AMIA Q&A

Q. What kind of organization is AMIA and how long has it been active?

A. AMIA, a professional association, is the center of action for more than 4,000 healthcare professionals, informatics researchers, and thought leaders in biomedicine, health care and science. AMIA connects a broad community of professionals and students—from 65 countries—with professional interests in informatics. AMIA serves, too, as an unbiased, authoritative source within the informatics community and the healthcare industry. AMIA and its members are transforming health care through trusted science, education and practice in biomedical and health informatics.

AMIA was formed by the merger of three organizations in 1989: the American Association for Medical Systems and Informatics (AAMSI); the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI); and the Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care (SCAMC). For more than 35 years, AMIA has sponsored educational meetings, policy-focused activities and publication of informatics research. AMIA continues to gain influence as the authoritative voice in the growing field of informatics through the individual and collective efforts of its members who continue to drive thought leadership, research and practice in their respective disciplines.

Q. Who are AMIA’s members?

A. AMIA members are subject matter experts in the science of informatics as it relates to clinical care, research, education, and policy. Individual members include:

• Physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and other clinicians
• Researchers and educators
• Biomedical and health science librarians
• Advanced students pursuing a career in informatics
• Scientists and developers
• Government officials and policymakers
• Consultants and industry professionals

AMIA members play a leading role in moving basic research findings from bench to bedside, evaluating interventions across communities, assessing the affect of health innovations on health policy, and working to advance the field of informatics.

AMIA also welcomes Corporate Members, and academic institutions as members of its Academic Forum.

Q. What is informatics?

A. Informatics is the science of how to use data, information and knowledge to improve human health and the delivery of healthcare services. AMIA represents and serves leading informaticians, including clinicians, scientists, researchers, educators, students and other informatics professionals, who rely on data to connect people, information and technology.

Q. What is AMIA’s mission?

A. AMIA supports its membership’s interests through education, advocacy, and outreach. It actively supports professionals in five domains:

• Translational bioinformatics
• Clinical research informatics
• Clinical informatics
• Consumer health informatics
• Public health informatics

AMIA works to move informatics education forward and to make informatics a widely recognized profession. AMIA provides various levels of education to provide high-value, practical information that addresses multiple emerging informatics roles and responsibilities. AMIA relies on a broad-based, inclusive approach to support workforce development and training of new professionals, and also supports informatics professionals, academics, industry professionals and the educational needs of non-professionals.

Q. What kinds of educational programs does AMIA offer?

A. AMIA provides educational programs and content, customized for its multidisciplinary members, online and in person throughout the year. Many activities are eligible for continuing education credit. AMIA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

AMIA will present its 36th Annual Symposium on Biomedical and Health Informatics, Nov. 3-7, 2012, in Chicago Illinois. The Annual Symposium, widely regarded as the world’s most comprehensive meeting on biomedical and health informatics, provides a broad range of scientific sessions on timely topics in the five domains, computer science, natural language processing, data mining, EHRs and meaningful use of them, global informatics, quality measurement and much, much more.

AMIA’s distance learning program, called '10 X 10' is geared towards training the next generation of informatics leaders. These online training courses are conducted in collaboration with key academic partners in the biomedical and health informatics education community, including 11 academic partners and several professional associations.

Other programs developed for special communities of professionals include AMIA's CMIO Boot Camp, a four-day immersion program providing essential knowledge and tools for Chief Medical Information Officers, and the Joint Summits on Translational Science: comprised of the Summit on Translational Bioinformatics (TBI) and the Summit on Clinical Research Informatics (CRI).

Last but not least, is AMIA’s bimonthly journal, JAMIA, the premier scholarly journal that reports what is happening in biomedical and health informatics: in research, application, training, and policy. JAMIA has the highest impact factor of any scientific research journal in its category. AMIA publishes JAMIA jointly with the BMJ Publishing Group, UK.

Q. How do AMIA members distinguish themselves in the health and healthcare sectors?

A. Within AMIA, the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) functions as an honorific college of elected Fellows who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of medical informatics. ACMI Fellows earn the credential, FACMI, to indicate their achievement as informatics experts. ACMI is the communal center for approximately 350 scholars and practitioners who have demonstrated their commitment to advancing the informatics field.

Q. Who leads AMIA?

A. AMIA is advised by highly respected, nationally prominent informatics leaders who comprise its 19-member board of directors. Board members, elected by AMIA members, guide AMIA's policies and objectives. The chair of the board is a volunteer position, assumed by an AMIA member for a multi-year term. Kevin M. Fickenscher, MD, CPE, FACPE, FAAFP is the President & CEO. Full-time staff-run day-to-day operations from AMIA’s national offices in Bethesda, Md.

For more information about AMIA, contact AMIA Communications, communications@amia.org.