Beginning this fall, North Idaho College (NIC) is offering a program to train students with a prior background in healthcare and/or information technology to construct and use electronic health records. NIC is funding the course though a $625,000 grant it was awarded for the purpose of training health IT professionals.

“This online program is ideally suited to Idaho residents currently employed in a healthcare setting who need education in the selection, implementation and project management phases of adopting an electronic medical records system,” said Sue Shibley, EMR program manager at NIC.

Hospitals now have more incentive to establish digital record systems in place of paper-based ones due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment act of 2009 – incentives that may affect every level of the industry. According to federal estimates, at least 51,000 health IT professionals will be required over the next five years to assist healthcare professionals.

NIC’s Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Adoption for Healthcare Practices curriculum is designed to provide students a practical toolkit for planning and establishing EMR systems. If students take 10 credits worth of classes, the program can be completed in a single semester.

Courses in the program include Introduction to Health Information Technology, Medical Terminology, Legal Issues in Healthcare, EMR System Planning and Selection and EMR System Deployment and Management. Graduates of the program will receive post-secondary certificates. The first 135 students to complete the program before mid-May 20111 will be eligible for tuition reimbursement.

Prospective students are encouraged submit an online application directly to the EMR program for evaluation.