Digital health and health informatics professionals will have their expertise assessed and certified against a revised set of competencies as healthcare delivery continues to change and evolve in a digital society.
The Australasian Institute of Digital Health has released the 2nd edition of the Australian Health Informatics Competency Framework, to support organisations and professionals in their digital health skills and career development.
AIDH CEO Dr Louise Schaper commended the Certified Health Informatician Australasia (CHIA) Examination Committee, members and other volunteers who had worked tirelessly to develop the world-class competency framework which would underpin professional development in digital health.
Dr Schaper said more than 200 professionals across the Australasian health sector were consulted as part of the competency review process to refine the original 2013 framework.
The review of the competencies by the CHIA Examination Committee, which comprises experts from a range of organisations and professional backgrounds, commenced in 2017 and took into account four years of experience in administering the CHIA program.
Feedback was sought from the Australian digital health education community and recommendations resulted in the simplification and modernisation of the competencies.
“The Institute has been working for many years to build digital health capacity by developing professional career pathways in digital health and health informatics,” Dr Schaper said.
“The competency framework was developed by academic leaders in health informatics following extensive research and comparative modelling of competencies from across the globe,” she said.
“The new framework represented in this document encompasses the dynamic nature of digital health and the challenges and opportunities it presents.”
“Certification recognises the depth of expertise in digital health and health informatics and is a critical pathway to a digitally enabled health workforce. It helps raise the profile of digital health leaders, contributes to wider recognition of the profession, and clearly defines the knowledge underpinning digital health.”
The Australian Health Informatics Competency Framework is available through AIDH.