ONC Held August 2009 Workshop to Preview Short-term
Training Programs for Workforce to Support EHR Rollout
ONC identified and described a range of competencies for six types of skilled workers needed to support the implementation of Electronic Health Records. Over 50 federal and educational experts met for a two-day workshop in Nashville, TN facilitated by Vanderbilt Center for Better Health’s Innovation Center in August 2009 according to documents labelled “ONC Pre-Decisional Draft” on the ONC site.
From ONC Workforce Technical Expert Workshop Web page (accessed Oct 4, 2009):
“President Obama has established a goal that every American will have an electronic health record by 2014. The work required to reach this goal is expected to create dramatically increased demand for several types of health IT professionals to support successful implementation and meaningful use of health IT.
“In support of this goal, ONC, in collaboration with the Department of Education and the National Library of Medicine, convened an invitational Workforce Technical Expert Workshop in Nashville, TN, on August 18-19, 2009. The workshop identified core competencies for several types of personnel to provide assistance for health IT deployment and ongoing support, for which relatively short training (six months or less) could be adequate preparation. Most training for these types of positions is likely to take place at community colleges, but some could also take place in university settings or via collaborations among different types of institutions. In addition to identifying core competencies for these positions, the workshop identified education components (courses and other experiences) that would support trainees’ development of these competencies.
“The workshop engaged representatives from Department of Education’s advisory committees, university-based biomedical informatics research training programs sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, community college instructors, industry professional organizations, public health officials, and other stakeholders. The intent was to gather a range of information and ideas through listening and brainstorming, rather than to reach consensus on recommendations or to plan specific activities in detail. The interactive workshop was facilitated by the Vanderbilt Center for Better Health.”
The six roles envisioned:
Mobile Deployment Support Roles
1. Implementation support specialists: Three to six month certificate training for individuals with technical training
2. Practice workflow and information management redesign specialists: Three to six month certificate training for health care or information management backgrounds
3. Clinician consultants: Three to six month certificate training for health professionals
4. Implementation managers: Training in any of the above plus administrative experience
Ongoing Post-Deployment Support Roles
5. Technical/software support staff: Six month certificate training for technical specialists
6. Trainers: Six month certificate program for health professionals or health information management specialists
ONC Workforce Technical Expert Workshop
Participant List
Annotated Agenda [PDF]
Descriptions of Roles and Competencies [PDF]
