Expand Your Knowledge: Pharmacy Informatics Certifications / Certificates
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
| 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 |
| 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.
| 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.
April 28, 2020 @ 4:42 am
Thanks!! This is so helpful! I’ve been trying to get into the informatics field for a while now and have been looking for certifications to help confirm my interest/ability as jobs are very competitive!
May 27, 2020 @ 12:14 am
Good luck with your endeavors, Katie! Looking forward to hearing more about your journey in the future.
January 30, 2022 @ 1:18 pm
Hi,
I have bachelors degree in pharmacy and I have 4 years of work experience as a Pharmacy technician .Could please suggest the certification which has better scope .
May 12, 2020 @ 2:43 pm
I think another course that’s helpful especially in the context of hospital informatics is the 340b University. It’s free if you’re at a 340b institution already.
https://www.340bpvp.com/education/340b-university/
May 27, 2020 @ 12:13 am
Thank you for the suggest, Alex! We’ll add it in our next iteration of this document. 340B is definitely important for the institutions that are part of that program.
June 14, 2020 @ 6:14 pm
Hello,
I am entering my P3 year and I’m wondering if it’s too early to get a certificate.
June 14, 2020 @ 7:17 pm
Hi Khalil! Thank you for sending us this question. It is never too early to start looking into a certification. With that being said, these certifications have individual prerequisites that would have to be meant before applying. Hope that helps!
July 22, 2020 @ 9:10 am
Hello,
Which ones (certificate or certification) would you recommend for a student pharmacist to look into doing? I am beginning my P2 year and I wanna really focus on becoming knowledgeable in pharmacy informatics but my school doesn’t offer courses in the area.
October 14, 2020 @ 3:29 am
Depending on what you’re looking for, you could also consider:
* CHIA (Certified Health Informatician of Australasia) https://www.healthinformaticscertification.com/
*The Canadian CPHIMS-CA: https://digitalhealthcanada.com/achieving-cphims-ca/
*IIBA’s (international institute of business analysis) certs https://www.iiba.org/certification/iiba-certifications/ :
business analysis: ECBA > CCBA > CBAP (depending on your experience)
AAC (Agile Analysis)
CCA (Cybersecurity analysis)
CBDA (Data Analytics)
I crammed the CBAP into 12 weeks of study (without doing the earlier levels).
CHIA was about a solid 4 weeks
CCA was a solid 2 weeks.
October 14, 2020 @ 3:58 pm
Hi, I am pharmacist with 8 years of experience as pharmacist in hospital and community pharmacy setup. Now looking for ASHP certificate. What are the perquisites for admission to this course??
November 16, 2020 @ 1:36 pm
Hello Rajendra! You can find more info at http://elearning.ashp.org/products/7193/pharmacy-informatics-certificate-program
September 4, 2021 @ 1:17 am
Hello, it’s not working
December 8, 2021 @ 10:42 pm
They have updated the course and you’ll have to find it on their educational page now
October 23, 2020 @ 7:42 pm
I am about to start a job as a Pharmacy technician. I have BS, MS in non health science field. I would like to progress my career in health industry. I am interest in becoming a Pharmacy Informatics expert in near future. What are possible paths? Any advice is highly appreciated.
November 16, 2020 @ 1:40 pm
Hello Mo, I would suggest getting some of the operational experience as a pharmacy technician first. Once you are well-versed, you can revisit whether you think pharmacy informatics is for you. Keep an eye out during your experience as a pharmacy technician on all the technology tools you will be using!
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