The ABPM Clinical Informatics board certification is a physician subspecialty. To sit for it you need current primary board certification from a physician board, so nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and other health professionals cannot take it (ABPM).
That does not leave you without a credential. There are two well-established options outside the physician boards:
- AHIC, the AMIA Health Informatics Certification, open to informatics professionals from any background.
- NI-BC, the Nursing Informatics board certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), for registered nurses.
Side-by-side comparison
| ABPM Clinical Informatics | AMIA AHIC | ANCC NI-BC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Physicians with primary board certification | Health informatics professionals from any background | Registered nurses |
| Credential | Board certified in Clinical Informatics | ACHIP (AMIA Certified Health Informatics Professional) | NI-BC |
| Exam | 200 questions, 4.5 hours including tutorial and break | 150 scored questions, 3 options each, 4 hours | 150 questions (125 scored), 3 hours |
| Test delivery | Pearson VUE | Pearson VUE | See ANCC |
| Exam fee | $2,150 plus $500 application | $996 AMIA member, $1,322 nonmember | $295 ANA member, $395 nonmember |
| Renewal | ABPM continuing certification, annual | Every 4 years | Every 5 years |
Sources: ABPM, AMIA AHIC guide (revision dated June 2023), and ANCC. Fees change. Check each organization's current page before you apply.
AMIA Health Informatics Certification (AHIC)
AHIC is AMIA's credential for the broad informatics workforce: nurses, pharmacists, data analysts, IT leaders, and physicians who prefer it to the subspecialty boards. Passing earns the ACHIP designation.
Eligibility combines a degree with qualifying informatics work experience. The more directly your degree relates to informatics, and the larger the share of your job spent on informatics, the less experience you need. According to AMIA's certification guide:
- A master's or doctoral degree in informatics needs the least experience: 4 years within the past 6 if informatics is at least half your work.
- A master's or doctorate in a related field needs more: 6 years within the past 8 at the same level.
- A bachelor's degree needs the most: 8 years within the past 10.
- Candidates who spend 20 to 49% of their time on informatics need about two more years in each track.
The exam has 150 multiple-choice items, each with three answer options, all scored, with no penalty for wrong answers. You have 4 hours, at a Pearson VUE test center.
Renewal is every 4 years, either by earning 60 professional development units (PDUs) or by retaking the exam. The guide lists recertification fees of $499 for AMIA members and $699 for nonmembers per 4-year period.
The figures above come from the AHIC guide revision dated June 2023. Confirm the current rules on the AMIA AHIC page.
ANCC Nursing Informatics (NI-BC)
For registered nurses, NI-BC is the established specialty certification. ANCC requires:
- A current, active RN license in a US state or territory
- A bachelor's or higher degree in nursing
- The equivalent of 2 years full-time practice as an RN
- 30 hours of continuing education in informatics nursing within the last 3 years
- Informatics practice hours, by one of three routes: 2,000 hours in the last 3 years; 1,000 hours plus 12 semester hours of graduate informatics coursework; or a graduate informatics program with at least 200 supervised practicum hours
The exam is 150 questions (125 scored, 25 unscored pretest items) in 3 hours. The credential is valid for 5 years (ANCC).
Which one should you choose?
- You are a physician with primary board certification: the ABPM Clinical Informatics boards are the standard credential for physician informaticists and CMIO roles. Since the practice pathway closed after the 2025 cycle, new candidates need an ACGME-accredited fellowship. See our eligibility guide.
- You are a registered nurse working in informatics: NI-BC is the nursing-specific credential, built around nursing informatics practice. AHIC is a reasonable alternative if you want a profession-neutral credential.
- You are a pharmacist, analyst, IT leader, or other health professional: AHIC is the main option designed for you.
Preparing for any of them
All three exams test a shared core: standards and terminologies, clinical decision support, workflow and usability, data governance and analytics, security and privacy, and leadership and change management. The weighting and depth differ, so study to the official outline for your exam.
Practice questions on that shared core are useful whichever exam you take. CliniQuiz has a large Clinical Informatics question bank written for the ABPM exam, with an explanation for every option. Try five questions free, without an account, to see how much of the core you already know.
