MILWAUKEE (Sept. 28, 2010) – Milwaukee Area Technical College began training the first group of students in the new Health Information Technology Program in late September. The six-month, 12-credit program is held in the evenings at various MATC campuses. There will be 12 or 13 additional groups of approximately 25 students each that begin on various dates through September 2011. Two new groups will begin in late October or early November 2010.

The program was developed as a result of a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. MATC was one of 84 colleges in the United States chosen to train workers to help healthcare facilities and medical practices meet the requirements of the recently enacted Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). Newly trained workers will implement and support the creation or conversion of medical records to standardized electronic health records. This will ensure easy information exchange among healthcare providers and public health authorities, while keeping records available and properly protected.

MATC will train approximately 300 students for four designated health information technology roles – “Practice Workflow and Information Management Redesign Specialist,” “Clinician/Practitioner Consultant,” “Implementation Support Specialist” and “Technical/Software Support Specialist.”  In addition to implementing the new record-keeping system, they will redesign the workflow of records within healthcare settings to ensure improved quality and efficiency.

Suggested background for success in the program includes one of the following: an associate degree or higher in information technology and two years related experience; an associate degree in a healthcare related field and two years related experience; or an associate degree or higher with emphasis in project management, workflow design, or other related field and two years related experience. In lieu of a completed degree, a combination of work experience and related higher education courses may be considered for entry into the program.

Estimates based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Education, and independent studies indicate a national shortfall over the next five years of approximately 51,000 qualified health information technology workers required to meet the needs of hospitals and physicians as they move to adopt electronic healthcare systems. Dr. Richard Ammon, MATC associate dean of health occupations and manager of the project, said: “MATC’s strong programs will support the expanded and growing demand for health information technology workers in the community.”
 
MATC is now accepting pre-admission applications. Interested individuals should pre-apply utilizing this link to the HIT Program Pre-Admission Form:  http://bit.ly/cMU8dK.

For hospitals, clinics, physician’s offices, or other medical facilities interested in group training options or for more information, please contact Laurie Kohel, HIT project coordinator at kohell@matc.edu.

More detailed information on the program is available at: http://bit.ly/dujKwj