Washington, D.C. – The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) received a petition to recognize Pharmacy Informatics as a BPS specialty certification. BPS now opens the public comment period with this link and will close the comment period on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 5:00pm ET.
In January 2024, the BPS Board of Directors announced that they reviewed the job analysis (or role delineation study) conducted within this pharmacy practice area and found the results support further consideration of pharmacy informatics as a recognized pharmacy specialty certification.
BPS received the petition in July 2025 and conducted a preliminary review to determine if the petition addresses all criteria. The petition is available for comment by the public and the profession. The petition can be found here.
The BPS Board of Directors will complete its review of the petition and public comments and render a decision within six months. If the petition is approved, an inaugural Pharmacy Informatics specialty council will be established to work with BPS and the psychometric staff to establish eligibility criteria and develop a bank of certification examination items.
The petition to recognize Pharmacy Informatics as a BPS specialty certification was submitted by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).
The petition submitted to BPS addresses, in detail, each of the criteria deemed necessary for a new specialty to be recognized by BPS. Those criteria include:
- Need
- Demand
- Number/Time
- Specialized Knowledge
- Specialized Functions
- Education and Training
- Transmission of Knowledge
Contributors to the petition on behalf of these organizations were: Scott V. Anderson, PharmD, MS; Jon Arends, PharmD; Timothy Aungst, PharmD; Vicki Basalyga, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS; Dalton Fabian, PharmD, RPh; Brigid K. Groves, PharmD, MS; Karl F. Gumpper, MSMI, RPh, CPHIMS, FASHP; Trinh Le, RPh, MBA, FASHP; Julie A. Pawola, PharmD; Jann B. Skelton, RPh, MBA, FAPhA; and Paria Sanaty Zadeh, PharmD.
The petition definition for Pharmacist Informatics Specialist is as follows: “Pharmacist informatics specialists optimize data, information, and knowledge to support safe, efficient, and effective medication use with interprofessional teams across diverse health care settings. They also work within nontraditional settings, including health care administration, academia, and technology companies, to indirectly impact patient care. Pharmacist informatics specialists are at the forefront of medication management systems and technologies, transforming how services and patient care are delivered, consumed, and measured. Specialists evaluate, design, implement, and maintain workflow systems, processes, and devices, such as robotics, platform integrations, automation, digital health technologies, artificial intelligence, electronic health records, clinical decision support, and data analytics solutions. Additionally, specialists safeguard data integrity, support regulatory compliance, advance clinical documentation practices, train future pharmacy informatics professionals, and promote data-driven decision-making to improve patient outcomes, operational efficiency, and overall medication safety.”
About the Board of Pharmacy Specialties
The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) was established in 1976 as an autonomous division of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). The mission of BPS is to improve patient care by positioning BPS Board-Certified Pharmacist Specialists as integral members of multidisciplinary healthcare teams, through recognition and promotion of specialized training, knowledge, and skills for pharmacists in the United States and internationally. Board certification is a recognized credential for determining which pharmacists are qualified to contribute at advanced practice levels given the rigorous standards mandated by BPS board certification and recertification. As of the end of 2024, BPS recognized more than 62,250 pharmacist certifications across 15 specialties.
BPS Contact
Alexander Jean-Baptiste
Associate Director, Digital Marketing and Communications
ajeanbaptiste@aphanet.org
(202) 760-3836