Career Spotlight: Pharmacy Informatics

By Sarah M. Lawrence
PharmD Candidate 2011

What is pharmacy informatics?

According to the Health Care Information Management and Systems Society, pharmacy informatics focuses on medication related knowledge and data within health care systems. Informatics consists of the “acquisition, storage, analysis, use and dissemination” of data to help provide safe, evidenced-based patient care.

Informatics professionals focus on the development, application and implementation of technology for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to support and streamline workflow. Informaticists also help develop and continually improve upon best practices and systems to increase efficiency and improve patient safety.

Informaticists work with computers and technology, help develop clinical guidelines and maintain and implement information and communication systems. They often work in multi-disciplinary teams for the planning, development, implementation and maintenance of new health care related technologies such as Computerized Prescriber Order Entry (CPOE) and Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA).

Although technology is an important aspect of pharmacy informatics, and all informaticists must be comfortable with a variety of technologies, informatics is a field distinct from information technology (IT) or information systems (IS). What sets the informatics professional apart from IT or IS professionals is the advanced clinical training that comes from formal education in pharmacy (bachelor’s degree or PharmD), residency training and/or on the job pharmacy experience.

Clinical knowledge is an integral part of pharmacy informatics because informatics pharmacists must be able to develop, implement, test and maintain systems that assist health care professionals with advanced tasks such as diagnosis and treatment that require clinical decision making skills. Because informatics pharmacists have extensive clinical training and medication knowledge, they are uniquely positioned to fulfill this role.

Why is pharmacy informatics important?

Although still an emerging field, the continued development and integration of technology into health systems will further expand the role of informatics and informatics pharmacists in health care organizations of all sizes.

New technologies to advance patient care and promote the effective delivery of health care services are always being developed. Informatics pharmacists are at the forefront of efforts to refine and improve currently available systems and encourage the creation of newer and even more efficient methods to achieve safer and more effective medication usage.

The use of technologies such as CPOE, BCMA, clinical decision support, robotics, automated dispensing cabinets, intelligent infusion devices and telepharmacy has grown exponentially in the last decade. Such innovations represent a splendid opportunity for the trained informatics pharmacist to integrate his or her clinical skills with knowledge of technology and information systems to improve and streamline the medication use process.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding and the Meaningful Use discussion have brought considerable attention to the issue of integrating technology into health care delivery. Demand for trained informatics professionals is growing, because implementation of systems such as CPOE and BCMA has accelerated.

Pharmacy students who enjoy working with technology, are detail oriented and who are interested in creating and developing innovations to improve patient care may wish to consider a career in pharmacy informatics. The ideal candidate will be able to integrate his or her understanding of technology with his clinical knowledge to be not only a champion for patient career, but also an advocate for the clinicians who use health care information technology systems.

How can students prepare for a career in pharmacy informatics?

Some pharmacy students may have pharmacy informatics as a required or elective part of the PharmD curriculum. Others may have exposure to the field through clerkships or rotations in organizations with active pharmacy informatics departments.

If your college of pharmacy does not offer a formal pharmacy informatics rotation, it may be possible to arrange elective rotations either at local hospitals or at away sites. Your office of experiential education may be able to assist you with locating appropriate sites and opportunities.

Students can also visit the ASHP Career Center to browse profiles of practicing informatics pharmacists who are willing to answer student questions via email: http://www.ashp.org/Import/MEMBERCENTER/StudentForum/CareerCenter/Career-Profiles.aspx

For those who desire more in-depth knowledge and/or aspire to a career in pharmacy informatics, post-graduation training is also available. Most pharmacy informatics programs are PGY-2 residencies and require completion of a PGY-1 pharmacy practice residency for admission. One and two year fellowships are also available.

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists maintains a directory of pharmacy informatics specialty residency and fellowship programs located at: http://www.ashp.org/DocLibrary/MemberCenter/SOPIT/InformaticsSpecialtyProgramMatrix.aspx

For more information

American Medical Informatics Association: https://www.amia.org/

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists: http://www.ashp.org/informatics

Health care Information Management and Systems Society: http://www.himss.org

References

Dumitru D. The Pharmacy Informatics Primer. Bethesda (MD): American Society of Health-System Pharmacists; 2009

Simpson NJ and Kleinberg KA. Implementation Guide to Bar Coding and Auto-ID in Healthcare: Improving Quality and Patient Safety. Chicago (IL): HIMSS; 2009