Clinical Informatics Specialist I - Full Time

Clinical Informatics Specialist I

Reports to Manager/Director of Informatics

Full Time

Benefits

Wage Scale: $48-$55/hr DOE

Position Summary

The Clinical Informatics Specialist I supports the effective use, optimization, adoption, and governance of clinical and operational information systems. The role serves as a bridge between clinical practice, business operations, information technology, quality improvement, and vendor-supported applications. The Specialist I assists with workflow analysis, requirements gathering, system testing, end-user education, data quality review, issue triage, project coordination, and change adoption across assigned areas.

This is an entry-level clinical informatics role designed for a clinician or health care professional with foundational informatics preparation, strong clinical workflow understanding, and the ability to grow into independent project and optimization responsibilities. The role is not limited to a fixed service line. Assigned areas may change based on organizational priorities, implementation needs, regulatory requirements, quality initiatives, and department capacity.

Purpose and Scope of Practice Alignment

The role is grounded in the professional discipline of nursing and health informatics. The American Nurses Association describes nursing informatics as the specialty that transforms data into needed information and leverages technologies to improve health, health care equity, safety, quality, and outcomes. This position applies that framework at the organizational level by translating clinical and operational needs into safer, more reliable workflows, system requirements, training, and decision-support processes.

Essential Functions

Clinical Workflow and Process Improvement

• Observe, document, and analyze current-state workflows in assigned clinical, ancillary, and operational areas.

• Assist with future-state workflow design using process improvement methods such as DMAIC, observation, root-cause analysis, standard work, and structured problem definition.

• Identify workflow variation, documentation gaps, safety risks, duplication, workarounds, and opportunities for standardization.

• Translate frontline clinical and operational needs into clear requirements, decisions, action items, and change requests.

• Support storytelling and visual communication of workflow problems using process maps, swimlanes, simple data displays, and concise summaries.

EHR and Clinical Systems Support

• Provide first-line clinical informatics support for assigned EHR workflows, clinical applications, documentation tools, and related systems.

• Assist users with system navigation, workflow interpretation, documentation standards, and appropriate use of discrete fields versus narrative notes.

• Participate in issue triage by clarifying the clinical problem, reproducing reported issues when appropriate, documenting impact, and escalating technical issues to Information Technology or vendors.

• Support system optimization requests by gathering requirements, validating clinical intent, assessing workflow impact, and helping prepare decision-ready recommendations.

• Maintain awareness of vendor updates, regulatory changes, and operational system changes that may affect clinical workflow.

Testing, Validation, and Change Support

• Participate in testing of system changes, upgrades, enhancements, clinical content, orders, documentation tools, reports, interfaces, and workflow changes.

• Develop or support test scripts, test scenarios, validation checklists, and end-user acceptance testing materials.

• Document test findings clearly, including expected result, actual result, risk, workflow impact, and recommended next action.

• Assist with change readiness activities, including communication, training preparation, go-live support, issue tracking, and post-implementation review.

• Escalate safety, privacy, compliance, downtime, workflow, or patient-care concerns promptly through appropriate channels.

Education, Training, and Adoption

• Develop and deliver role-based education, job aids, quick-reference tools, tip sheets, workflow guides, and other training materials.

• Provide elbow-to-elbow support, new-user onboarding support, refresher training, and targeted remediation for workflow or documentation gaps.

• Use adult-learning principles and novice-to-expert concepts to support safe adoption of new or changed systems.

• Collaborate with clinical champions, super users, department leaders, and subject matter experts to reinforce standardized workflows.

• Assess education effectiveness through observation, feedback, issue trends, documentation review, and end-user adoption patterns.

Data Quality, Reporting Support, and Decision Support

• Assist with review of clinical and operational data quality, including completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and consistency of documentation.

• Support development and validation of reports, dashboards, audit tools, and data extracts in partnership with Informatics, Quality, department leaders, IT, vendors, and authorized report writers.

• Help distinguish authoritative data sources from informal or shadow tracking tools and promote use of approved reporting pathways.

• Assist with audits and data review for quality improvement, regulatory readiness, patient safety, clinical operations, and leadership decision-making.

• Promote appropriate de-identification or minimum-necessary use of data when using productivity, analysis, reporting, or external tools.

Project and Governance Support

• Support project planning, scope definition, meeting preparation, stakeholder follow-up, timeline tracking, and status reporting for assigned initiatives.

• Participate in governance processes for system changes, workflow decisions, clinical content, training readiness, and prioritization of requests.

• Document decisions, risks, dependencies, open issues, and action items in a clear and timely manner.

• Prepare concise summaries, visuals, and recommendations to help leaders make informed decisions.

