Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health

Apply for funded CHIA and Digital Health learning opportunities

Applications are now open to eligible health employees, for funded, self-paced learning opportunities in CHIA and Digital Health.

Get certified in digital health and health informatics

We are excited to renew our sponsorship of learning opportunities in digital health and health informatics.

Limited, funded places are available to eligible employees in Certified Health Informatician Australasia (CHIA) and for the first time, a Digital Health 101 course.

Get certified and formally recognise your skills and knowledge in health informatics. Together, let's lift the profile of health informatics and support the healthcare workforce.

What is CHIA?

CHIA, issued by the Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH), is a self-guided certification program and includes an online exam. Two exam attempts are available and must be completed within the 90-day study period.

CHIA credentials demonstrate that candidates meet the Health Informatics Core Competencies to perform safely and effectively as health informatics professionals in a broad range of practice settings.
Participation in CHIA requires approximately 8-16 study hours per week over the 90 day period.

What is Digital Health 101?

Digital Health 101 is a self-paced, online course for anyone new to the health and care industry or anyone interested in the health sector.

Participants are equiped with practical knowledge of digital health fundamentals and an understanding of how digital health is transforming healthcare on a global scale.

Approximately 5 hours of content are delivered through seven modules, including videos, checkpoints, reflections and over 100 additional resources to expand your learning.

CHIA eligibility

In qualify and sit for CHIA, you must have:

  • A degree plus six (6) continuous months of associated health experience* OR
  • No degree, but three (3) cumulative years of associated health experience*
  • Not have previously held a CHIA certification.

*If you are not sure about your eligibility for CHIA, email your CV and any additional information that can help in assessing your eligibility, to CEIHCHIACertification@sa.gov.au.

Before you apply (CHIA)

  1. Read the CHIA Frequently Asked Questions below.
  2. Have your updated CV and relevant work history details available. You will need to include your CV with your application and demonstrate your responsibilities and experience relevant to the eligibility criteria.
    Include as much relevant information as possible for assessment of your eligibility

Successful applications will be invited to an online induction session in July, with the anticipated study period to commence in late July 2024.

Want to know more?

To read more about the program, including stories and advice from CHIA Alumn, visit Certified Health Informatician Australasia

Have a question?

If have a question about the program, email CEIHCHIACertification@sa.gov.au.

Apply now

To apply for a funded learning opportunity in CHIA or Digital Health 101, complete the form below.

CHIA Frequency Asked Questions

What is CHIA? 

CHIA is a pro­fes­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in health infor­mat­ics man­aged by the Aus­tralasian Insti­tute of Dig­i­tal Health (AIDH).

CHIA for­mal­ly recog­nis­es the knowl­edge and skills of those work­ing in health infor­mat­ics and dig­i­tal health. CHIA is bestowed on those indi­vid­u­als who suc­cess­ful­ly com­plete the CHIA exam. The exam­i­na­tion cov­ers a wide range of top­ics, with­in six domains of com­pe­tence con­sid­ered essen­tial to a health infor­mati­cian in Australasia. 

The pro­gram is aimed at work­ers across health infor­mat­ics and infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy roles, and once cer­ti­fied, par­tic­i­pants can demon­strate exper­tise in health infor­mat­ics prin­ci­ples, con­cepts, meth­ods and skills, with the abil­i­ty to apply these in the workplace. 

Why is the CEIH sup­port­ing my cer­ti­fi­ca­tion as a CHIA? 

CHIA is the cre­den­tial­ing pro­gram for dig­i­tal health and health infor­mat­ics in Aus­tralia. Health infor­mat­ics is about improv­ing the qual­i­ty, use, pre­sen­ta­tion and shar­ing of data in a dig­i­tal for­mat. To do this, health infor­mati­cians need to have knowl­edge across ana­lyt­i­cal, data and infor­ma­tion man­age­ment, tech­nol­o­gy, out­comes and clin­i­cal met­rics. It is wide­ly accept­ed that hav­ing health infor­mati­cians embed­ded through­out the organ­i­sa­tion is impor­tant for improv­ing the qual­i­ty and effec­tive­ness of health care. 

Invest­ing in the work­force builds knowl­edge, exper­tise and long-term capac­i­ty for the South Aus­tralian health sys­tem, pro­vid­ing tan­gi­ble ben­e­fits for patients and consumers. 

How many places are there? 

The CEIH is spon­sor­ing up to 50 employ­ees from the pri­vate and pub­lic health sec­tor in South Aus­tralia to under­take the exam. 

Appli­cants who meet the cri­te­ria will be select­ed pri­mar­i­ly on a first-come, first-served basis. We will, how­ev­er, seek to ensure equi­ty in allo­ca­tions across all sec­tors in healthcare. 

If demand does exceed the avail­able places, appli­cants that meet the manda­to­ry cri­te­ria but miss out on a place have the option to self-fund (and still par­tic­i­pate with the cur­rent round of CHIA appli­cants) or will be placed on a wait­ing list and giv­en pri­or­i­ty in future tranches. 

