AMIA: It's Time To Redefine The Role Of The CCIO

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Report offers new recommendations for the Chief Clinical Informatics Officer.

An American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) report offers recommendations for the expertise required by the healthcare Chief Clinical Informatics Officers (CCIOs). The AMIA Task Force Report on CCIO Knowledge, Education, and Skillset Requirements , published by the Journal of Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI), addresses workforce development needs at the CCIO level to provide skilled executive level leadership in informatics science within healthcare organizations, presenting a framework for the education, training and selection of a CCIO workforce, which encompasses the more commonly used Chief Medical Informatics Officer (CMIO) and Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) as well as the rarely used Chief Pharmacy Informatics Officer (CPIO) and Chief Dental Informatics Officer (CDIO).

The report was developed by the AMIA Task Force on CCIO Knowledge, Education, and Skillset Requirements and led by Joseph L. Kannry, MD, Task Force Chair and Lead Technical Informaticist-EMR Project, Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Ultimately, the task force concluded that, while the role of the CCIO currently is diverse, it is also becoming increasingly homogeneous due to a growing body of Clinical Informatics and increasing certification efforts. Among the task force recommendations were: 1) to achieve a predictable and desirable skillset, the CCIO must complete clearly defined and specified Clinical Informatics education and training; 2) future education and training must reflect the changing body of knowledge and must be guided by changing day-to-day informatics challenges.

AMIA recommended CCIO’s should focus on skillsets including: an operational understanding of informatics, deep knowledge of clinical specialties, management and leadership skills, understanding of clinical decision support principle, as well as the technology chops to put available and emerging tools to work.

“In the past 10 years the chief clinical informatics officer position has flourished in the healthcare landscape, albeit without many guidelines for expected skill and education or the operational scope of the role,” Dr. Kannry explained in a statement. “AMIA is offering these guidelines to help advise C-suite executives on potential staff selection criteria for CCIOs, as well as inform informatics professionals broadly on the state of the field. The stakes are high when addressing improved quality of care, better outcomes and lower costs. Organizations cannot afford to fill a CCIO position with a person of uncertain skill, education or knowledge.”

“The knowledge required to be a successful CCIO is and will be constantly changing. While today knowledge of MU and ICD-10 are important, other topics will take their place soon,” AMIA noted, according to Healthcare IT News. “This constant change of required knowledge, changing regulations, novel technology, and new software solutions demands a dedication and commitment to lifelong learning by CCIOs.”

The findings of the report will be publicly released at the AMIA iHealth 2016 Clinical Informatics Conference, May 4-6, Minneapolis.