HHS announced it is targeting $38 million for additional grants to support the training and development of a skilled health IT workforce.
Authorized under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the two new grants will award $32 million to establish university-based certificate and advanced degree health IT training programs, and $6 million to develop a health IT competency exam.
These latest awards, together with the recently announced $80 million in workforce program grants for the Community College Consortia and Curriculum Development Centers, recognize the need to develop a health IT workforce to support the meaningful use of health IT, said David Blumenthal, MD, HHS' national coordinator for health IT.
"To realize the widespread adoption of EHRs and achieve the vision of a transformed health system that health IT can facilitate, the workforce needs to be expanded and properly trained to facilitate rapid uptake of health IT by healthcare providers," Blumenthal said in a media release. "The workforce development program is expected to generate highly skilled professionals in key roles to meet 85% of the estimated need for expansion of the health IT workforce, who will in turn support healthcare providers and hospitals implement and maintain electronic health records and use them to strengthen the delivery of care."
The two new grant programs are titled: Information Technology Professionals in Health Care: Program of Assistance for University-Based Training Programs and Competency Examination for Individuals.
For the university-based training program, the national coordinator expects to issue eight to 12 one-time awards for academic programs that rapidly increase the availability of people qualified for specific health IT jobs that require university-level training. The training will emphasize programs that can be completed in one year or less. Awards are for a 39-month project period. Four-year colleges and universities may apply.
For the competency exam program, the national coordinator expects to issue a single one-time award to support the development and initial administration of a set of health IT competency exams. The exams will assess basic competency for individuals trained through short-term, non-degree health IT programs, and for people with relevant experience or other training to demonstrate their competency in health IT workforce roles needed to achieve meaningful use of electronic health information. The award is for two years.
Applications for both grants are due by January 25, and the final awards are expected in March 2010. Information is available at http://HealthIT.HHS.gov/ and www.grants.gov.