The certifications, the eligibility rules, and the order that makes sense for medical and allied health professionals.
Healthcare runs on data and digital systems in 2026 in a way it did not a decade ago. Electronic health records, clinical decision support, telehealth platforms, and the steady arrival of artificial intelligence into clinical settings have created a genuine and growing need for professionals who understand both the clinical side of healthcare and the information systems that now sit underneath it. That intersection is health informatics, and for medical and allied health professionals it represents one of the more promising career directions available.
An earlier article on this site looked specifically at nursing informatics – the path for registered nurses moving toward technology-adjacent roles. This article takes a broader view. It is a step-by-step guide to health informatics certification for a wider audience: doctors considering a move away from or alongside full-time clinical practice, allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and medical technologists, health information management staff, and clinical professionals of many kinds who want to formalise a move into the informatics field.
The good news is that the certification pathway is reasonably clear once you understand how the credentials are structured. The aim of this article is to make that structure plain, so that you can see which certification fits your situation and what the realistic steps are to earn it.
What health informatics work involves
Before looking at certifications, it is worth being clear about what the field actually is, because health informatics covers a wider range of work than the name might suggest.
Health informatics professionals work at the point where clinical care meets information systems. Some focus on electronic health record systems – designing how they work, optimising clinical workflows within them, training clinical staff, and resolving the friction between how a system was built and how clinicians actually need to use it. Some focus on clinical data – building reports and dashboards, analysing patterns in patient outcomes, and supporting decisions with evidence drawn from the organisation’s own data. Some focus on implementation – leading the rollout of new clinical systems and technologies, managing the change process, and making sure new tools genuinely fit clinical practice. Some focus on strategy – guiding how a healthcare organisation approaches its digital transformation over years rather than months.
The common thread is the combination of clinical understanding and systems understanding. Healthcare organisations specifically need people who can bridge those two worlds, because pure technology professionals often do not understand clinical reality, and pure clinical professionals often cannot engage deeply with the systems. A doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or allied health professional who adds genuine informatics capability becomes that bridge, and the bridge is valuable.
The two main certification bodies and what they offer
Health informatics certification in 2026 is dominated by two organisations, and understanding the difference between them is the first step in choosing your path.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, known as HIMSS, offers certifications that are open to professionals from any educational background. HIMSS credentials are based on a combination of knowledge, education, and experience rather than on holding a specific informatics degree. This makes them accessible to doctors and allied health professionals who want to move into informatics without first completing a dedicated informatics degree. The three HIMSS certifications relevant here are CAHIMS, CPHIMS, and CPDHTS, described in detail below.
The American Health Information Management Association, known as AHIMA, offers certifications that are longer-established and, in some cases, more frequently named as requirements in health information management job postings. However, the main AHIMA academic credentials – the RHIT and the RHIA – require a degree in health informatics or health information management from a programme accredited by the relevant accrediting body. This makes AHIMA’s academic credentials a more natural fit for people who are entering the field through a dedicated informatics education, rather than clinical professionals adding informatics to an existing medical or allied health qualification.
For most of the audience of this article – doctors and allied health professionals who already hold a clinical qualification and want to add informatics capability – the HIMSS pathway is generally the more practical route, because it does not require going back for a specific informatics degree. The rest of this guide focuses primarily on the HIMSS certifications for that reason, while noting where the AHIMA route makes sense.
The HIMSS certifications, step by step
CAHIMS – the entry point
The Certified Associate in Healthcare Information and Management Systems, known as CAHIMS, is the entry-level HIMSS credential. It is designed for professionals who are newer to digital health, including early-career professionals and career changers, and it is the natural starting point for a clinical professional moving into informatics.
The eligibility rules are accessible. There is no requirement to hold an informatics degree. To qualify for the CAHIMS exam, a candidate with a degree needs either at least 25 hours of continuing education in healthcare information technology, digital health, or informatics, aligned with the published exam topics, or at least 75 hours of experience in any IT and healthcare setting, which can include volunteer work, a practicum, an internship, or paid work. For candidates without a degree, the thresholds are higher – 45 hours of relevant continuing education or 150 hours of experience. For a doctor or allied health professional, who by definition holds a degree, the lower thresholds apply, and the continuing education requirement is modest enough to complete in a focused period of study.
The exam itself is two hours long and contains 115 multiple-choice questions, of which 100 are scored. It covers systems analysis, clinical informatics, and project management, giving a well-rounded foundation across the field. It is administered remotely through a secure proctored platform, and candidates have up to 90 days from registration to sit it. The exam fee is 359 dollars. The certification is valid for three years, after which it is maintained either by retaking the exam or by completing continuing education hours and paying a renewal fee.
For a clinical professional, CAHIMS is the sensible first step. It validates foundational informatics knowledge, it signals to employers a serious commitment to the field, and it requires no degree beyond the clinical qualification you already hold. The realistic preparation time, using the HIMSS candidate handbook, review materials, and the self-assessment practice exam, is a few months of part-time study.