What does it cost me? 

There is no cost to appli­cants. The CEIH will cov­er all cer­ti­fi­ca­tion costs, includ­ing the Practitioner’s Guide, study guide, atten­dance at induc­tion ses­sion and exam readi­ness check ses­sion which will be deliv­ered by Aus­tralian Insti­tute of Dig­i­tal Health. Avail­able fund­ing is strict­ly lim­it­ed to 50 certificates. 

All par­tic­i­pants accept­ed into the CHIA pro­gram are expect­ed to take the exam. 

If a par­tic­i­pant does not take the exam with­out a legit­i­mate rea­son (e.g. due to ill­ness, rea­sons accept­ed with­in the exten­sion pol­i­cy etc.), the CEIH reserves the right to seek reim­burse­ment from the par­tic­i­pant to enable anoth­er will­ing par­tic­i­pant to be accept­ed into the CHIA.

What kind of study is involved? 

CHIA is a pro­fes­sion­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in health infor­mat­ics. Par­tic­i­pants do not attend any train­ing or an edu­ca­tion course and are required to under­take self-direct­ed study to pre­pare for the online exam. It is expect­ed that nom­i­nees will allo­cate between 8 – 16 hours per week for their self-direct­ed study. 

Can I apply if I live in a region­al or rur­al area? 

Yes! CHIA is self-direct­ed study and can be com­plet­ed remotely. 

What sup­port is pro­vid­ed through­out the process? 

The CEIH recog­nis­es that under­tak­ing the CHIA pro­gram requires a sig­nif­i­cant com­mit­ment. All par­tic­i­pants will there­fore be invit­ed to attend an induction/​orientation ses­sion and exam readi­ness check dur­ing week 8. In addi­tion, small study groups for peer-led sup­port are encour­aged, which the CEIH can sup­port, with the use of Microsoft Teams as a plat­form for par­tic­i­pants to share infor­ma­tion and com­mu­ni­cate with oth­ers under­tak­ing the certificate. 

What will I be test­ed on? 

This exam cov­ers 52 health infor­mat­ics com­pe­ten­cies over six domains of expertise. 

The Aus­tralian Health Infor­mat­ics Com­pe­ten­cies Frame­work con­tains infor­ma­tion on what is required to per­form as a health infor­mat­ics professional. 

When can I take the exam? 

The exam is deliv­ered 100% online, so you can choose when and where you sit the exam with­in the 90-day peri­od after you register. 

You have two attempts at the exam with­in the 90 day study peri­od. It is rec­om­mend­ed that the first exam attempt is under­tak­en at the 8 – 10 week mark as this will allow time for fur­ther study, if needed. 

Can I get an exten­sion if I am unable to take the exam with­in the timeframe? 

Exten­sions may be giv­en for addi­tion­al time beyond the 90 days but are lim­it­ed to unfore­seen and exten­u­at­ing cir­cum­stances. The dura­tion of the exten­sion will be lim­it­ed and will be con­sid­ered in asso­ci­a­tion with how much time has passed from reg­is­tra­tion and what the unfore­seen and exten­u­at­ing cir­cum­stances are. 

Exten­sion requests must be received in writ­ing (by fill­ing out the Exten­sion request form) for review by the CHIA Exam­i­na­tion Com­mit­tee (EC). Exten­sions will only be con­sid­ered more than 14 days out from your 90-day deadline. 

With­in the last 14 days of the study peri­od exten­sions will not be considered. 

As a guide, rea­sons sim­i­lar to the fol­low­ing will not be granted: 

  • Changes in work commitments 
  • Unex­pect­ed trav­el commitments 
  • Annu­al leave 
  • Mov­ing homes. 

For more infor­ma­tion and the request for exten­sion form vis­it CHIA.

What will help me pass the exam? 

  • Attend the ori­en­ta­tion ses­sion and exam readi­ness sessions. 
  • Read the Prac­ti­tion­ers Guide (and oth­er study mate­ri­als) provided. 
  • Allo­cate between 8 – 16 hours per week over the 90-day study period. 

Can­di­dates can also send any ques­tions or queries to certification@​digitalhealth.​org.​au through­out the 90-day cer­ti­fi­ca­tion process. 

What hap­pens after I become certified? 

Cer­ti­fied employ­ees have the option to main­tain their com­pe­ten­cies in dig­i­tal health and health infor­mat­ics as part of an ongo­ing CHIA pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment pro­gram. To do this you will need to achieve 60 CPD points over a three-year period. 

For more infor­ma­tion on how to gain CPD points vis­it CHIA.

It is also strong­ly rec­om­mend­ed that you dis­cuss suit­able projects with your line man­ag­er that would put your cer­ti­fi­ca­tion to use in the work­place. The CEIH can pro­vide some guid­ance to sup­port you with this.