e.g., epidemiologists).
  Solution: Clearly define distinctions between public health informatics and other roles, then communicate role clarity to benefit morale and efficiency.

Conclusion

Creating a public health informatics job classification series is both a strategic investment and a practical necessity. By distinguishing informatics as a professional path within public health, states and territories can strengthen their workforce, address long-standing recruitment and retention barriers, and prepare for the rapidly evolving demands of data modernization. While the process requires persistence, clear documentation, and negotiation across HR and leadership, the payoff is a resilient workforce equipped to manage the data infrastructure that underpins modern public health practice.

Reference the How-To Guide for more details on creating public health informatics job classification series.