Health informatics needs regulation and registration to add value recognition.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Professional Regulation
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Health informatics lacks a strong professional identity and clear definition.
• Existing professional bodies (e.g., IMIA, BCS) acknowledge diverse professionals but face definitional challenges.
• There's a need for a mature, recognized profession within the UK health domain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline the establishment of a registration and regulatory body for health informatics.
• To ensure high-quality professionalism across operational care, academia, and commercial sectors.
• To address the need for recognized qualification, competency, and continuous professional development.

Main Methods:

• Describing the procedural steps undertaken to create a registration and regulatory framework.
• Focusing on mechanisms for recognizing both initial qualifications and demonstrated competency.
• Incorporating the requirement for maintaining contemporary skills and knowledge.

Main Results:

• Successful initiation of a registration and regulatory body for health informatics professionals.
• Development of a system to validate qualifications, assess competency, and enforce continuous learning.
• Laying the groundwork for enhanced professionalism in health informatics practice and organizations.

Conclusions:

• A formal registration process is essential for the maturation of health informatics as a profession.
• This regulatory body aims to uphold standards in operational care, academic, and commercial health informatics.
• The described concepts and framework have potential international applicability and relevance.