Nursing Informatics Groups Form Alliance

[rninformatics, DNP, RN]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nursing Informatics Groups Form Alliance through HIMSS and AMIA to Provide Unified Structure

CHICAGO & WASHINGTON, DC (October 19, 2004) - Eighteen national and regional nursing informatics groups have established the Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI). The boards of directors for both the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Healthcare Management Systems Society (HIMSS) have agreed to provide ongoing support, coordination, and leadership for the Alliance.

The Alliance represents more than 2,000 nurses and brings together 18 distinct nursing informatics groups in the United States that function separately at local, regional, national and international levels and have established programs, publications and organizational structures for their members. The ANI Steering Team will consist of representatives of organizational groups that have a nursing informatics focus and will guide the strategic goals and activities of the Alliance throughout the year. The members of the Capital Area Roundtable on Informatics in Nursing (CARING) were instrumental in the formation of the Alliance for Nursing Informatics providing support and leadership throughout the collaboration process. In addition, the American Nurses Association (ANA) assisted in developing the Alliance.

" This alliance provides the structure and synergy needed to support the efforts of nursing informatics professionals in the improved delivery of health care," said Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN, BC, CPHIMS, and HIMSS' director of professional services. Most of the nursing informatics groups that participate in the Alliance do not have professional staff and depend on the volunteer efforts of their members to organize programs and activities. "As more health care organizations adopt electronic health records and technology solutions, nurses who manage and work in the nursing informatics field have increasingly vital roles in designing and implementing systems that enhance the safety and efficiency of patient care."

The basic objectives of the Alliance are to:

*provide a consolidated forum for the nursing informatics community

*provide input to a nursing informatics research agenda to the Department of Health and Human Services and other government entities and funding sources

*facilitate the dissemination of nursing informatics best practices

*present the collective voice of the nursing informatics specialty in national public policy initiatives and standards activities

"The Alliance for Nursing Informatics represents an unprecedented commitment to the power of collaboration within the nursing informatics community," said Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, and chair of the American Medical Informatics Association's Nursing Informatics Working Group. "National health information technology strategic initiatives will benefit from the ability of the ANI to act as a whole, responding and participating in informatics-related issues and opportunities. The contribution that nursing plays in the consumer-centric, information-rich electronic health record initiative will benefit from the plethora of nursing education, research, and practice knowledge, given a voice through the Alliance."

The operational procedures and governing infrastructure for the Alliance for Nursing Informatics are now being developed. AMIA and HIMSS will each appoint a nurse informatician to serve as a co-chair of the Alliance to work with the ANI Steering Team, which includes a representative from each of the 18 participating organizations.

"The contributions of nursing informatics to the improvement of health care quality and access as well as to research and education are impressive. The Alliance for Nursing Informatics will serve to further increase the pace and scale of this progress. AMIA is excited about this venture, working with HIMSS and the Alliance, and gives it our wholehearted support," said Dr. Don Detmer, AMIA president and chief executive officer.

The nursing informatics organizations/groups that are affiliating with the Alliance for Nursing Informatics are:

AMIAAmerican Medical Informatics Association Nursing Informatics Working Group

ANAAmerican Nurses Association (Liaison)

ANIA American Nursing Informatics Association

BANIC Boston Area Nursing Informatics Consortium

CARING Capital Area Roundtable on Informatics in Nursing

CSRA-CIN Central Savannah River Area Clinical Informatics Network

CHINConnecticut Healthcare Informatics Network

DVNCN Delaware Valley Nursing Computer Network

HINJHealth Informatics of New Jersey

HIMSS Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

Nursing Informatics Community (includes former members of the Midwest Alliance for Nursing Informatics (MANI) that recently merged w/HIMSS)

Iowa HIMSS Nursing Informatics Committee

INFOInformatics Nurses From Ohio

MNINMichigan Nursing Informatics Network

MININGMinnesota Nursing Informatics Group

CONINorth Carolina State Nurses Association Council on NI

NISCNENursing Information Systems Council of New England

PISUGPerinatal Information Systems User Group

PSNI Puget Sound Nursing Informatics

SCINNSouth Carolina Informatics Nursing Network

UNINUtah Nursing Informatics Network

"HIMSS recognizes the expertise and contributions of nursing informatics professionals to the quality delivery of health care," said H. Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president and CEO. "We look forward to working with AMIA and the members of the Alliance for Nursing Informatics as we continue to strive for the adoption of electronic health records in all facets of the health care system."