In 2009, the U.S. government enacted the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, incentivizing health care organizations and providers to implement electronic health record (EHR) systems to improve the quality and efficiency of health care.1 Hospitals and health care organizations with EHRs amass patient data in electronic form that can be explored and analyzed with the goals of improving patient care, optimizing resource allocation and utilization, and enhancing decision-making at the clinical and enterprise levels.2 The pursuit of these goals has created an increasing demand for competently trained individuals who are well-versed in both the medical and information sciences.3
To meet this demand, the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) spearheaded the establishment of professional-level education and certification for physicians in informatics, leading to development of clinical informatics as a formal, board-certified medical subspecialty.4 AMIA is widely considered to be the specialty...