National Health IT Technician Certification, Curriculum and Implementation

This project is creating a healthcare IT technician certificate program along with the preparatory curriculum required for community college implementation. Project partnerships comprise the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NSF ATE Center) at Bellevue College, and the world's largest health IT professional association, the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS). No technician level information technology certification now exists in healthcare. The Health IT Specialist certification addresses a serious and widening gap. The need for IT technicians in healthcare is unquestionably increasing, as the government funds electronic medical record adoption. This project defines a domain, assessment of competency within that domain, and curriculum to support attainment. A newly codified career pathway facilitates entry for underserved learners, by establishing a recognized industry credential. A draft of the curriculum is available on the site.