CPHIMS – the experienced professional credential
The Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems, known as CPHIMS, is the credential for experienced informatics professionals, and it is where the field’s leadership-track recognition sits. More than half of CPHIMS holders are in leadership roles – chief information officers, directors, managers, and senior clinical and executive staff.
CPHIMS is not an entry-level credential, and the eligibility rules reflect that. A candidate with a bachelor’s degree needs five years of information and management systems experience, three of those years in a healthcare setting. A candidate with a graduate degree needs three years of such experience, two in a healthcare setting. A candidate without a degree needs at least ten years of experience, eight in healthcare.
For a doctor or allied health professional, this means CPHIMS is a goal for later rather than a starting point. The realistic path is to earn CAHIMS first, move into an informatics role, accumulate the required years of informatics experience, and then pursue CPHIMS once eligible. The exam is two hours and 115 questions, covering the full span of the field from the systems development lifecycle through management and leadership. Knowing that CPHIMS sits at this stage of the path is useful, because it shows where the early steps lead.
CPDHTS – the digital health strategy credential
The Certified Professional in Digital Health Transformation Strategy, known as CPDHTS, is a more recent HIMSS credential aimed at advanced professionals who specialise in the strategy side of digital health – change management, governance, and tracking the results of digital transformation programmes.
This is a specialised, advanced credential rather than a general informatics certification. It is worth knowing about for clinical professionals who, several years into an informatics career, find themselves drawn specifically toward the strategic and organisational side of digital health rather than the systems or data side. It is not a starting point and not a credential to pursue early.
Where the AHIMA route makes sense
For completeness, the AHIMA pathway is worth a brief, honest note. AHIMA’s academic credentials – the Registered Health Information Technician, or RHIT, and the Registered Health Information Administrator, or RHIA – are well-established and frequently recognised, particularly in health information management roles. The RHIT exam fee is 299 dollars.
The significant point is the prerequisite. AHIMA’s academic credentials require a degree in health informatics or health information management from a programme accredited by the relevant accrediting body. This means the AHIMA academic route is a natural fit for someone entering the field through a dedicated informatics education, but a less efficient route for a doctor or allied health professional who already holds a clinical qualification, because it would require returning for a further specific degree.
If you are a clinical professional adding informatics to an existing qualification, the HIMSS route is generally more efficient. If you are entering health information work without a clinical background and are willing to pursue a dedicated accredited informatics degree, the AHIMA credentials become more relevant. The right choice depends genuinely on your starting point.
A step-by-step path for a clinical professional
Drawing the above together, here is a realistic step-by-step path for a doctor or allied health professional who wants to move into health informatics.
The first step is to confirm the field genuinely suits you before investing money. Health informatics work is largely systems-oriented and data-oriented, conducted away from direct patient care. Some clinical professionals find this a welcome change and others find they miss patient contact. Before committing, seek out informatics-adjacent exposure in your current role – involvement in an electronic health record project, participation in a clinical informatics committee, a role as a system super user. This exposure tells you whether the work suits you, and it simultaneously builds the experience hours that count toward CAHIMS eligibility.
The second step is to meet CAHIMS eligibility. As a degree holder, you need either 25 hours of relevant continuing education or 75 hours of experience in an IT and healthcare setting. The continuing education route is straightforward to plan – HIMSS-approved education partners and a range of accredited providers offer suitable courses. The experience route is satisfied naturally if you have taken on the informatics-adjacent work suggested in step one.
The third step is to prepare for and pass the CAHIMS exam. Use the official HIMSS candidate handbook to understand the exam’s scope, work through review materials and the self-assessment practice exam, and give yourself a few months of consistent part-time preparation. The total cost at this stage – the 359 dollar exam fee plus continuing education and study materials – is modest relative to the career value of the credential.
The fourth step is to move into an informatics role. With CAHIMS earned and your clinical background as a foundation, you become a credible candidate for clinical informatics specialist roles, health IT analyst roles, and similar positions. For many clinical professionals, the most accessible first move is internal – within a healthcare organisation that already knows and trusts you – rather than external.
The fifth step is to build experience toward CPHIMS. Once you are working in informatics, the years of experience accumulate, and CPHIMS becomes attainable. Earning it positions you for the leadership-track roles where the field’s senior compensation and influence sit.
This is a realistic, structured, multi-year path. It does not promise an immediate transformation, because no genuine career move works that way. It does describe a clear sequence from a clinical qualification to a credentialed, leadership-capable position in one of the more durable and growing areas of modern healthcare.
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An honest closing note
Health informatics is a genuine opportunity for medical and allied health professionals, but it deserves the same honest framing as every other path covered on this site. It suits clinical professionals who are genuinely interested in systems, data, and process – and it disappoints those who pursue it only as an escape from clinical work without a positive interest in the informatics work itself. The certification process is accessible and the career growth is real, but the credential is the beginning of the path, not the destination. The genuine value comes from doing the work well over years, with the certification as the formal proof that you have entered the field seriously.
If you have a specific question about health informatics certification or about moving into the field from your particular clinical background, write to me at editor@degreeplusdaily.com. I read every email.
Chinnagounder Thiruvenkatam, Publisher and Editor
