AHIMA AND AMIA TO COSPONSOR HEALTH IT WORK FORCE SUMMIT

Chicago, October 19— A trained healthcare work force is needed to implement and support health information systems and ensure their use will result in the intended improvements in healthcare delivery. However, no systematic plan exists to train members of the current workforce to use new information technology (IT) to do their jobs.

On November 9 industry experts and stake holders will gather in Washington, DC for the first-ever Work Force for Health Information Transformation: A Strategy Summit, sponsored by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), to develop strategies on how the healthcare industry can build a trained work force to implement and support health information systems.

“The health information work force has been identified as a potential rate-limiting factor in achieving the rapid transformation of healthcare through IT in other countries—this single factor could stall progress in the U.S.,” stated Mervat Abdelhak, PhD, RHIA, AHIMA President. “The summit will bring together public-private stakeholders from academia, professional associations, provider and payer organizations, business, industry, and government to assess the issues and develop solutions for the work force challenges faced by this high-growth area.”

Challenges include the preparation of:

• Experts in health information management and informatics to design, implement and manage IT systems;
• Those who care for patients to use information technology to do their work; and
• Those who educate health professionals to revise their curricula to reflect the electronic environment into which their graduates will enter.

“The ultimate goal of the summit is to provide a national action agenda to increase the health information management and informatics workforce and to make essential IT training broadly available,” adds Don E. Detmer, MD, MA, President and CEO of AMIA. “A skilled workforce is needed to meet the ‘Goals of the Strategic Framework’ set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services.”

The summit is supported in part by a grant to the Foundation of Research and Education (FORE) of AHIMA from Siemens Medical Solutions, USA Inc.

AHIMA is the premier association of health information management (HIM) professionals. AHIMA's 53,000 members are dedicated to the effective management of personal health information needed to deliver quality healthcare to the public. Founded in 1928 to improve the quality of medical records, AHIMA is committed to advancing the HIM profession in an increasingly electronic and global environment through leadership in advocacy, education, certification, and lifelong learning. For information about the association, go to www.ahima.org.

AMIA is an organization of leaders shaping the future of health information technology in the Untied States and abroad. AMIA is dedicated to the development and application of medical informatics in support of patient care, teaching, research and healthcare administration. AHIM is the premier organization in the United States dedicated to the development and application of medical informatics in the support of patient care, teaching, research, and healthcare administration. Complete information about AMIA is available at www.amia.org.