Expand Your Knowledge: Pharmacy Informatics Certifications / Certificates

/ / , , , / 19 comments

Pharmacy informatics, and in a broader sense healthcare informatics, delves into many different topics that augment healthcare and technology. Pharmacy informatics certifications and certificates can help you with expanding your knowledge of the field and boosting your resume or CV. They are no substitute for experience, but they can be helpful if you do not have any formal training in informatics.

Certifications vs. Certificates

Certifications and certificates may sound the same but there is a subtle difference. Both of them hold value, but each one slightly reflects a different aspect of knowledge.

Certifications are credentials that demonstrate you have the knowledge and skills in the identified field. If someone has certifications on their resume or CV, it is a reflection that they were able to pass a comprehensive certification exam that is associated with their comprehension of the specialized topic. In addition, certifications need continuing education and a renewal fee to be active.

Certificates demonstrate that the individual was able to go through a formalized educational program that taught a comprehensive review of the identified topic. These are received by passing all courses that the certificate requires, but there are no additional exams or renewal requirements after attaining most certificates.

Choosing between going through a certificate program versus attaining a certification is all dependent on what your goals are and where you are at in your career.

Recommended Certifications/Certifications

Helpful Certifications and Certificates Cheat Sheet
Download Now!1868 Downloads
Name CAHIMS: Certified Associate in Healthcare Information and Management Systems
Type Certification
Offered by Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
Description Demonstrates knowledge of health IT and management systems, facilitating entry-level careers in health IT.
Why it’s important If you do not have any experience or knowledge with healthcare IT and management systems, this would be a good introductory certification to attain. It can also provide you the foundation to migrate towards a CPHIMS certification.
More info https://www.himss.org/resources-certification/cahims

 

Name CPHIMS: Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems
Type Certification
Offered by Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
Description Demonstrates that you meet an international standard of professional knowledge and competence in healthcare information and management systems, increasing credibility.
Why it’s important As an informatics pharmacist, you will have a lot of interdepartmental interactions with other medical and technical professionals. The CPHIMS certification allows you to be proficient in more than just pharmacy informatics, but also as a general healthcare informaticist.
More info https://www.himss.org/resources-certification/cphims

 

Name ASHP Pharmacy Informatics Certificate
Type Certificate
Offered by American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP)
Description This certificate program is focused primarily in pharmacy informatics and includes information relating to electronic health records, pharmacy information systems, automated systems, and blockchain.
Why it’s important If you do not know where to start with pharmacy informatics, this certificate program provides a general overview of informatics as it relates specifically to pharmacy. Unlike the other certificates/certifications on this list, this is designed with the goal of educating pharmacists on these technology tools and skillsets.
More info http://elearning.ashp.org/products/7193/pharmacy-informatics-certificate-program

 

Name PMP: Project Management Professional
Type Certification
Offered by Project Management Institute (PMI)
Description This certification is internationally recognized and demonstrates that the holder is competent in the project management framework and knowledge areas.
Why it’s important As an informatics pharmacist, you may be asked to work on multiple projects and even lead a few projects. A PMP certification provides you with a lot of applicable theories and skills that you can use in your daily project management needs.
More info https://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/project-management-pmp

How to Get a PMP Certification in Just 2 Weeks

 

Name Lean Six Sigma  (LSS)
Type Certification
Offered by Lean Six Sigma Institute
Description Lean Six Sigma certifications demonstrate expertise in LSS tools and methodologies integral to project organization and improvements.
Why it’s important Whereas PMP is the general certification for project management, the LSS certifications are about optimizing the processes and removing “wasteful” steps. LSS certifications are useful for a pharmacy informatics professional to look at workflow processes and identify areas that can be optimized or removed to improve safety and care.
More info https://asq.org/quality-resources/six-sigma and https://www.iassc.org/

 

Name AHIC: AMIA Health Informatics Certification (Coming Soon)
Type Certification
Offered by American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
Description The AHIC demonstrates proficiency in development, implementation, management, and evaluation of information and communication systems in a healthcare setting.
Why it’s important AMIA has been one of the top leading associations in healthcare informatics. They currently offer physicians a clinical subspecialty for informatics and are currently working on the AHIC for those who do not qualify for the subspecialty. More information on the AHIC will be available during 2020 so the information will be new and up to date.
More info https://www.amia.org/ahic

 

Note About General Healthcare Informatics Certificate Programs

General healthcare informatics certificate programs are offered at many higher learning institutions. A great place to find a listing of these programs is through the database of accredited programs by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management, or CAHIIM. You can find their database of programs here.

Additional Certifications/Certificates

The following certifications are not required by any means because not all informatics pharmacists may be heavily involved in the following domains. Most of the time, basic understanding will be sufficient. However, you can pursue these if you want to further your knowledge to an advanced level.

Additional Certifications and Certificates Cheat Sheet
Download Now!1327 Downloads
Name SQL Database (Various: MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM)
Type Certification
Offered by Various, depending on database type
Description SQL Database certifications demonstrate proficiency in different levels of database understanding. These can be database administrators, database developers, and database analytics.
Why it’s important Healthcare data is stored in databases, and understanding the databases are key to understanding how to make sense of the data. If you are heavily involved in data science or analytics in your informatics role, these certifications may help with providing you a deeper understanding of managing database structures.
More info https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10734-database-certifications.html

 

Name CCNA/CCNP: Cisco Certified Networking Associate/Professional
Type Certification
Offered by Cisco
Description CCNA and CCNP certifications demonstrate the holder’s proficiency in the latest networking technologies, software development, and job roles.
Why it’s important Some informatics pharmacists are heavily involved in the technical design and implementation of third-party technologies that need to be networked with existing hardware. Understanding the networking and software aspects through CCNA/CCNP certification allows the pharmacist to be more involved with the technical team and ensure that implementation is a success.
More info https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications.html

 

Name ITIL: Information Technology Infrastructure Library
Type Certification
Offered by Various (e.g. Axelos), overseen by ICMB
Description The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) certification is a globally recognized IT service management certification, distributed by Axelos. The ITIL certification is an entry-level qualification in the field of IT service management.
Why it’s important Informatics pharmacists are usually involved with the information technology department and follow processes and workflows for best practices of information technology. IT departments usually have these processes ingrained in overall workflow, but the ITIL certification can help you have a clearer understanding of it.
More info https://www.axelos.com/certifications/itil-certifications

 

Name CHISP: Certified Health Informatics Systems Professional
Type Certification
Offered by American Society of Health Informatics Managers (ASHIM)
Description This certification designates a qualified professional capable to meet the needs of hospitals and physicians as they move to adopt electronic health care systems. Note: Must be a member of ASHIM to sit for exam.
Why it’s important CHISP offers another alternative to a general health informatics certification for pharmacists to understand the bigger picture rather than focused on pharmacy informatics.
More info https://ashim.com/health-it-certification/

 

About Vendor-Specific Certificates/Certifications

Some major electronic health record companies will offer certificates/certifications for domains within their enterprise system. These are usually attainable only if you already work for an institution that already uses these EHRs. For some EHRs, you would need to be working for an institution that uses that EHR and they will send you to headquarters for training. For others, you would need to be working for an institution that uses that EHR to allow you to register into their certificate courses online.

Vendor-specific certifications/certificates are very valuable because they demonstrate that you have a deep understanding of the vendor’s specific applications, making you a more “ready-to-go” candidate for a new role. However, these types of credentials may also limit your opportunities to only organizations that use that specific vendor.