Informatics Champions Program Empowers Nurses and Allied Health Professionals in Information Technology Design

UCSF Health Nursing Informatics is empowering frontline nurses and allied health professionals with its first “Informatics Champion” (IC) cohort launched in Spring 2022. Designed to advance the footprint of nursing informatics across the health system, the program improves the engagement of frontline nurses and allied health professionals in information technology design, implementation, and improvement efforts. 

The creation of this program is a step towards the broader vision of infusing Nursing Informatics competencies from the boardroom to the bedside and everywhere in between.

As more and more health systems have a centralized Nursing Informatics team with dedicated career informaticists, there are few models out there that fund direct care clinicians to spend a portion of their shifts on the Nursing Informatics team. Mentored by a Clinical Nurse Informaticist (CNI), these emerging informaticists gain first-hand experience in this specialized field of nursing.

The application cycle opened in May 2022, and over 120 applications were received—illustrating the interest and enthusiasm for this new program! Ten ICs were selected, representing a variety of care areas including Rehab Services, Patient Placement, Procedural Areas, and Inpatient and Outpatient Nursing (both Pediatrics and Adults). Applications were scored using a standard rubric, and the selected ICs spent their first month with their CNI mentors, learning Lean methodology and Design Thinking principles, attending standard governance meetings, and beginning to design their project—a required deliverable to graduate.

Informatics Champions' responsibilities include:

• Representing their departments or units as a subject matter experts in clinical workflows

• Collaborating with clinical stakeholders, informaticists, and analysts

• Acting as a liaison between their clinical care setting and the Informatics team

• Being a champion for EHR change

The ICs are halfway through the program with many of their projects well underway and are expected to each present to the Chief Nurse Executive’s Clinical Operations Committee. Examples of their projects include Streamlining Stroke Documentation, Adverse Drug Reaction Improvements in the Infusion Center, Ambulatory MyChart Telemedicine Documentation Enhancements, and Creating Clinician Efficiencies in Click Reduction for Rehab Services. All ICs will make their final presentations at the graduation ceremony, which is slated for June 20, 2023.

Learn more about the Informatics Champion Program.