When Ajit Mahida and Gayle Rickert graduated recently from the grant-funded Health Information Technology (HIT) program at Macomb Community College, neither had to worry about looking for a job. Both had secured new employment prior to their graduation. In fact, Mahida began his job as an infrastructure analyst at Beaumont Hospital before even completing the program, and Rickert will begin her job as an implementation manager for electronic medical records for the St. John Health System this month.
Mahida and Rickert were among 45 students who completed Macomb’s first full “class” of the grant-funded HIT program, following a pilot group of 25 students who graduated in March. Twenty-five percent of the graduating students have already found employment in the field, while others are in various stages of the interview process.
Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the program is designed to prepare both health care and information technology professionals for certification in six different roles to support electronic health records implementation. Macomb offers training in five of these areas: practice workflow and information management redesign specialist, clinician/practitioner consultant, implementation support specialist, implementation manager and technical/software support staff.
The funding is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is designed to support the federal mandate to complete the conversion of the country’s medical records into electronic format by 2014. Consequently, employment of medical and health information technicians is expected to increase by 20 percent through 2018.
“The overarching goal of this federal initiative is to streamline the sharing of patient information so that no matter where you are when you need health care your records can be accessed,” said Carol Hall, project administrator for Macomb’s HIT program.
Macomb is one of the 17 community colleges that make up the Midwest Community College HIT Consortium, which received a $14.6 million grant to train 5,700 students in the health information technology field by April 2012. Macomb has committed to train 300 individuals in that time frame, and is the only one of the four Michigan community colleges involved that offers the training in a classroom setting free to those who either have an associate degree or two years’ experience in either health care or IT.
The six-month program requires students to meet every Friday evening and all day Saturday, but the commitment has paid off for Rickert, Mahida and other students of this graduating class.
For Mahida, who was laid off for 18 months from his job as an information technology (IT) specialist in the automotive field, HIT provided him with the knowledge he needed to apply his IT experience to the health care field.
“The medical information I gained through the program allows me to support the people I work with,” Mahida said. “I provide technical support for hardware and software, but I now have a comfort zone of transferring that information in the medical field.”
Rickert came to the program following 17 years in health care, first as a respiratory therapist and then as a pharmaceutical salesperson. She had been laid off for one year, a victim of downsizing, when a friend told her about the HIT grant program being offered through Macomb. Rickert said the program provided her with a basic education in the IT field.
“It’s demanding to learn a new discipline at this point in your life,” Rickert said. “But following this program, I feel comfortable to assist physician offices in transitioning from a paper system to an electronic system. And, I believe I can help the physicians and their staffs overcome any fear that this significant change in the way they record medical records may cause.”
To be eligible for the program, applicants must have a minimum of two years’ experience or an associate degree in health care or IT. For more information about the program and the application process, go online to www.macomb.edu/HITgrant or call 586.498.4115.
About Macomb
Macomb Community College (www.macomb.edu) is one of the nation’s leading community colleges, providing learning experiences to more than 48,000 students annually. Macomb nationally ranks in the top two percent in number of associate degrees awarded and as the largest grantor of associate degrees in Michigan. The college’s comprehensive educational programming includes pre-collegiate experiences, university transfer and career preparation programs, bachelor degree completion and graduate degree programs, workforce training, professional education and certification, and continuing education and enrichment opportunities.