FAMIA: A Recognition Program for Applied Informatics

Am I Eligible to Apply for FAMIA?

Are you eligible for FAMIA? See below for example scenarios of potential FAMIA applicants.

I am a DO certified through the AOA, and have been practicing clinical informatics for five years in a community hospital. I am a certified clinical informatician through the ABPM. Am I eligible?

A: Yes, the Eligibility Criteria are meant to acknowledge comparable work in applied informatics across education and work experience. If you are eligible to sit for the ABPM Clinical Informatics Board Certification you would satisfy the Education Criterion with your DO and you would satisfy the Certification Criterion with the CI Boards. If you are not eligible for the CI Boards, you could choose the Long-Term Experience Pathway and describe your Informatics Competency Qualifications (ICQs).

I am a nurse with a BSN. I have been working for 15 years, mostly at in-patient and long-term care facilities. During my career I have engaged in multiple EHR “go-lives” and contributed to the development and optimization of clinical workflows for nurses using multiple health IT modules. Am I eligible?

A: Yes, if you do not currently hold ANCC certification in nursing informatics you may qualify through the Long-Term Experience Pathway. FAMIA requires at least 10 years of more than 25 percent full time employee effort in applied informatics. Depending on your level of effort across these 15 years in applied informatics, you would likely be eligible through the Long-Term Experience Pathway.

I work as a public health scientist at an Institute affiliated with an academic medical center, where I’ve been for five years. In my capacity as a public health informatics practitioner I have implemented and managed multiple systems meant to help local and statewide patient populations. I have taught one course per semester each of the last five years, and worked at the Rocky Mountain Institute for Public and Population Health roughly 30 hours per week during this time. I also worked as a research assistant and public health analyst for six years previous to my current role. Am I eligible?

A: Yes, likely through the Long-Term Experience Pathway FAMIA requires at least 10 years of more than 25 percent full time employee effort, or equivalent, in applied informatics. This equivalence is intended to enable those who have less than 10 years of experience working in a position that requires more than 25 percent full time employee effort to be eligible, as long as total work experience, post-degree, is at least 10 years. While your teaching would not contribute to your applied informatics full time employee effort threshold, the 30 hours per week likely would contribute. If you could demonstrate through your Informatics Competency Qualifications (ICQs) that you spent those 30 hours engaging in applied work - not simply research - then you could feasiblfive years of work experience, post-degree.

I oversee a team of managers at an institution that has been a long-standing recipient of NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA). I work closely with physicians, nurses, and epidemiologists that work in our academic medical center to conduct research across a host of clinical and population health scenarios. I have been in this role for three years as a senior manager, and was a manager for four years previous. Am I eligible?

A: Possibly, through the Long-Term Experience Pathway. FAMIA requires at least 10 years of more than 25 percent full time employee effort, or equivalent, in applied informatics. This equivalence is intended to enable those who have less than 10 years of experience working in a position that requires more than 25 percent full time employee effort to be eligible. However, you must still have at least 10 years total work experience after completion of your degree. If you can demonstrate through your Informatics Competency Qualifications (ICQs) that you spend at least 50 percent full time employee effort in applied informatics work and you can point to at least three additional years of work experience post-degree, then you could feasibly be eligible with your experience.

I work for a developer of health IT with an emphasis on Software-as-a-Medical Device. I used to be certified in Clinical Informatics through ABPM, but have since stopped practicing medicine and seeing patients directly. In my capacity with the developer I manage a team of 30 who are focused on various applications of clinical decision support software, and one in specific that alerts providers of a potential stroke in patients. I have been in the field for 12 years, with the last two as a developer. Am I eligible?

A: Possibly, through the Long-Term Experience Pathway. In order to qualify through the Certification Pathway your ABPM clinical informatics certification would need to be valid, current, and maintained on an ongoing basis. Since your certification has lapsed, you would need to apply via the Long-Term Experience Pathway.  If you could demonstrate through your Informatics Competency Qualifications (ICQs) that you spend at least 25 percent full time employment effort in applied work then you could feasibly be eligible with your experience. However, you would need to highlight in your Informatics Competency Qualifications (ICQs) ways in which your work experience has impacted patients or population health, improved organizational performance, implemented or optimized informatics artifacts, and lead team or change management, during this time.

I am a professor in biomedical informatics at a midwestern university with 20 years of experience and tenure at my university. I have written extensively on the socio-technical dimensions of health IT implementation and patient safety using health IT. Am I eligible?

A: Possibly, through the Long-Term Experience Pathway. FAMIA requires at least 10 years of more than 25 percent full time employment effort in applied informatics. Depending on your level of effort during your tenure as a professor it is possible that you would be eligible through the Long-Term Experience Pathway. If you can demonstrate impact on patients/populations; organizations; informatics tools/methods; and change management via your Informatics Competency Qualifications (ICQs), then you are likely eligible for FAMIA. If you cannot demonstrate impact in all four of these areas, teaching and researching how to apply informatics would be insufficient experience for the Long-Term Experience Pathway.

I am a student, currently finishing my masters in clinical informatics. Am I eligible?

A: No. You must have at least two years post-education experience for both the Certification Pathway and the Long-Term Experience Pathway. Please consider applying after graduation and when you gain more work experience.