I am not typically a fan of clichés. However, I am going to ask you to indulge me with one that has been on my mind lately.
“You reap what you sow.”
While this cultural idiom can have a million and one applications, it seems to surface a resounding curiosity of mine in the realm of health IT: How is the current health IT landscape contributing to the knowledge, education and training of its future leaders?
Surely, we have universities, certifications, and training programs to address this concern, right? Not to mention the millions in grants given to fostering health IT leadership, as put forth by the Office of the National Coordinator’s Health IT Workforce Development Program. Though provisions are being made to educate current and future leaders in health IT, it seems as if the academic community could benefit from the overflow of relevant and actionable knowledge currently raging its way through social networks, blogs, conferences, and the industry—all of which are essential to staying in tune with the dynamic health IT market.
That said, we at HIMSS are excited to be a part of the opportunity to bridge the gap. On July 25 at 11 am – 12 pm CST, the following educators will be participating to bring the health IT community its very first #HITedu chat:
Moderating on behalf of @UWSystemeCampus: Colleen Howes, Market Research Director, UW-Extension
Participating on behalf of @HIMSS: JoAnn Klinedinst, Vice President, Professional Development, HIMSS
Participating on behalf of @UWHIMT: Brenda Tyczkowski, Academic Director, UWHIMT
We are also happy to announce that Dr. Joseph Kim, a nationally-renowned speaker, recent #HIT100 nominee, digital entrepreneur and technologist will be joining us to offer insight on the use of technology and innovation in the health IT academic arena.
The chat will focus on community and expert feedback around these four questions:
- What healthcare innovations and technologies are on the horizon that students should know about?
- What health IT trends or issues need to be tackled by the next generation of health IT professionals?
- What are the fundamental principles of a sound health IT education? Academically? Professionally?
- For professionals new to the field, what does the health IT employment landscape look like?
Who should attend?
- Students: The #HITedu chat will be a great opportunity for you to start understanding and owning your future roles in health IT.
- Emerging professionals: Sharing your stories, experience, and pain points of finding work in health IT can be valuable insight for all of the chat’s stakeholders, not to mention, be helpful for you in your path toward career fulfillment.
- Health IT experts and bloggers: Your knowledge will be the cornerstone on which this dialogue progresses, continues and flourishes. Bring your experiences and resources to offer some insight on where health IT education should be headed.
- Vendors: Although this is not a recruitment opportunity, sitting in on and sharing what your organization looks for in health IT candidates can be a valuable asset in grooming future education, and potentially, your future workforce.
To view the UW System eCampus event page>>
A suggested tweet if you’d like to share this news with your Twitter followers:
RT @HIMSS: Upcoming, inaugural #HITedu chat on 7/25 at 11 am CT for current + future #HIT leaders. http://ow.ly/cgX5g
We very much look forward to having an array of health IT experience attend the chat! In the meantime, what stories, experiences, trends or insights might you have to share surrounding the preparation of future health IT leadership? Please share via comments below!
I believe this is a step in the right direction. The gap that we need to close is the knowledge gap that exists between the clinician and the information technologist. It appears we have been attempting to change a healthcare delivery culture without understanding its need to enhance the clinical encounter by building tools and value chains that affect: (1) the quality of care, (2) patient centric information flow and informed decision making, and (3) the establishment of a social networking fabric of shared experiences. We don’t need tools that are designed to enhance profits, capture market share by HIEs for the sole purpose of control, and that focus on profit as the only motivation for IT innovation.
After 20+ years as a CIO in healthcare (at 2 large healthcare systems) I have chosen to complete my PhD, teach, and do research in the arena of health information technology. My goal is to share with the new generation of health care managers and trainees what I learned about HIT “in the trenches.” Throughout my career as a CIO there were no roadmaps – one had to figure it out for oneself how to successfully meet the HIT needs or an orgnization. Also, the managers and senior leaders in healthcare organizations didn’t have any HIT-related courses while getting their education and training, leaving a huge knowledge/perspective gap between CIOs/HIT professionals and the managers and leadership they are working with to plan, implement and manage systems for organizations. I have been teaching HIT now at the university level for about 5 years and it is proving to be important the the education of my students as well as valuable to me, satisfying that desire to share what I have learned over the years to hopefully improve the emerging managers’ success rate in HIT projects and management. During this time, I have been surprised by how few mature HIT programs exist in academic institutions, and encouraged by the energy and efforts now being directed to this area. But we do have a long way to go. It takes quite awhile for an academic program to be developed and get to full production. Accreditation groups for health care and HIT management programs are also just beginning to emerge. Until accreditation is based on HIT criteria as well as other disciplines such as finance, human resources, and strategic planning, robust academic programs in HIT will be sparse. The entire academic sphere must engage in mainstreaming HIT education and training. We are at the beginning stages of this, and certainly the government’s efforts to stimulate the initiation of new HIT training and education programs is making a big difference. But it does take time to develop the educators and professors in this area, as well as new programs and curricula.
