The American health care system leads the world in innovation and development of treatments and medications. Yet in 2004, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) found that Americans spend approximately $300 billion on unnecessary, inappropriate, inefficient, or ineffective treatments. The American health care system leads the world in innovation and development of treatments and medications. Yet in 2004, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) found that Americans spend approximately $300 billion on unnecessary, inappropriate, inefficient, or ineffective treatments.

While operating rooms and diagnostic laboratories become more sophisticated each year, prescriptions and patient information remain woefully consigned to paper. HHS reported that the failure of the health care system to use information technology "resulted in high costs, uncertain value, medical errors, variable quality, administrative inefficiencies, and poor coordination." And the Institute of Medicine found that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year from medical errors. Considering that the costs of health care and insurance increase every year, that's a hard pill to swallow. That's why the Federal Government instituted the Health Information Technology Plan.

The Face of Health Care is Changing

The goal of the 2004 Health Information Technology Plan is for most Americans to have electronic health records within 10 years of its enactment. According to the HHS, this will be accomplished in four different ways:

• Adopting standards for safely sharing health information electronically, including x-rays, lab results, and prescriptions. According to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, "Computer-assisted prescriptions have been shown to cut errors by seventy percent over handwritten prescriptions."
• Doubling funding to $100 million for demonstration and analysis of health information technology, as well as to support local and regional grants to health care organizations.
• Naming a National Health Information Technology Coordinator, Dr. David Brailer, to head up the government's plan.
• Using the Federal Government to create incentives for the administration of health information technology, and to foster its adoption into the mainstream through government health care programs.

As Baby Boomers begin entering retirement, they'll increasingly draw on our nation's health care resources. Meanwhile, the rising obesity epidemic and our nation's obsession with fitness only strain the system further. Hospitals, doctors' offices, and other health care employers will pay a premium for employees trained in health information technology or health information management to help them through this changing landscape.

A Prescription for the Future

Because it merges two of America's fastest growing industries -- health care and information technology -- a health information technology degree can help you start a secure, lucrative, and challenging career.

An associate degree in health information technology prepares students for a career as a medical coder or health information technician. These professionals organize and evaluate patient records and data for completeness and accuracy. Because health care will become more reliant on technology, this associate's degree places emphasis on medical terminology, statistics, and computer science. Upon receiving an associate degree, graduates may take the American Health Information Management Association's written exam to become a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT), a certification most employers prefer.

A bachelor of science in health information management prepares students to lead health care organizations into compliance with the Federal Government's plan. A bachelor of science program in health information management focuses on operating and maintaining traditional information technology systems, as well as dealing specifically with equipment and situations unique to the health care industry. Upon completion of a bachelor's degree, graduates may command some of the nation's highest salaries. While there is little salary information available about health information technology, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that IT specialists in the insurance field earn a median annual salary of $97,900.

Earning a degree in health information technology or management ensures that graduates become a part of health care's bright future.

Sources:
"Computer and Information Systems Managers" - Bureau of Labor Statistics
"Fact Sheet: Harnessing Information Technology to Improve Health Care" - U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
"Fact Sheet: Transforming Health Care for All Americans" - The White House
"Medical Records and Health Information Technicians" - Bureau of Labor Statistics


By: Jessica Groach-Santina
World Wide Learn Columnist