iHT2 Health IT Summit in Austin 2012 –Nora Belcher, Executive Director, Texas e-Health Alliance and Dr. Leanne Field, Director, University of Texas HIT Program, Presentation “Challenges & Initiatives Surrounding Workforce Development in HIT” HT2 case studies and presentations illustrate challenges, successes and various factors in the outcomes of numerous types of health IT implementations. They are interactive and dynamic sessions providing opportunity for dialogue, debate and exchanging ideas and best practices. This session will be presented by a thought leader in the provider, payer or government space.

1. Challenges & Initiatives Surrounding
Workforce Development in Health IT
Nora Belcher
Executive Director, Texas e-Health Alliance
nora@txeha.org
and
Leanne H. Field, Ph.D.
Director, Health IT Programs
field@austin.utexas.edu

2. About the Texas e-Health Alliance
• The Texas e-Health Alliance is the state's
leading advocate, from local communities
to the national level, for the use of
information technology to improve the
health care system for patients.
• The Alliance was founded in 2009, and
represents the e-health industry's interest
in promoting improved health care for all
Texans.

3. Texas eHealth Alliance
Policy Advocacy Information Education
• Pass through Medicaid • Develop & implement a state
incentive funds: up to $2b plan for HIE
through 2019 • Support the development of
• Develop & implement a local & regional HIE
Medicaid HIE (HB 1218) • Foster the development of
• Pass through planning and HIT policy for the state
implementation funds to • $28.8m planning &
THSA implementation funds
Texas through ONC via MOU with
HHSC
Health
Public Stakeholders
HHSC Services Provider Stakeholders
Consumers Authority Physicians
Non-profits (THSA) Hospitals
Public Health Agencies FQHCs
Laboratories
Pharmacies
Regional Universities
Extension &
Centers Community
(HITRECs) Colleges
• Funded by ONC to offer technical
assistance, guidance & information on • ONC award: Strategic Health IT
best practices to support & accelerate Advanced Research Projects (SHARP)
efforts to become meaningful users of for research on barriers to EHR
EHRs adoption: UTHSC- Houston, $15M
• CentrEast REC (TAMU): $5.3m • ONC award: Program of Assistance for
• North TX REC (DFW Hospital University-Based Training to increase
Council): $8.5m availability of HIT professionals: Texas
• West TX HIT REC (Texas Tech): State University, $5.4m
$6.7m
• Gulf Coast REC (UTHSC): $15.2m
Payers
Insurers Employers State & Local Government

4. Industry Goals
• Address immediate issues with HIT workforce
– Original employer that identified the need had 60
openings
• Develop curriculum that reflected industry
needs
– Emphasis on office workflow
• Create showplace for new and emerging
technologies to build general support for HIT
in Texas

5. It’s fun to be a fairy godmother!

6. Innovative Workforce Development
Programs in Health Information
Technology

7. History: Health IT CNS
NOVEMBER 2009
Texas e-Health Alliance - a workforce is needed for Health IT
College of Natural Sciences responds
JANUARY 2010
Curriculum development – UT Austin in partnership with industry
Apply for university-based training grant ONC
APRIL 2010
PURE-HIT consortium – receives $5.4 million; UT Austin $2.7 million
Curriculum development continues; recruit faculty
MAY 2010
Recruit first class of students
JUNE 2010
Inaugural Summer Certificate program begins with 55 students
JULY 2010
Graduate 54 students from the program!
AUGUST 2010– NOVEMBER 2011
97% of graduates are hired

8. PURE-HIT CONSORTIUM
• Texas State University
• UT School of Biomedical Informatics
• The University of Texas at Austin

9. • Delisi Communications
• maxIT
• Dell Healthcare and Life
• McKesson
Sciences
• NextGen Healthcare
• Dell Services
• Orion
• eClinicalWorks
• Sandlot
• e-MDs
• Sentry Data Systems
Generous • ePortation
• Seton Family of Hospitals
• Fujitsu
Corporate • GE Healthcare
• STC
• TEKsystems
Supporters •
•
GRIDdesign
Gulf Coast Regional
• Texas e-Health Alliance
Extension Center • TMF Health Quality
• Availity Institute
• Healthcare
• Allscripts Transformation Solutions • Texas Medical
• Austin Regional Clinic Association
• ICA
• Blue Cross Blue Shield • UT School of Biomedical
• Intel
of Texas Informatics
• Labcorp
• Cisco • Vitera
• Lone Star Circle of
• CTG Healthcare Care/Centex System • Welch Allyn
Solutions Support Services • White Glove Technologies

