Nurse Informaticist

At Houston Methodist, the Nurse Informaticist position is responsible for leadership, planning, and coordination of technology initiatives to meet clinical business goals and objectives for customers and serves as the architect for innovative technology solutions to enhance clinical practice. This position educates and assists leadership in developing strategies to respond to industry drivers that can be impacted by information solutions; the incumbent will interact with all levels of the organization, from front-line staff to senior management. The Nurse Informaticist position collaborates with executive leaders and system hospitals for sharing best practices, reporting methodologies, and ensuring a system approach to decisions. This position collaborates with information technology (IT) and clinical leaders/executives on strategic initiative spanning over years that impact business operations and works to ensure project success.

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Serves as liaison between IT and hospital leadership to facilitate system enhancement decisions through the governance process for impacted groups.

• Leads Subject Matter Experts (SME's) and super users' engagement in design, usability, and system testing.

• Coordinates and/or provides direct support to clinicians for EHR and other clinical systems and technology changes, implementations, or downtimes.

• Advises Senior Leadership on the role and function of information management in operations and on information systems and technology trends.

• Participates in hospital-wide and system-wide committees as a designee of the Chief Nursing Informatics Executive to impact technology decisions that improve organizational processes, performance, and outcomes.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Assesses opportunities for technology improvements through collaboration with frontline clinicians to understand workflows and review of data to accurately define the problem, develop solutions to defined outcomes.

• Develops and implements communication strategies throughout the organization/system to ensure accurate information regarding key technology initiatives: goals, objectives, purpose, improvement strategies, status, and outcomes.

• Facilitates, plans, and directs the development, implementation, evaluation, and optimization of new applications, enhancement to existing applications, or technologies to ensure clinical/nursing goals are achieved.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Supports development and adoption of standards for evidenced-based knowledge practice and collaborates with educators to create education or competencies as appropriate.

• Ensures clinical systems design compliance with regulatory and certification program requirements in collaboration with quality and regulatory experts.

• Leads in the development and execution of clinical integration and improvement strategies for value-added patient outcomes, enhance efficiencies and reduced variation in care.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Collaborates with customers in the creation of business cases for new technologies, including cost/benefit analysis for customer base and system selection efforts and to plan for budget considerations related to technology.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Analyzes data, industry trends, and best practices for identification of improvement opportunities and innovative approaches that drive achievement of organizational strategic initiatives and goals.

• Takes responsibility for own professional development. Completes the My Development Plan (MDP).

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; the employee will also perform other reasonably related business/job duties as assigned. Houston Methodist reserves the right to revise job duties and responsibilities as the need arises. EDUCATION

• Bachelor's degree in Nursing

• Master's degree in Nursing, Business Administration or Healthcare Administration

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Six years experience in nursing or related healthcare experience

• Two years experience in informatics or IT systems management and implementation preferred

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - REQUIRED

• RN - Registered Nurse - Texas State Licensure and/or Compact State Licensure within 60 days OR
• RN-Temp - Registered Nurse - Temporary State Licensure within 60 days AND
• EPIC - Certification -- Epic proficiency or certification in at least one Epic clinical module or in clinical informatics within 1 year

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - PREFERRED

• RN-BC - Informatics Nurse (ANCC) AND
• CPHIMS - Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations

• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security

• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles

• Demonstrates outstanding relationship building skills

• Strong knowledge of workflows within the system

• Ability to facilitate just in time training for end users

• Demonstrated program management skills and advanced change management methodologies

• Understanding of current IT environment to support appropriate system selections and system wide functionalities

• Ability to demonstrate and embrace creativity and innovation

• Ability to collaborate and work successfully with all levels of the organization to gain buy- in and support for program success

• Ability to think strategically and execute strategic programs that drive business success.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform No
• Scrubs No
• Business professional Yes
• Other (department approved) No

ON-CALL*
*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. DIsaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* Yes

TRAVEL**
**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes

Company Profile:

Houston Methodist is one of the nation’s leading health systems and academic medical centers. Houston Methodist consists of eight hospitals: Houston Methodist Hospital, its flagship academic hospital in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, and seven community hospitals throughout the greater Houston area. Houston Methodist also includes an academic institute, a comprehensive residency program, a global business division, numerous physician practices and several free-standing emergency rooms and outpatient facilities. Overall, Houston Methodist employs more than 27,000 employees and is supported by a wide variety of business functions that operate at the system level to help enable clinical departments to provide high quality patient care.

Houston Methodist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Equal employment opportunity is a sound and just concept to which Houston Methodist is firmly bound. Houston Methodist will not engage in discrimination against or harassment of any person employed or seeking employment with Houston Methodist on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, status as a protected veteran or other characteristics protected by law. VEVRAA Federal Contractor – priority referral Protected Veterans requested.

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