Recognition for individuals working in applied informatics, including nurses, is increasing. At the upcoming American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2019 Clinical Informatics Conference in Atlanta on April 30 to May 2, 2019, 130 fellows will be inducted into the newly established Fellows of AMIA (FAMIA) Applied Informatics Recognition Program. The inaugural class for the newly established program was originally announced in October 2018, and the list of inaugural fellows can be found at https://www.amia.org/fellows-amia. The Fellows of AMIA program recognizes "AMIA members who apply informatics skills and knowledge within their professional setting, who have demonstrated professional achievement and leadership, and who have contributed to the betterment of the organization."1
Informatics, a scientific discipline, has evolved in the past 60 years, and as it has grown and matured, it has expanded to also include applied work conducted as part of the practice of informatics. As the practice of informatics has grown, the complexity of the work has increased, and the number of individuals working in the applied informatics space-to design, implement, optimize, and evaluate health information technology (HIT) solutions-has greatly expanded. AMIA has a strong history of recognizing scientific contributions to the field of informatics, and the time has come for a similar recognition for individuals who have an operational and applied focus.
The FAMIA Recognition Program is inclusive of the interprofessional roles working in applied informatics, including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and others within clinical informatics and those focused on public health, clinical research, and others areas that apply informatics to practice. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report from the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation2 promoted the recognition of nurses as leaders, and FAMIA is a unique opportunity to do this within applied informatics. Nurses constitute one of, if not the largest, single group of health professionals working within the applied health informatics field and include experts serving at all levels of leadership. Informatics nurses work across all stages of the system development life cycle to reengineer workflows and impact patient care and the healthcare delivery system and as such are a primary eligible group of leaders for the FAMIA recognition.
The FAMIA application process consists of two pathways based on eligibility criteria: (1) Certification Pathway and (2) Long-term Experience Pathway. The Long-term Experience Pathway will be phased out after 5 years, when the Advanced Health Informatics Certification, which is currently under development, is expected to be widely available. Table 1 highlights the eligibility criteria for both the Certification Pathway and Long-term Experience Pathway.
The demonstration of Informatics Competency Qualifications (ICQs) as part of the Long-term Experience Pathway includes four areas of focus: Impact on Individuals/Populations, Impact on Organizations, Informatics Tools & Methods, and Team and Change Management. Impact on Individuals/Populations is characterized as an impact on patients or individuals through informatics initiatives designed to enhance healthcare, population health, or personal health. Impact on Organizations is considered an impact on organizations through informatics initiatives designed to enhance performance and learning. Informatics Tools and Methods is deemed as leveraging informatics tools or technology that promotes better health, healthcare, or informatics practices. Team and Change Management is characterized as an impact on team effectiveness by leading and managing health informatics change.
For each ICQ focus area, the applicant is asked to describe (1) a significant challenge, (2) details about the environment and why this challenge was prioritized or important for individuals and/or populations, (3) how the applicant used his/her skills and expertise in informatics to affect the challenge, and (4) results indicating how his/her actions made an impact on patients or individuals through informatics to enhance outcomes and to inform future informatics efforts.
Challenges within HIT remain, from interoperability barriers and documentation burden to health inequities. Nurses' application of informatics knowledge and principles, combined with knowledge and principles of professional nursing practice, is increasingly essential to the success of today's healthcare landscape and patient care.
Nurses working on the frontlines of these and other challenges are essential knowledge workers and are encouraged to apply to FAMIA in recognition of their work in applying their informatics knowledge and principles to challenging health problems. We expect a review cycle to open later this year, and we hope you will consider applying!
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