10. UT Austin Certificate Programs
• Health IT 9 Week Certificate Program
- designed for recent college graduates and others
who want to enter the Health IT workforce (ongoing)
• Health IT Privacy and Security Certificate
- Computer Science students (2011)
• Public Health Leader Certificate
- jointly with UT School of Biomedical Informatics
- public health informatics certificate program for public
health professionals (2011-2013)

11. Public Health Leader Certificate
Program

12. Public Health Leader Certificate
Program
• Training public health professionals in public
health informatics
– 1 year certificate program – 5 courses
– Train 22 students at TDSHS and ATCHHSD in two years
– Guest speakers:
• Mr. Jim Daniel, Public Health Coordinator, ONC
• Dr. Herman Tolentino, Director, Public Health Informatics
Fellowship Program, CDC
• Dr. Taha-Hass Hout, Director of Informatics Solutions and
Operations, CDC

13. First Cohort of Public Health
Leader Graduates

14. • Alison Little, MPP
• Texas Cancer Registry
• Texas Department of State Health Services
• Alison.Little@dshs.state.tx.us
• August 8, 2012
14

15. Data Reporting by Early Childhood
Intervention Providers
BY: SARAH JANE SHAW, M.P.H.
QUALITY ASSURANCE SPECIALIST
TEXAS EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND
• Alison Little, MPP INTERVENTION (TEHDI) PR OGRAM
• Texas Cancer Registry M E N T O F S T A T E H E A L T H S E R V I C E S
DEPART
• Texas Department of s a r a h . s h a w @ d sServices t x . u s
State Health h s . s t a t e .
• Alison.Little@dshs.state.tx.us
1
• August 8, 2012
15

16. • Alison Little, MPP — —
• Texas Cancer Registry
• Texas Department of State Health Services
Sydney Minnerly, MA
Texas Department of State Health Services
• Alison.Little@dshs.state.tx.usTB/ Viral Hepatitis Branch
HIV/ STD/
August 8, 2012
• August 8, 2012
16

17. Health Information Technology and
Health Information Exchange
Certificate Program

18. 9 WEEK CERTIFICATE
PROGRAM
• Purpose: Prepare post-baccalaureate students to
rapidly enter the Health IT workforce
• Overview: 9 week integrated, spiral curriculum
– 15 hours- 5 – 3 hour courses
– 6 weeks: Didactic courses; hands-on exercises
with workflow and process redesign, EHRs and HIE
software, data analytics
– 3 weeks: Practicum with industry; career
development, research posters, job interviews

19. Educational Partnership with UT
Southwestern Medical Center
• Successful program for distance learning
– Remotely trained 23 students in Dallas to date
– UT Southwestern CIO lectures on hospital systems;
provides hospital-based practicum in medical center

20. Proven three-fold approach to
prepare graduates for the
Health IT workforce
• Knowledge and Skills Development
• Professional Development
• Real-World Experience

21. STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS
• Recent College Graduates
•Variety of majors and degree programs
•GPA > 2.75
•Strong interest in healthcare
•Variety of college experiences – shadowing medical
professionals, research, global travel
• Working Professionals – desire to enter Health IT
•Previous healthcare experience
•Previous computer or IT experience
•Other professions (e.g. teachers)

22. Recruiting
• E-mails
• Posters and flyers
• Informational sessions
• Newspaper advertisements
• Webinars
• Exhibiting at regional and
national meetings
• Former students recommending
the program to their friends!

23. UPCOMING ELECTRONIC AD
Don’t move
home with
Healthcare + Technology
= Exciting Career!
your parents
Average starting salary of
after you $52,000
GRADUATES
graduate! OF ALL
MAJORS
Apply now for the
Health IT 9–week WELCOME!
Certificate Program
Classes begin
January 7, 2013
http://biosci.utexas.edu/healthit

24. FIVE COURSES
1. Fundamentals of Health IT
2. Workflow, Process Redesign and Project Management
3. Electronic and Health Information Exchange Systems
4. Operational Models of Healthcare Practice
5. Practicum in Health IT

25. ENRICHMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
• Disease du Jour
• Guest Speakers
• EHR Demonstrations
• Hands-on skill development in the
Health IT Learning Center
• Workflow simulations in mock ambulatory clinic
• 6 EHR software systems
• 2 HIE software systems
• Data analytics exercises

