‘Health informatics’, ‘data science’ and ‘digital technology’ should be terms that all practicing clinicians are familiar with. However, this familiarity may be superficial or even coupled with feelings of apprehension and unease. As their definitions are overlapping and context-dependent, the concern is that descriptions such as ‘the intelligent use of information and technology to provide better care for patients’ may feel empty or devoid of meaning for many healthcare workers. There are parallels with how terms such as ‘leadership’ and ‘management’ were perceived in the past. Previous work highlighted how a set of unified competencies in informatics across medical specialties is lacking. Although, more recently, a universal health informatics competency framework has been launched by the Faculty of Clinical Informatics, there is clearly much more to do in order to increase the salience and impact of such work.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is now an opportunity to capitalize on the impetus to ensure that digital health technology continues to play a central and growing role in the future clinical model of healthcare delivery. An adequately trained workforce is a key tenet of any healthcare response, not only in times of crisis but also in longer-term planning and preparation for existing challenges. We propose that the vision of this response must be characterized by a digitally capable and digitally healthy workforce, one where all staff have universal digital literacy as a baseline, coupled with particular staffing groups who develop areas of domain expertise dependent on their different roles.

Journal of Healthcare Communications is a journal publishes Quarterly in English language. We welcome original research articles, review articles, editorials, case reports, and others from any part of the world. Manuscripts are reviewed by members of the international editorial board and our expert peer reviewers, then either accepted for publication or rejected by the chief editor. Shorter articles are particularly welcome.

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