Outlook for New Workforce Trainees

Dr. David Blumenthal announced last October that 50,000 new workers would be needed in the health information technology field. The Office of the National Coordinator established several grant programs designed to facilitate workforce training. Most of these training programs are due to kickoff this fall. So what is the job outlook for new trainees?

Interestingly, just last week, a report was released on previous federal jobs training programs. The results ranged from somewhat encouraging to downright discouraging. Time will tell how things will work out for the new HIT trainees. My advice to these students would be to take an approach of cautious optimism. For now, they should hold on to their day jobs (if they are employed.)

The programs are bound to be intensive. Until the national curricula are released, it would be too soon to judge if they cover subject matter in adequate depth to allow a graduate to function adequately in the real workplace. Most of the jobs I have seen posted on electronic bulletin boards require 5-7 years of experience in the field. Other barriers include a faltering economy that has impacted the health care field along with the rest of the economy. Cutbacks, hiring freezes, and even layoffs are occurring at hospitals and other health care organizations. Even employers with healthy balance sheets are taking a cautious approach towards hiring. Current employees are just being asked to be more productive.

There are potential employers on the horizon. This fall, many of the Regional Extension Centers will progress from the planning to the operations stage. Entry level jobs dealing with acquisition and implementation of ambulatory and inpatient EMRs should be created. Now that the final rules for certification, standards, and meaningful use have been published the way forward for the next two years is clearer. Clinicians and hospitals that have not already decided if they want to pursue the incentive funds that are available through Medicare and Medicaid programs will have to do so soon. Then the demand for new workforce trainees by the Regional Extension Centers, vendors, and consultants will be more accurately known.

A Commercial Web-based HIE Offering from Verizonhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid201_gci1516731,00.html

Last week, Verizon announced its entry into health information exchange. It has partnered with MedVirginia and Oracle to offer a backbone for HIE. The information provided in the press is a little hard to understand. It is not clear exactly what types of services will be offered. It seems like there will be the opportunity for each subscriber to participate in a master patient index. Also there will be user authentication and other privacy and security services. It is not clear if other services such as anonymization, data aggregation, and data processing for quality reporting will be available.

I have thought for a long time that the process of forming public health information exchanges is too complicated. Establishing governance structures, adopting standards, developing privacy and security protocols, debating consumer consent requirements are all time consuming. Often it is difficult to achieve stakeholder consensus concerning the issues. Furthermore, few of the existing HIEs have developed business plans that assure sustainability outside of federal or state grant processes. Even relatively simple approaches such as the NHIN Direct Project easily bog down.

Everyone involved in HIT realizes the importance of rapid deployment of HIE on a national basis. Meaningful use demands it. Yet results to date have been underwhelming. I think there are billions of dollars potentially at stake. It is not surprising then that a corporation with the resources of Verizon would develop a web-based approach that promises rapid implementation, scalability, and a sustainable business model. I predict that there will be many more efforts to provide HIT services using the Internet, cloud computing, and software as a service approaches. It should be interesting to see how the Verizon offering evolves.