26. Health IT Learning Center
Classroom
Longhorn Clinic
Health Information Exchange Laboratory

27. Classroom: Expert Lectures

28. Classroom: Group Activities

29. The
Longhorn
Clinic

30. Hands-on Skill Development
with EHR Systems
EHR systems: Allscripts, eClinicalWorks, e-MDs,
Greenway, NextGen, Vitera

31. Telemedicine Demonstration

32. Workflow Exercises in the Longhorn
Clinic: Telemedicine Simulation

33. Workflow Exercises: Simulation of Laboratory
Reporting, Vital Signs, and Superbill Management

34. Health Information Exchange
Laboratory

35. HIE Laboratory – Phase 1
• Longhorn Innovation Fund for Technology
(awarded 9/11)
• Goals
• Create a “living” interoperability learning laboratory
• Exchange simulated healthcare data in real-time
• Mimic the “network of networks”
being implemented by Texas
• Engage students in the
newest HIE technologies

37. Sample HIE Teaching Module

39. HIE Symposium
June 27, 2012
• All day focus on HIEs
• Presented by industry partners and Texas
governmental officials
– Why Health Information Exchange?
– What is an HIE?
– How does an HIE work?
• Workflow panel

40. HIE Laboratory “Go Live” for
Student Use
July 5, 2012
• Health IT students complete hands-on HIE
exercises in the laboratory

41. HIE Lab Phase 1: “Use Cases”
• Students gain hands-on experience with:
– Viewing Patient Records in the Orion HIE portal
• “Breaking the Privacy Seal”
• Reconciling similar but not identical patient demographics
– Exchanging Continuity of Care Documents (CCDs)
via HIEs
– Comparing the progress note in
the EHR with the CCD
– Comparing and contrasting two
HIE models
• ICA vs Orion

42. HIE Laboratory – Phase 2
Goals
• Complete the integration of the current EHRs and
HIEs
• Activate the “network of networks” to exchange
simulated patient data between the two HIEs
• Exchange simulated laboratory orders and results
• Transfer immunization records from a simulated
physician practice to a simulated public health
immunization registry and a cancer registry

43. Professional Development

44. Employer Information Day

45. Etiquette Dinner
Civility Consulting
Jan Goss

46. Two Week Practicum
Lone Star Circle of Care/NextGen

47. • CTG Healthcare • Office of the National
Solutions Coordinator for Health
• Delisi Communications Information Technology
• Dell Services • OZ Systems
• e-MDs • Premiere Family
• Gulf Coast Regional Physicians
Extension Center • Sandlot
• Harden Healthcare • Scott & White
• Healthcare
Practica Healthcare
Transformation • Texas e-Health Alliance
Solutions • Texas Health Services
Hosts • Legacy Community
Health Services •
Authority
University Health
• Lone Star Circle of System
Care/Centex System • UT Medicine San
Support Services Antonio
• maxIT • UT Southwestern
• McKesson Medical Center
• MedSpring Urgent Care • Village Health Partners
• Memorial Hermann • Vitera
Healthcare System • West Texas Regional
• Operational Strategies Extension Center
• Your Doctor Program

48. Research Poster Presentations
• Judged by members of
Health IT industry and
healthcare
organizations

49. Job Interviews

50. Program Milestones

51. July 2010
1st in the Nation to
graduate students
from an ONC-funded
program, and to
move graduates into
the workforce!

52. Visit from Dr. David Blumenthal,
National Coordinator for Health IT
October 2010
“This program has hit a home run!”
Dr. David Blumenthal

53. June 2011
The program moves
to the Norman Hackerman
Building, a new science
research and teaching
building in the center of
The University of Texas
at Austin campus. Norman Hackerman Building photo by Paul Finkel

54. Innovation Award
October 2011
Program awarded a
Texas-Based Innovation in Healthcare
Delivery Award

55. Visit from Dr. Farzad Mostashari,
National Coordinator for Health IT
January 2012
“Students in this program get jobs after only 9 weeks
of training! Terrific!” --- Dr. Farzad Mostashari

56. Launch of the Health Information Exchange
(HIE) Laboratory
December 2012
"With the launch of our new HIE learning lab, UT Austin's Health IT Certificate students have the
future of American health care in their hands. . . . I applaud the vision of our faculty and the
enthusiastic support of our private sector partners in making this critical resource available to our
students," William M. Sage, M.D., JD, Vice Provost for Health Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin

