North American Medical Informatics (NAMI)

AMIA – Informatics Professionals: Leading the Way

The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) represents more than 5,600 healthcare professionals, students, informatics researchers, practitioners, and thought-leaders in biomedicine, healthcare, and science. AMIA's members are subject matter experts in the science and practice of informatics as it relates to clinical care, research, education, and policy. They address challenges across the continuum of the health ecosystem'consumers and patients, healthcare providers and care delivery systems, population and public health, and basic and clinical research with the ultimate goal to advance better health, better healthcare, and improved efficiency through the use of informatics and information technology.

Health Informatics Certification

AMIA established the AMIA Health Informatics Certification (AHIC) program to address the needs created by the growing number and expanding role of health informaticians and the concomitant increased impact of their work in healthcare delivery, public health, and consumer health. AMIA established the Health Informatics Certification Commission (HICC) to manage the program with impartiality and objectivity. The HICC is independent and autonomous with respect to certification and recertification decisions, policies, and procedures. To ensure the integrity of the AHIC certification program and its exams, there is a strict firewall between the HICC and certification staff (on one side of the firewall) and AMIA education staff, Education Committee members, course developers and instructors, and the Board of Directors (on the other side of the firewall).

The AHIC Program is dedicated to enhancing and promoting the health informatics profession by providing the premier health informatics credential program. The AHIC program accomplishes this mission by establishing standards for professional practice; creating a fair, valid, and reliable examination process by which professionals can demonstrate their knowledge and skill; granting certification to those who meet the program's standards; and communicating the value of the credential to employers and other key constituencies.

AHIC is intended for professionals who come from a range of educational and training pathways including, but not limited to, dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, health informatics, and computer science use informatics concepts and tools to design solutions to complex problems or identify opportunities for improvement in health care, public health, or consumer health at the individual, unit, organization, or system level have health informatics experience that includes critical thinking and analysis; independent decision-making; project management; managing personnel, resources or partner relationships; leading or supporting teams; policy development; or strategic planning AHIC assesses competence of health informatics professionals whose work may impact organizational performance or affect public safety. As a result, the AHIC program emphasizes operational, rather than research-focused dimensions of informatics.

The AHIC process involves three major elements -- eligibility determination, examination to assess competence, and recertification requirements. Pursuant to best practice, the 2019 Health Informatics Practice Analysis and resulting Health Informatics Delineation of Practice underpin AHIC eligibility criteria and the AHIC Outline of Exam Topics. An individual who meets the AHIC eligibility criteria, passes the AHIC exam, and fulfills recertification requirements is known as an AMIA Certified Health Informatics Professional or ACHIP™.

Significant progress has been made on the AHIC Certification Program in 2021. The exam window opened to eligible candidates on October 1st. In order to accommodate candidates and allow more time for preparation, the exam window was extended until January 16th, 2022. This change addressed comments we were receiving from potential candidates that the current state of the healthcare industry, due to the pandemic, was possibly a barrier to testing when the window was originally set to end on October 31st. As of Thursday, October 15th, we have received 101 paid applications.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a strategic umbrella encompassing multiple concerns including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, LGBTQIA+, and ability, and initiatives and activities involving affinity groups, S.T.E.M pipeline, program development, education content, leadership development, and mentoring. All are cross-organizational issues affecting AMIA's individual and organizational membership through governance and staff work in membership, education, meetings, marketing communications, and public policy.

AMIA has charged a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force whose purpose is to guide and execute strategic goals and objectives related to diversity, equity and inclusion through recommendations to the AMIA Board of Directors. Their charge includes an environmental scan off ways that other organizations are addressing this issue, creating a framework for developing exposure and retention for students and professionals, and hosting engagement sessions to better inform the task force on issues and potential solutions. They will provide DEI education to AMIA leadership and members and increase awareness of the benefits of DEI towards advancing innovation and excellence in our healthcare system. The goal is to expand awareness of informatics training and careers to a wider, diverse population to create a stronger, more dynamic workforce. We expect that the lessons learned and successful experiences can inform societies in other countries as well.

