Pursuing a health informatic certification can be a game-changer for your career, opening doors to new opportunities and challenges.
By earning a certification, you can demonstrate your expertise in health informatics and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies.
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) offers several certifications that can boost your professional skills, including the Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS) credential.
This certification is designed for healthcare professionals who want to demonstrate their knowledge of healthcare information and management systems.
The CPHIMS certification requires a minimum of two years of experience in a healthcare-related field and passing a rigorous exam that tests your knowledge of healthcare information and management systems.
By earning the CPHIMS certification, you can increase your earning potential and enhance your job prospects in the field of health informatics.
For another approach, see: Medical Informatic
Eligibility and Application
To be eligible for health informatics certification, you'll need a baccalaureate degree and extensive practical work experience in the field, which is typically around 8 to 10 years.
The certification program is managed by the Health Informatics Certification Commission (HICC), an independent and autonomous body that ensures impartiality and objectivity in certification and recertification decisions.
A strict firewall exists between the HICC and certification staff, and AMIA education staff, to maintain the integrity of the certification program and its exams.
Expanded Eligibility
The eligibility criteria for ACHIP certification have been updated to include clinicians with baccalaureate degrees and extensive practical work experience in health informatics.
Clinicians with 8-10 years of practical work experience in health informatics are now eligible for ACHIP certification.
The Health Informatics Certification Commission (HICC) manages the ACHIP certification program with impartiality and objectivity, making decisions independently of other AMIA staff and committees.
The HICC is a separate entity from the certification staff, which helps maintain the integrity of the program and its exams.
Apply Anytime
You can apply for UMass Lowell's health informatics online courses at any time, which is great news for those who want to fit their education into a busy schedule. This flexibility is especially helpful for working professionals or individuals with non-traditional schedules.
The courses are designed to keep up with the latest technology, so you can be sure you're learning the most current and relevant skills. This emphasis on technical aspects of health data management, analysis, access, exchange, storage, and retrieval is a key part of the program.
UMass Lowell's program also places a strong focus on regulatory compliance, including state and federal regulations, corporate compliance, and meaningful use standards. This means you'll be learning how to navigate complex healthcare environments with confidence.
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Course Information
To earn a health informatics certification, you'll need to complete a series of courses that cover the basics of health informatics.
The certification program typically requires 12 semester credit hours, which can be completed in two semesters by taking two courses in the fall and two in the spring.
Some common courses included in the program are Principles of Healthcare Informatics, Healthcare Data Management and Analytics, Health Information Systems Management, and Social Determinants of Health and Healthcare Informatics.
Here are some examples of courses you might take:
These courses will provide you with a solid foundation in health informatics and prepare you for a career in this field.
Courses
Courses play a vital role in helping students meet the education requirements for a certificate in health informatics. Students must complete 12 semester credit hours (SCHs) from the list of approved courses and maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
The courses are designed to be flexible, allowing students to take individual courses as electives in other programs with faculty approval. This means students can choose courses that align with their interests and career goals.
Some of the courses include Principles of Healthcare Informatics, Healthcare Data Management and Analytics, and Health Information Systems Management. These courses cover topics such as health information management, clinical information systems, and decision support systems.
Here is a list of some of the courses offered:
Students can complete the certificate program in two semesters by taking two courses in the fall semester and two courses in the spring semester. This allows students to complete their education requirements efficiently and effectively.
Classification Systems and Reimbursement
In this course, you'll learn about the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-CM and PCS), which is used to classify diseases and health problems.
The course will also cover the Healthcare Common Procedural Coding System (HCPCS), which is used for coding medical equipment and supplies.
You'll learn about Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), which is used to code medical procedures and services.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is also covered, which is used to diagnose mental health conditions.
National Drug Codes (NDC) are used to identify prescription medications.
Data standard requirements like Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED) and Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) are also part of the course.
RxNorm is another unified medical language system that's covered in the course.
Federal data Interchange standards like HL7, ASC X12, and FHIR are also discussed in the course.
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Career and Professional Development
The field of Clinical Informatics is in high demand, with estimates suggesting that 70,000 trained specialists are needed in the near future, and as high as 150,000 specialists in 2018.
Physicians who specialize in Clinical Informatics can find employment as Chief Medical Information Officers, researchers, educators, and in industry, all of which are in high demand.
The Clinical Informatics certificate program is designed to equip healthcare professionals with the tools needed to analyze information and improve patient care, making them highly sought after in the job market.
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Career Outlook
The demand for Clinical Informatics specialists is skyrocketing, with estimates suggesting that 70,000 trained professionals are needed in the near future to support efforts in patient care, biomedical research, and public health.
Physicians who specialize in Clinical Informatics are in high demand for their leadership and expertise in clinical information systems.
As a result, they can find employment as Chief Medical Information Officers, researchers, educators, and in industry.
The American Medical Informatics Association estimates that 70,000 trained specialists are needed, with other estimates as high as 150,000 specialists in 2018.
These specialists work with a wide range of computational systems, including electronic health record systems, decision-support systems, and practice management tools.
They provide leadership and expertise in the procurement, customization, development, implementation, management, evaluation, and continuous improvement of clinical information systems.
Their expertise is crucial to future success in patient care, biomedical research, and public health, as well as to health policy design and implementation.
Broaden your view: Biomedical Informatic
Enhance Your Professional Skills
Enhance your professional skills by gaining the tools needed to apply clinical informatics approaches. The University of Maryland Baltimore and the University of Maryland Baltimore County have teamed up to offer a 12-credit post-baccalaureate Clinical Informatics certificate.
This certificate is designed for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals who want to improve patient care by analyzing information collected by healthcare organizations. The curriculum focuses on biomedical data, computational systems, and clinical process improvement.
By completing this program, you'll learn how to apply your newfound skills to enhance health outcomes and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship. Coursework will also address bias, equity, and social determinants of health.
The core faculty are physicians from the School of Medicine who are board certified in Clinical Informatics, ensuring you receive expert guidance throughout the program.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start a career in healthcare informatics?
To start a career in healthcare informatics, consider earning an associate degree for entry-level positions or a bachelor's degree for management roles. This foundation will prepare you for a successful career in this field.
Sources
- https://amia.org/careers-certifications/amia-health-informatics-certification-ahic
- https://e-catalogue.jhu.edu/public-health/certificates/public-health-informatics/
- https://gps.uml.edu/certificates/grad/online-health-informatics-graduate-certificate.cfm
- https://www.uta.edu/academics/schools-colleges/conhi/academics/certificates/health-informatics
- https://graduate.umaryland.edu/ClinicalInformaticsCert/
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