• Collaborate across departments while maintaining appropriate role clarity between Informatics, Information Technology, operations, quality, vendors, and clinical leadership.

Privacy, Security, Compliance, and Professional Practice

• Maintain confidentiality of patient, employee, organizational, and system information in accordance with HIPAA, organizational policy, and professional standards.

• Use systems and data only for authorized business, clinical, quality, educational, or operational purposes.

• Support safe and appropriate use of artificial intelligence, productivity tools, spreadsheets, reports, and analytics by applying approved data handling, de-identification, and governance expectations.

• Practice within applicable clinical licensure, professional standards, organizational policies, and assigned informatics responsibilities.

• Demonstrate professional communication, accountability, curiosity, and continuous learning.

Role Boundaries and Collaboration

The Clinical Informatics Specialist I does not replace Information Technology, vendor technical support, department management, or clinical leadership. The position supports clinical workflow translation and adoption while collaborating with the appropriate owners of infrastructure, security, application configuration, interfaces, hardware, access management, policy, and departmental operations.

• Informatics focus: clinical workflow, requirements, testing, education, adoption, optimization, data quality, decision support, and governance participation.

• Information Technology/vendor focus: infrastructure, hardware, network, security tools, technical configuration, interfaces, access provisioning, and vendor-managed build activities, as applicable.

• Department leadership focus: staffing, operational ownership, policy enforcement, performance management, and prioritization of department-specific work.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nursing, health care, health informatics, health information management, clinical discipline, or related field required; equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience may be considered according to HR policy.

• Master’s degree in nursing informatics, health informatics, clinical informatics, nursing, public health, health administration, or related field preferred.

• Current clinical license or health care professional background preferred. Registered Nurse license preferred when assigned work requires nursing practice knowledge.

• At least one year of experience in clinical informatics, EHR super-user work, clinical systems support, quality improvement, project support, workflow redesign, clinical education, or comparable health care operations experience preferred.

• Experience in a hospital, rural health clinic, critical access hospital, ambulatory clinic, emergency department, skilled nursing, ancillary, or revenue-cycle-adjacent workflow preferred.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Working knowledge of clinical workflows, documentation practices, patient safety principles, and health care operations.

• Ability to learn EHR workflows and related systems quickly and translate system behavior into practical end-user guidance.

• Ability to observe workflows objectively, ask clarifying questions, identify process gaps, and separate symptoms from root causes.

• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to summarize complex issues for clinical, operational, technical, and executive audiences.

• Foundational project coordination skills, including tracking action items, documenting decisions, following up on deliverables, and escalating barriers.

• Ability to create simple training materials, process maps, checklists, test scripts, and workflow documentation.

• Basic comfort with Microsoft 365 tools, spreadsheets, shared documents, presentation tools, and collaboration platforms.

• Understanding of HIPAA, minimum necessary use, patient confidentiality, data stewardship, and appropriate handling of sensitive information.

• Ability to work respectfully with clinicians, providers, department leaders, IT staff, vendors, and nonclinical stakeholders.

• Ability to manage competing priorities and maintain professionalism during system issues, go-lives, and operational pressure.

Preferred Knowledge and Experience

• Formal coursework or training in nursing informatics, clinical informatics, health informatics, quality improvement, project management, data analytics, or human-centered design.

• Experience with Oracle Health/Cerner, CommunityWorks, PowerChart, FirstNet, ambulatory workflows, or comparable EHR systems.

• Experience with process improvement tools such as DMAIC, Lean, PDSA, root-cause analysis, standard work, or workflow mapping.

• Experience supporting clinical documentation improvement, medication reconciliation, order workflows, quality measures, regulatory audits, training, testing, or EHR optimization.

• Familiarity with report validation, dashboard interpretation, data quality review, and the difference between discrete data and narrative documentation.

• Certification or progress toward certification in nursing informatics, clinical informatics, project management, quality improvement, Lean/Six Sigma, or related area preferred but not required.

Physical and Work Environment Requirements

• Work is performed in office, clinical, classroom, and patient-care environments.

• May require prolonged computer use, sitting, standing, walking between departments, and occasional participation in go-live or issue-response activities outside usual routines.

• Must be able to communicate effectively in person, by phone, by video meeting, and in writing.

• Must comply with organizational infection prevention, safety, privacy, security, and professional conduct requirements.

Performance Expectations

• Completes assigned work accurately, timely, and with appropriate follow-through.

• Produces clear documentation of workflows, issues, decisions, test results, and training materials.

• Supports users in a professional, calm, and service-oriented manner while maintaining appropriate boundaries.

• Escalates safety, privacy, compliance, technical, and operational risks appropriatel