There are five subcommittees:

1. Recruitment: external outreach to marginalized or historically excluded groups to build awareness of AMIA and the informatics profession;

2. Retention and Advancement: internally focused on growing a diverse set of AMIA leaders;

3. Communications: promote diverse informatics voices, research, and activities through AMIA communications channels and advocate for more inclusive research in informatics journals;

4. Education, Governance, and Policy: build DEI practices into AMIA's structure; contribute to policy responses; support DEI member education activities;

5. Advancement of Health Equity and Antiracism in Healthcare: position AMIA to become a thought leader in addressing these topics at the intersection with informatics; serve as an organizational convener for education, research, and policy.

A workgroup composed of DEI and SPC committee members created a set of inclusive language recommendations, as one way of furthering an inclusive culture within AMIA. By using inclusive language, AMIA can signal researchers from a more diverse range of backgrounds that their scholarship is welcomed and respected. As a result, these efforts support scholars from marginalized and historically excluded backgrounds to contribute ideas and understanding that would not have previously been considered. Over the past few months, this workgroup has met with AMIA Staff, SPC leadership, and others in the DEI field to develop and refine the proposed recommendations, understanding that this is the start of an important conversation.

Conference on Reducing Clinical Documentation Burden

AMIA sponsored a conference, in conjunction with the National Library of Medicine, on reducing clinical documentation burden in January 2021 with the following goals:

• Create a meeting that engages a diverse group of key stakeholders and leaders focused on reducing documentation burden;

• Assess the likely potential for burden reduction within each category of documentation burden tasks;

• Establish approaches for immediate (6 months), short-term (12 months), and longer term (30 months) elimination of clinical documentation burden;

• Develop a 25x5 Community of stakeholders and allies to keep momentum going and to support dissemination and change;

• Maximize consideration, design, development, and implementation of technology solutions that promote, assure and potentially enhance health equity of any proposed solutions.

The conference was held over six sessions in partnership Vanderbilt and Columbia Universities, with over 300 participants. Details about the Symposium and its outputs are available here: https://www.dbmi.columbia.edu/25x5/.

Teleworking

The AMIA office transitioned to complete teleworking for all activities in March 2020. Virtual status became permanent in May 2021, with closure of our physical office in Bethesda, Maryland.

Conferences

AMIA 2021 Virtual Informatics Summit, March 22-25

AMIA has assembled the most content ever obtained from an Informatics Summit for continuing professional development and learning. Scientific and education content featured at the AMIA 2021 Virtual Informatics Summit is still available as one comprehensive Digital Collection including over 100 hours of presentations from AMIA's translational research-focused conference including content in four major tracks: Bioinformatics, Clinical Research Informatics, Informatics Implementation, and Data Science. The opening keynote address from Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless and the closing keynote address from Abigail Echo-Hawk were features of the event along with the Translational Bioinformatics and Data Science Year in Review by Nicholas Tatonetti and the Clinical Research Informatics and Informatics Implementation Year in Review by Peter Embi.

AMIA 2021 Virtual Clinical Informatics Conference, May 18-20

The Clinical Informatics Conference – CIC – is making a mark on healthcare. CIC is where clinician informaticists of all disciplines – physicians, nurses, physician assistants, technicians, HIT developers, data analysts, C-suite executives, and more – share their innovations in bringing the technology advances out of the lab and into the patient room. Our collective goal is to leverage technology in new ways, to advance healthcare delivery, access and outcomes. CIC featured workshops and presentations provided attendees with practical tools to bring to their home institution to continue the goal of achieving the quadruple aim. The conference's unbiased, evidence and importantly experience-based content helped each of us foster and build a true learning health system. More than 600 dedicated informaticians gathered virtually to share ideas and experiences to create progress in care delivery. A digital collection is also available.

AMIA 2021 Annual Symposium, October 30-November 3

We were thrilled to welcome back the informatics community at our first in person event since 2019! The Annual Symposium continued to build on more than 40 years of sharing research and insights for leveraging information to improve human health. The symposium showcased the latest innovations from the community of biomedical informatics researchers and practitioners. Among many other things, the pandemic made us aware of the value of our community – a community that we have missed: colleagues, mentors, experts, and students with a shared interest in informatics. The past year demonstrated the necessity in our country for access to information to improve health and health care, and the need for professionals to use and apply that information to transform health care. Chaired by Adam Wilcox and an outstanding team of informatics leaders, the meeting featured over 200 presentations and most importantly brought opportunities for conversation and collaboration. While we were not able to host all due to travel constraints, we hope to see you at the AMIA 2022 Annual Symposium in Washington, DC!