I should also mention that what is required is not only coursework in HIT, but the infusion of HIT into the coursework of all health care education and training. All disciplines now have HIT aspects to them, such as finance, human resources, strategic planning, quality, etc. it is equally important to make sure HIT is integrated into all disciplines as appropriate.
Jean: If HIT is going to be successful then we must address the healthcare delivery value chain. The current ability of the healthcare system to supply quality is very suspect. Without “breaking the china” any application of IT will be forced to reconstruct 3rd generation back office systems. These systems do not meet the needs of the clinical encounter nor do they add any value to the patient. They are purly administrative contractions modified to capture information after the fact and do nothing to enhance knowledge transfer. We need to work on this if we are going to deploy effective HIT.
Thanks for your involvement in the #HITedu thread. It sounds as though you have been very successful in making the transition from industry to academia. What an incredible benefit for your students to have someone who has such an expansive base of practical knowledge, experience, and skills. I can share that, in the development of our new online HIMT bachelor’s degree completion program through the University of Wisconsin, we have been fortunate to have attracted a number of very competent and qualified faculty through our four collaborative campuses. I agree with your assessment of a lack of HIT academic programs (especially beyond the associate’s degree level).
We have been working with CAHIIM to secure accreditation for the HIM side of our program but have not found an accrediting body for the HIT side. Our hope is that the HIT industry and/or professional associations will work to create this accreditation (as has occurred in other professional areas/disciplines) and we are able to increase the profile and value of this group. Keep up the great work.
Posted on behalf of George Kroeninger
Assistant Dean
University of Wisconsin-Extension
Health Information Management and Technology Online Bachelor’s Degree
As a Health IT professional, I have managed multiple Healthcare IT solutions development and implementation programs in USA and Australia. My recent experience in Australia includes managing implementation of Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR) program for NSW Health and, at present, development and implementation of integrated electronic Medical Records (ieMR) for QLD Health.
Health Information System (HIS) is a discipline at the intersection of information science, computer science, and healthcare. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. HIS tools include not only computers but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems delivering solutions for providing Integrated Electronic Medical Records (IEMR).
Implementation of IEMR solutions means centralising patient information across all healthcare providers to provide the right information at the right time at the right place enabling clinicians and supporting staff to securely access a single view of a patient’s medical record that will increase patient’s access to care, deliver healthier care outcomes for patients through increased quality and safety, and provide enhanced productivity for a more sustainable health system.
Implementation of IEMR in Queensland is rolled out through a phased approach called Releases. Release One (R1) will implement clinical document scanning capability and the foundational base components for the state wide build of the ieMR solution. Release Two (R2), being developed along side with R1 to be implemented soon after R1 Go-Live, delivers major essential functionality required for full Electronic Health Records (EHR) including Order Entry and Results Reporting (OERR) for Pathology and Radiology with full bidirectional interfaces to major Radiology systems and development of full bidirectional interfaces with Pathology Systems and Structured Clinical Documentation, including Clinical Alerts and Adverse Reactions (Allergies).
This will be followed by R3 (Implementation of full bidirectional interfaces for Pathology, Clinical Notes and Medication History) and R4 (Medication Management and Referrals and Wait List Management/Scheduling).
Queensland Health is also working with National Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) to implement components that support the development of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) and the National eHealth agenda.
The Wave One site support project is a joint activity between Queensland Health, NEHTA and Metro North Brisbane Medicare Local (a Department of Health and Ageing Wave One lead implementation site).
The project is an integral part of Queensland Health’s eHealth strategy which is committed to delivering a service that allows clinicians the ability to access the right patient information, at the right place, at the right time.
The Wave One site support project will support the Metro North Brisbane Medicare Local’s Wave One project by:
enhancing information sharing between Queensland Health and General Practitioners (GPs) by producing electronic discharge and referral summaries in a format consistent with national standards. This ensures patient information can be shared by Queensland Health facilities and GPs
ensuring secure messaging between Queensland Health and GPs through the use of national specifications. This ensures the transmission of health information flows securely between different types of software systems used in different parts of the health system
upgrading existing Queensland Health repositories to store patient Individual Health Identifiers and connect to the Medicare Healthcare Identifier Service.
As the future for HIS, it is brighter than any other area. With increasing population, HIS will help people and governments to benefit from a centralised health records system that provides security and safety for people requiring health provisions, for providers making better decisions and for governments spending less on unnecessary procedures.