Clinical Tech Trends. Trend: clinical informaticists

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Information Technology in Healthcare

Background:

• Hospitals face pressure to implement Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and achieve meaningful use via Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE).
• Meeting Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) requirements necessitates specific IT staffing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the critical role of clinical informaticists in healthcare IT.
• To emphasize the need for skilled informaticists for EMR implementation and optimization.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of current healthcare IT trends and regulatory demands.
• Assessment of staffing models for clinical informatics.

Main Results:

• Chief Medical Information Officers (CMIOs) and VPs of clinical informatics are essential at leadership levels.
• Permanent teams of clinical informaticists with medical, nursing, and pharmacy backgrounds are required for IT departments.

Conclusions:

• The clinical informaticist staffing model, common in large centers, will expand to smaller hospitals.
• Short HITECH timelines require skilled informaticists for rapid EMR implementation.
• Talent shortages necessitate internal training or external recruitment of clinical informaticists.
• Post-implementation, informaticists are vital for EMR value enhancement through data mining and quality initiatives.