CLINICAL INFORMATICS SPECIALIST I

FLSA Status

Exempt

Job Role Summary

The Clinical Informatics Specialist I reports to the Clinical Informatics Specialist Supervisor. The Clinical Informatics Specialist I (CIS I) acts as a liaison between the hospital’s clinical areas, Quality, Analytics, and Information Services (IS). This includes participation in the determination of the needs and requirements for clinical applications within the health system, assisting with training and development needs, and large scale strategic initiatives involving HIT (health information technology). The CIS I also participates in the evaluation, selection and implementation of clinical systems. This position works with clinical staff and providers to optimize the usage of clinical systems through education and training, quality outcomes and by providing support in accordance with organizational goals.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Collaborates closely with – and communicates between – IT/IS leadership and the clinical community to provide leadership for clinical systems projects and initiatives
• Develops a working knowledge of all clinical information systems in place at Eskenazi Health as well as the infrastructure for the clinical information systems in order to support the staff and leadership in troubleshooting, upgrades and training
• Ensures clinical/operational needs are evaluated and validated in collaboration with IS Solutions teams when implementation plans are developed by collecting input from end users
• Assesses the implications on clinical operations and processes of patient care delivery when assisting in resolution of departmental issues
• With assistance, identifies potential IT or workflow related issues; develops ideas, formulates and implements a plan for modifying system changes, collaborating as needed. Assists with standardization of optimization or enhancement processes to capture such requests across the health system.
• Completes rounds on the patient units as directed and appropriate to support end users and validate clinical workflow
• Clarifies needs, assists with request prioritization and larger scale project requests with Project Management.
• Facilitates adaptation and utilization of the Electronic Health Record (EHR)
• Maintains and updates clinical content within the EHR
• Coordinates with the training teams to educate providers, nursing, pharmacy and ancillary staff as appropriate on workflow, system design, and proposed and actual changes
• Assists in the development of user policies and procedures
• Promotes HIT initiatives to complement evidence based practices, patient safety, and end user workflow efficiency
• Develops specifications that will support the design and successful implementation of clinical applications across the organization
• Manages workflow and business process changes to ensure the success and optimization of new or modified clinical information systems
• Ensures that new or modified clinical information systems maintain patient confidentiality and privacy

Job Requirements

• Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with current RN license, or appropriate clinical degree or certification for area of practice required
• Two years of experience in a clinical setting required
• One year of experience with implementation, redesign or process work that includes clinical system redesign required

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Understanding of Eskenazi Health and the user community
• Basic knowledge of clinical informatics theory, practice, information sciences, information and data management systems, and clinical information systems software applications and configurations
• Ability to analyze clinical operations and structure processes with assistance to facilitate decision making regarding clinical information systems
• Interpersonal skills necessary to be an effective team member and collaborate within a multidisciplinary setting
• Ability to analyze interrelated elements of problems and work systematically to solve them, sometimes with assistance; ability to use sound judgment to develop efficient and feasible resolutions to challenging issues
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with a variety of types of positions and individuals
• Ability to understand a situation, issue or problem by breaking it down into smaller pieces; ability to use a step-by-step approach to evaluate consequences and implications
• Ability to work through difficult problems using “out of the box” thinking
• Ability to set goals and develop appropriate and actionable plans, including timelines and milestones, sometimes with assistance
• Ability to effectively lead small to medium groups of collaborators
• Solid verbal, non-verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions
• Must be proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite and internet navigation
• Ability and willingness to be taught, coached and/or mentored