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Professionalism

Overview

A professional is an individual:

  • who takes responsibility for their own actions
  • who adheres to good governance that directs behaviour
  • who meets entry and ongoing competence standards
  • who abides by ethical and moral principles and
  • whose practices contribute to leadership in their profession.

All clinical professions require registration and Health Informatics professionals are integral to the team - they should be similarly recognised.

The growing emphasis on patient/client safety, coupled with the increasing complexity of healthcare and social care sets, professional informaticians and technicians in these sectors apart from their colleagues in other public services and industry.

In the Health Informatics domain, the safety of patients relies very heavily on the information that supports clinical and management decision making, and therefore on the informaticians that handle and process it. Health Informatics is 'a challenging, multidisciplinary field' and should be recognised as such.

Resources

Further information

The following sections provide details of and links to professional bodies, associations, societies and accrediting organisations relevant to the domain of Health Informatics. Any omissions are unintentional.

UK Council for Health Informatics Professions

The UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP) was established to promote professionalism in Health Informatics across healthcare and the UK. Its objective isto support individuals working in Health Informatics by providing independent accreditation of their qualifications and experience, and a mechanism to demonstrate Continuing Professional Development (CPD) as evidence of their fitness to practice.

To register, individuals must sign up to a professional code of conduct and be assessed against industry standards. When their application for registration is approved, they are included in an open register of Health Informatics professionals for a period of twelve months.

Registration may be renewed by continued acceptance of the code of conduct and providing evidence that planned or alternative CPD has been achieved.

The benefits of accredited registration to the individual are that it:

  • provides independent evidence that demonstrates you have achieved a level of professionalism.
  • shows your employer that you are a professional with commitment to developing yourself.
  • demonstrates, by independent assessment against industry standards, the level to which you are capable of working.
  • indicates that you warrant being treated as a professional, in situations like job grading, promotions and job security.
  • can set you apart from others when applying for jobs and progressing through your career.

The benefits of accredited registration to employers are that it:

  • shows an employer's commitment to developing the professional status of Health Informatics staff and will attract candidates for advertised posts and help in retention of good staff.
  • gives an independent indication that job candidates have the qualifications and experience to work at the given level, agree to work to a code of conduct and that they will carry out continuing professional development.
  • can be specified in role profiles and job advertisements to indicate the calibre of candidates sought.
  • provides employers with a tool for recruitment and selection when initially evaluating candidates.

ASSIST

The Association for Informatics Professionals in Health and Social Care (ASSIST) is a member group of the British Computer Society. It is a professional association for those working inand forinformatics in healthcare and social care.

Its objective is to develop professionalism and professional standards, and to work with other bodies including government, to provide a voice for informatics professionals.

British Computer Society

The British Computer Society (BCS) is the leading professional body for those working in IT. Its objects are to promote the study and practice of computing and to advance knowledge of and education in IT for the benefit of the public. It has a world-wide membership of over 60,000 members in over 100 countries, BCS is the qualifying body for Chartered IT Professionals (CITP).

British Computer Society Health Informatics Forum

The BCS Health Informatics Forum (BCSHIF) was formed to cover all aspects of Informatics in support of Health. The Forum provides leadership in this sector, acting as a source of professionally recognised expertise, under-pinning the outward-facing role of BCS, and ensuring that contributors to Health Informatics are recognised and respected.

The BCS Health Informatics Groups are integral to BCSHIF's work. The chair of each group sits on the Forum's Strategic Panel and all are part of any decision making. Groups run their own events as well as participating in BCSHIF events, often running sessions within them. Further details about the Health Informatics Specialist Groups may be found through the following links:

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) is the professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers.

CILIP speaks on behalf of the profession to the media, government and decision makers, and provides practical support for members throughout their entire careers, helping them with their academic education, professional qualifications, job hunting and continuing professional development.

Institute of Health Record & Information Management

Institute of Health Record & Information Management (IHRIM) was established primarily as an educational body.

