Clinical Informatics: The Nervous System of Healthcare
Clinical Informatics
Informatics is the science of information. It encompasses the management of data, including how it is generated, stored, and processed to discover insights and how it is disseminated as knowledge for decision-making. Informatics integrates computer science, information technology, and domain-specific knowledge to design and develop information systems that address specific needs and improve decision-making. Informatics is used to enhance the efficiency, innovation, and accessibility of information in a variety of fields, including healthcare.
What is Clinical Informatics?
Clinical Informatics is the subspecialty of all medical specialties that transform healthcare by analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating information and communication systems to improve patient care, enhance access to care, advance individual and population health outcomes, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship.
Many medical specialty societies are recognizing the importance of clinical informatics in their practice. Learn more about informatics resources from the American Medical Association (AMA), American Nurses Association (ANA), and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG). For more general information about medical informatics, read the New to Medical Informatics Resource Guide from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) or browse resources from the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).
Clinical Informatics Glossary
The Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement (eCQI) Resource Center has a comprehensive glossary of terms related to clinical informatics and health information technology.
Clinical Informatics in Neurology
Clinical informatics can be used to improve the quality of neurological care, reduce documentation burden on neurologists, and increase efficiency throughout neurological practice. The following are some examples of clinical informatics in action:
- Questionnaires that obtain information from patients prior to a visit
- Summary reports that highlight key data from the medical record based on the type of user
- Order templates that standardize care process for a particular symptom or condition
- Alerts that promote delivering better care or discourage costly, unsafe care
- Note templates that facilitate documentation of key information
- Remote patient monitoring tools that obtain patient data between office visits
Clinical Informatics Education & Training
Build your informatics knowledge and skills with courses from the AMA and AMIA.
- AMA Health Systems Science Learning Series
- AMIA 10x10 Courses
- AMIA Health Informatics Essentials Courses
Physicians can earn a board certification in clinical informatics through the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM). Learn more about becoming ACGME board-certified in clinical informatics at the following links.
Explore clinical informatics in neurology
Additional Resources
- American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) is the professional society for informatics. AMIA offers resources and programming for everyone interested in informatics, no matter your level of expertise.
- JAMIA is AMIA’s monthly peer-reviewed journal. Sign up for email alerts to get notified when new issues are published.
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is a global organization focused on health information technology. The HIMSS annual conference is the largest gathering of healthcare technology professionals worldwide and provides a forum to network with other informatics professionals and learn about the latest advances in health information technology. HIMSS runs a well-known eight-stage maturity model for digital transformation. The highest ranking ("Stage 7") is a well-recognized status in the informatics community.
- American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) promotes business and clinical use of electronic health information.