Digital Health Canada Connects, Inspires, and Empowers the Digital Health Professionals Creating the Future of Health in Canada

Digital Health Canada is a member-supported not-for-profit professional association that connects, inspires, and empowers the digital health professionals creating the future of health in Canada. Our members are a diverse community of accomplished, influential professionals working to make a difference in advancing healthcare through information, technology, and data management.

Digital Health Canada fosters network growth and connection; brings together ideas from multiple segments for incubation and advocacy; supports members through professional development at the individual and organizational level; and advocates for the Canadian digital health industry.

Virtual Member Engagement in 2021

In response to pandemic challenges, Digital Health Canada continued to accelerate efforts to deliver 100% virtual programs, services, and events to Canadian professionals via an expanded online experience, with multiple opportunities to connect, learn, and network via virtual community. New event platforms allowed attendees to use chat boards, jump into live speaker Q+A, start unique discussion threads, connect with colleagues through the event platform, and more. As long as physical distancing recommendations remain in place, Digital Health Canada will continue to offer high-quality, user-friendly, travel-free ways to connect, inspire, and empower the digital health professionals creating the future of health in Canada.

e-Health Conference 2021 (Virtual) National Conference & Tradeshow, May 26/27, 2021

This interactive and engaging online conference welcomed more than 600 attendees and over 50 sponsors and exhibitors. The national conference featured three pre-conference sessions (May 5, 12, 19) and two conference days (May 26, 27) including live opening, plenary, and keynote and closing sessions in addition to pre-recorded concurrent sessions. There were virtual exhibit booths, virtual networking sessions, community board, meetups, and group chat networking throughout the event. This national event was hosted by Digital Health Canada, Canada Health Infoway, Canadian Institute for Health Information.

By the numbers: Attendee Engagement

• 2,952 conference platform logins; 5,855 session registrations; 12,885 conference page views; average registration for all concurrent sessions was 125

Key Statistics from Attendees Surveyed:

• 87% found the program quality “excellent or good”; 80% were “very satisfied or satisfied” with their overall event experience.

Regional Events

Western Region (Virtual) Conference took place on March 9 & 10, 2021:

• Theme Day 1: Innovation in the Face of Adversity; in partnership with ANHIX and focus on Alberta;

• Theme Day 2: Ahead of the Curve, focus on British Columbia.

UpOnDigital (Virtual): The Update on Ontario Digital Health, March 30, 2021 :

• Theme: Ontario government updates on digital health for the year ahead

The Atlantic Region Virtual Conference was held October 4, 2021:

• 100 digital health professionals from across Canada participated;

• Themes included Digital Literacy in Healthcare: Equity and Access, Atlantic Region Provincial Update, Opening the Digital Front Door to Patients.

Driving the Future of Digital Health (virtual) was held November 2, 2021:

• More than 100 professionals attended;

• Presentations included: A Story of Innovation: How CHUM Became Recognized as Canada's Most Innovative Hospital; Digital Therapeutics; Workplace Wellness and Mental Health; Advancing Health in a Digital World;

• Closing keynote with Canadian Gold Medal Olympian Damian Warner.

In addition, Chapter Virtual LinkUps were hosted by the Atlantic Chapter, the Alberta Chapter, and the BC Chapter which have welcomed more than 100 members in virtual networking and discussion.