Its objectives are to provide qualifications at different levels, as well as career and professional assistance for members working in the field of health records, information, clinical coding and related professions. The Institute also provides a lobby voice at government level on topics of interest and concern to the profession.

Professional Association of Clinical Coders (UK)

The Professional Association of Clinical Coders (UK), PACC(UK), was formed to improve the profile and status of clinical coders and other professionals working within the UK clinical classifications arena.

The Associations' primary objective is to help raise the profile of Clinical Coders and to promote the understanding of the value of coded data. In order to achieve this the Association makes representations on behalf of the profession, provides a forum for Clinical Coders and those interested in the classification of health data and is actively promoting the professional practice of clinical coding in the UK.

UK Health Informatics Society

The UK Health Informatics Society (UKHIS) operates as a learned society and has developed from the British Medical Informatics Society (BMiS).

The Society's purpose is to advance the knowledge and application of medical and health informatics, understood as the skills and tools that enable the sharing and use of information to deliver healthcare and promote health.

Association for Project Management

The Association for Project Management (APM) is the professional body whose aim is to develop and promote the professional disciplines of project and programme management for the public benefit across all sectors of industry and beyond.

Office of Government Commerce

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is an office of HM Treasury, responsible for improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in procurement, from commodities buying to the delivery of major capital projects.

As part of its role, OGC provides awide range of resources tohelp the management of programmes and projects, particularly the PRINCE2 methodology. OGC's partner, the APM Group Ltd (APMG) is responsible for maintaining standards in training and certification in PRINCE2 by accrediting organisations and individuals. Further details are available from http://www.prince2.org.uk.

Institute of IT Training

The Institute of IT Training (IITT) is the world's first professional body for IT training professionals. It exists to continuously raise standards of professionalism within the training industry and focuses on enhancing and recognising the skills and professional status of individuals and organisations engaged in training activities, and assessing the quality of training services.

International Medical Informatics Association

The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) is an independent organisation established under Swiss law in 1989. It has close ties with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Non Government Organization.

IMIA plays a major global role in the application of information science and technology in the fields of healthcare and research in medical, health and bio informatics. The autonomous European Regional Council of IMIA is the European Federation of Medical Informatics (EFMI).

Institute of Healthcare Management

The Institute of Healthcare Management (IHM) is the professional organisation for managers throughout healthcare, including the NHS, Independent Providers, Healthcare Consultants and the Armed Forces. The IHM's focus is improving patient/user care wherever and whenever they need healthcare; the route to achieving this is through the promotion of excellence in healthcare management.

Government IT Profession

The Government IT Profession is a community within the Chief Information Officer Council. It aims to bring together all IT professionals working across the UK public sector - UK Government departments and agencies, local government, the health sector, the emergency services and right across the wider public sector. This community stretches from new entrants through to the members of the CIO Council.

International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth

The International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH) exists to facilitate the international dissemination of knowledge and experience in Telemedicine and eHealth and to provide access to recognized experts in the field worldwide.

UK eHealth Association

The UK eHealth Association is a professional association, established to promote the development of eHealth in the UK, in order to achieve the health, economic and other benefits that these activities make possible. It provides a forum for professionals in hospitals and other institutions, companies and individuals to share information, ideas and expertise in this important and exciting field.

Intellect

Intellect is the trade association for the UK technology industry. The Healthcare Council and the Healthcare Group aim to develop and coordinate Intellect healthcare policy and communications across the UK and overseas healthcare markets, and facilitate dialogue between government and industry on the modernisation of health IT.

UK Faculty of Health Informatics

The UK Faculty of Health Informatics is a UK wide community of practice established in 2005. The Faculty has over 400 members who are senior figures with a passion for Health Informatics and the improvements it can bring for patients and healthcare organisations.

The Faculty provides applied research on HI subjects, disseminates good practice and leading edge thinking in the HI field and organises learning and development opportunities for members through master classes, workshops and forums.

Others for consideration:

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