Domains, tasks, and knowledge for clinical informatics subspecialty practice: results of a practice analysis

Abstract

Objective The study sought to develop a comprehensive and current description of what Clinical Informatics Subspecialty (CIS) physician diplomates do and what they need to know. Materials and Methods Three independent subject matter expert panels drawn from and representative of the 1695 CIS diplomates certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine contributed to the development of a draft CIS delineation of practice (DoP). An online survey was distributed to all CIS diplomates in July 2018 to validate the draft DoP. A total of 316 (18.8%) diplomates completed the survey. Survey respondents provided domain, task, and knowledge and skill (KS) ratings; qualitative feedback on the completeness of the DoP; and detailed professional background and demographic information. Results This practice analysis resulted in a validated, comprehensive, and contemporary DoP comprising 5 domains, 42 tasks, and 139 KS statements. Discussion The DoP that emerged from this study differs from the 2009 CIS Core Content in 2 respects. First, the DoP reflects the growth in amount, types, and utilization of health data through the addition of a practice domain, tasks, and KS statements focused on data analytics and governance. Second, the final DoP describes CIS practice in terms of tasks in addition to identifying knowledge required for competent practice. Conclusions This study (1) articulates CIS diplomate tasks and knowledge used in practice, (2) provides data that will enable the American Board of Preventive Medicine CIS examination to align with current practice, (3) informs clinical informatics fellowship program requirements, and (4) provides insight into maintenance of certification requirements.

Transitions from One Electronic Health Record to Another: Challenges, Pitfalls, and Recommendations

“…Examples of key strategic questions for CMIOs include: how much consistency versus site variation should there be within the destination EHR? 59 What is the correct governance process to intake, evaluate, and process EHR change requests? 60 How will the organization balance necessary changes against system consistency and adherence to strategic principles?…”

The emerging role of clinical informatics fellows in service learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The foundation of core ACGME competencies and recommended CI domains of practice like project management, data and analytics, order set development, and user interface design. 13 , 14 allowed rapid implementation and contribution from fellows, as early as their first year of fellowship. Our results show that these contributions were operationally impactful, academically productive, and facilitated the service learning of CI fellows, fulfilling several ACGME CI competencies across multiple domains.…”

The Value of the Surgeon Informatician

“…1 Physicians who practice clinical informaticsdknown as clinical informaticians or clinical informaticistsdanalyze, design, implement, and evaluate information systems and their associated data and processes to enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve patient care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship. 2 Clinical informatics was established as a board-certifiable subspecialty for physicians in 2011 because of the recognition of technology and big data's increasing presence in the practice of health care. Much like how the radiologist is to be distinguished from the radiology technician or the pathologist from the laboratory technician, the role of the clinical informatician is separate from that of an IT professional who helps to build, implement, and support clinical information systems.…”