CHIEF Executive Forum - National Virtual Care Working Groups

Digital Health Canada's CHIEF Executive Forum provides a place for senior professionals and leaders in digital health and healthcare to collaborate, exchange best practices, address professional development needs, and offer their expertise in setting the agenda for the effective use of information and technology to improve health and healthcare in Canada. In 2021, 22 Corporate Member Organizations and 52 Executive Member Organizations participated in CHIEF Executive Forum. CHIEF events included the following:

• CHIEF Executive Forum CGlobal - March 18, 2021:

  • o International Perspectives: Delivering Value and Creating Economic Growth Through Digital Health Innovation;

• CHIEF Executive Forum Spring Symposium – April 22 & 23 :

  • o Spring Symposium details: https://chief.digitalhealthcanada.com/executive-events/

• CHIEF Executive Forum C90 - September 17, 2021

  • o Focus on International Patient Summary (IPS) in Canada;

• CHIEF Executive Forum Fall Symposium – November 19 & 19

  • o Fall Symposium details: https://chief.digitalhealthcanada.com/executive-events/

CHIEF Executive Forum – International Patient Summary Working Group

Developed by Digital Health Canada's CHIEF Executive Forum and funded by Canada Health Infoway, this working group and publication explored and articulated the value of the International Patient Summary for Canadian healthcare. The white paper, Value of the International Patient Summary, aims to educate and inform the industry and to further the understanding of the clinical, patient, and health system value of the IPS as a key component of interoperability. This paper had over 500 downloads in 2021. For further information and to download the paper: https://chief.digitalhealthcanada.com/thought-leadership/

In addition, the CHIEF Executive Forum finalized Virtual Care in Canada national Working Group activity in 2021 to provide national perspective and resources to address emerging virtual care needs, including:

• Maturity model to describe stages of maturity in deployment of virtual care nationally;

• shared lexicon/language and definitions of virtual care and sub domain areas for Canada;

• resources aimed at educating and informing stakeholders using virtual health in Canada.

These resources were published help leaders to sustain the innovation in virtual care – and support work focused on national alignment, direction, and decision-support.

Webinars

More than 4,000 viewers have registered to join a weekly webinar session through the membership year at Digital Health Canada. Many Digital Health Canada members participate in Webinar Wednesdays and access to a large library of past webinars in our Resource Library. Research + Innovation Series of webinars shines a spotlight on the great ideas coming from Digital Health Canada academic members working in graduate programs like health informatics, data science, and computing for healthcare. Industry Showcase webinars are special events presented by some of Canada's leading digital health and healthcare organizations. Topics include successful public-private partnerships, ground-breaking case studies, or interesting innovations.

Training & Education Highlights

New syllabus for Core Health Informatics training and CPHIMS-CA exam eligibility guide was finalized in 2021. New microcredentials were launched in 2021, and more than 100 users have participated in the new Virtual Care Certificate and Enterprise Innovation Certificate. Hundreds of users have engaged with the new Digital Health Canada ‘Learn’ Learning Management System launched as a one-stop-shop for digital health education, professional development, and learning community engagement in 2020. New resource for professionals PDF Guide to CPHIMS_CA Renewal and Maintenance was launched.

Awards

The Women Leaders in Digital Health Awards celebrates the top ten female visionaries who are harnessing the power of IT to transform health and healthcare in Canada today.

The annual Women Leaders in Digital Health Award is unique among power lists and award programs in that it recognizes women at any stage of their career and is inclusive of all women of influence no matter where they might be in the health IT field. Each year, ten new Women Leaders in Digital Health are recognized for the work they have accomplished in the last year. The 2021 Women Leaders in Digital Health were announced during Digital Health Week in Canada (Nov 29 - Dec 5): https://digitalhealthcanada.com/women-leaders-digital-health-award-winners/

The Digital Health Canada Awards were announced in December 2021. These national awards celebrated Canadian digital health leaders and innovators across six categories. For more information: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/digital-health-canada-awards/

Promoting IMIA to our Members

Digital Health Canada is promoting the benefits of engaging with IMIA with our members. Regular messages have been included in our social media feeds to highlight the work IMIA is doing. This has included highlighting member benefits from joining IMIA Working Groups and getting involved at the international level, given the need for sharing international perspectives in dealing with the global challenges.

AMIA

143 Rollins Avenue #2248

Rockville, MD 20847, United States

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

Website: www.amia.org www.whyinformatics.org

Twitter: @AMIAinformatics

LinkedIn: Official Group of AMIA

Facebook: American Medical Informatics Association

Digital Health Canada

1100 – 151 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M5C 2W7 Canada

E-mail: [e-mail]

Website: www.digitalhealthcanada.com

Twitter: @DigiHealthCA

LinkedIn: digital-health-ca

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
02 June 2022