Nursing Informatics Practice Exam 2026 - Free Nursing Informatics Practice Questions and Study Guide

A Clinical Information System (CIS) is an information system used to document patient care. CIS is a comprehensive system that supports various clinical functions such as patient charting, order entry, documentation of nursing assessments, medication administration records, and other clinical documentation. It helps healthcare providers to efficiently manage and track patient care delivery.

While Clinical Data Repository (CDR), Electronic Health Record (EHR), and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) are all important components of health informatics, they serve different purposes compared to a Clinical Information System (CIS). A Clinical Data Repository (CDR) is used for storing and managing clinical data from various sources, an Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient's paper chart, and a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is used for storing and retrieving medical images such as X-rays and MRIs.