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The $789 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed in 2009 included funding for the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act to promote the adoption of electronic health record (EHR) technology in health. Beginning next year, doctors and eligible medical providers can receive Medicaid incentive payments over a five-year period if they adopt a certified EHR technology platform and adopt so-called "five goals" established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

The act is expected to create more than 50,000 new health information technology (HIT) jobs. With many hospitals and physicians making the transition from paper charts to electronic medical records, there is a growing demand for specialists trained in the latest medical record technology. Recognizing the surging demand for HIT workers many universities including two- and four- year colleges and for profit institutions like DeVry University have created HIT certificate and degree programs.

There is no question that HIT professionals will be in high demand over the next decade or so. That said, if you have an interest in biology or medicine and like IT, HIT may be a good career choice for you! Don’t wait; act now.

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

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Healthcare informatics (HCI) is one of the fastest growing professions in the US. This is because the Obama administration has allocated billions of stimulus dollars to create electronic healthcare records (EHR) in an attempt to reduce healthcare costs. To qualify for EHR stimulus monies organizations must develop a plan and then take steps to implement it! Not surprisingly, because of the short ramp up phase for EHR, the number of available jobs far outstrips the numbers of qualified and skilled employees to fill them.

The acute shortage of qualified HCI employees resulted in a cover story in the December 2009 issue of Health Informatics entitled “Got People?” It is a great read and provides insights into the types of employees that HCI companies are looking to hire.  The EHR Initiative will likely create over 500,000 new jobs in the next few years. For those of you, who may be interested in pursuing a career in HCI, check out this list of the top 100 HCI companies to work for.

While there is a growing need for qualified persons to work in HIT, the field resembles a rapidly moving target with emphasis on different aspects shifting almost daily. To that end, it is extremely important to stay abreast of this rapidly changing industry. There is no shortage of bloggers in the HIT space and the Health Sensei over at the Health Sense Blog recently compiled a list of the top 50 HIT blogs that are worth following to stay abreast of the field. As an added benefit, the list is broken down into individual specialties within HIT.

Those of you who are already working in the field or considering HIT as a career choice ought to check out the list!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!

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Officials for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on Wednesday that the agency plans on distributing billions in stimulus monies to upgrade the nation’s paper medical records to electronic ones. Under the proposal, doctors and hospitals that keep UPDATED electronic medical records (EMR) of their patients could receive bonus payments for using EMR-based software systems. While the proposal that was floated is not definite, it was posted to the agency’s website and is open for public comment for 60 days before the final guidelines are issued. 

According to agency spokespersons, healthcare professionals (HCPs) who use EMR for 80 per cent of their medical instructions could receive bonus payments. This means that HCPs would have to provide patients with printouts of their medical history and use computers for potential drug-drug interactions. Further, hospitals would be required to complete 10 per cent of medical orders electronically. Separately, the agency laid out technology standards that EMR software should meet to qualify for the program.

Although technology standards for government-based EMR systems have now been delineated, similar standards for private sector EMR keeping systems have yet to be clearly enunciated by the government. Many hospitals and HCP organizations hastily threw together EMR plans to qualify for stimulus monies that were disbursed early last year. Unfortunately, at present, there is still no general consensus on the software platforms and middleware programs that will need to be developed so that different EMR systems can communicate with one another! Consequently, the national drive to digitize paper medical records is occurring in a haphazard and piecemeal fashion. To realize improved efficiencies and cost savings, I contend that general guidelines ought to be issued before too much private sector work goes on. Allowing the private sector to dictate technology standards may not be in the best interest of a national EMR effort. Nevertheless, as I mentioned an earlier post this week, healthcare informatics is one of the fasted growing industries in the US!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

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