One of the components of the HITECH Act is the provision of $84 million in funding for the Health IT Workforce Development Program.  The Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) estimates that at least 51,000 individuals trained in the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHR) will be needed over the next five years.

Below are links to the programs where the training programs will begin in Fall 2010 (yes, in a few short months.) In some cases, the deadline for application is JULY 1, 2010.

The first is the University Based Training Program provides $32 M to nine universities. The program is designed to “rapidly and sustainably increase the availability of individuals qualified to serve in specific health IT professional roles requiring university-level training.”

The training program prepares you for any one of the following six roles. Universities are required to select at least three of these to focus on. These programs are ones that students can complete in one year or less, such as certificates of advanced studies and master’s degrees that do not require a thesis or equivalent major research project.  Training may be either online, in-person or a combination of both.

• Clinician/Public Health Leader
• Health Information Management and Exchange Specialist
• Health Information Privacy and Security Specialist
• Research and Development Scientist
• Programmer and Software Engineer
• Health IT Sub-Specialist

Fine Print: Because these grants are to bring NEW people to the field, the following people do not qualify for the program:

• Students in training positions already existing as of the date on which the Funding Opportunity Announcement was published (December 17, 2009)
• Students who were enrolled in a health IT professional training program of any institution of higher education as of the date on which the Funding Opportunity Announcement was published (December 17, 2009)

Please note that the institutions of higher education are the direct funding recipients. Individual students receive support for the types of educational expenses delineated above by enrolling in a training program funded under this grant.  Such student support is received from, and administered by, the institution of higher education. The maximum duration of each grant is 39 months. A limited number of tuition subsidies are available at $10,000 provided the degree is completed in 12 months.

  Columbia University

Duke University

George Washington University

Indiana University

Johns Hopkins University

Priority given to applications received by July 1, 2010.

Oregon Health & Science University

AMIA/ADA 10x10 Site: Collaboration with Dr. Bill Hersh

Deadline: July 1, 2010

Texas State University

University of Colorado Denver College of Nursing

University of Minnesota