57. Program Evaluations, 2010

58. Summative (Outcome)
Measures
• Knowledge Questionnaire
– Targeted participants’ basic understanding of
the broad HIT subject areas
• Confidence Ratings of Knowledge
– Self-report of how confident participants’ felt
about understanding key areas of course
content

59. Knowledge Questionnaire: Sample results
Describe an EHR implementation challenge
Pretest Post Test Partial
Response
3%
Don't
Know
30%
Full
Response
64% Full
Response
Partial 97%
Response
6%
n=54

60. Knowledge Confidence Ratings
4
3.5
3
2.5
2 Interim1
Interim2
1.5 Final
1
Note: *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

61. Most Helpful Aspects of Program
Five most common helpful aspects: Percent
Response
Practicum (45%)
Working with EHR software (37%)
Relevant lectures/class discussions (22%)
Group exercises (12%)
Large amount of information (10%)

62. Employment Outcomes
2010-2012 Graduates

63. Enrollment
2010-2012
Session Graduates Funding Source
Summer 2010 54 PURE-HIT grant
Summer 2011 54 PURE-HIT grant
Professional
Fall 2011 54
Education
Professional
Spring 2012 48
Education
55 Austin
Summer 2012 PURE-HIT grant
9 Dallas
50 Austin Professional
Fall 2012
10 Dallas Education
Total in 2.5
334
years!

64. Employment Outcomes
No. (%) of graduates seeking a
Cohort No. Trained job in Health IT who are
employed in Health IT
Summer 2010 54 30 (94%)
Summer 2011 54 39 (97%)
Fall 2011 54 44 (94%)
Spring 2012 48 36 (80%) since March 9th
Summer 2012 62 37 (62%) since July 27th
Fall 2012 60 26 (43%) since November 2nd
Average percent employed first four cohorts – 91%

65. Employment Outcomes
• Each cohort of graduates has been hired at a
faster rate
– 94% of Summer 2010 graduates found jobs within 15 months
– 89% of Summer 2011 graduates found jobs within 9 months
– 88% of Fall 2011 graduates found jobs within 6 months
– 43% of Fall 2012 graduates hired in one month!
• Average salaries increased from $50,000 to
$53,000/year
– Salary range (first 3 cohorts): $21,600-76,200

66. On-Campus Interviews
300
Number of Interviews
250
200
150
100
50
0
Summer 2010 Summer 2011 Fall 2011
Fall 2011 statistics:
– 280 interviews in 1.5 days with 15 employers
– 3 to 11 interviews per student, average of 4 interviews
per student

67. Who Hires UT Health IT graduates?
Third Party
Payer 2% Recruiter
Other 2%
2%
Government 7%
Healthcare
Consulting Provider
13% 35%
Vendor
37%
N = 45

68. Employers of UT Health IT Graduates
No. of No. of
Company Graduates Company Graduates
Employed Employed
Allscripts 1 Medix 3
Arcadia 2 MedSpring Urgent Care 1
Ascension Health Information Services (Seton) 4 Memorial Hermann Hospital 7
Athena Health 2 New Mexico REC (NM Medical Review Association) 1
Austin Community College 1 NextGen 3
Cerner Corporation 7 People’s Community Clinic 1
Concentra 2 Providence Health Services 2
Cumberland Consulting Group 1 Sandlot 1
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center 2 Scott & White Healthcare 25
eCaresoft 2 St. David’s Hospital 1
eClinicalWorks 33 TecNex 1
eMDs 22 Texas Health and Human Services Commission 1
Epic 7 The Advisory Board Company 3
Health Information Associates 8 UT Medicine San Antonio 2
Health Texas Providers Network 1 UT Southwestern 31
ICC 1 Valley Baptist Hospital 1
Intelagen 1 VersaSuite 2
Intellica 1 Village Health Partners 1
Legacy Community Health Services 1 Vitera 9
Lone Star Circle of Care 1
McKesson 6

69. Job Titles
• Application System Analyst • Product Innovation Manager
• Associate Consultant • Project Manager
• Business Analyst • Project Manager II
• Clinical Analyst Support • Software Developer
• Consultant • Software Systems Specialist I
• Customer Service Specialist • Software Training Specialist
• Data Management Specialist • Support Analyst
• EHR Template Developer • Velocity Delivery Consultant
• Epic Application Analyst
• Epic Implementation Specialist
• Health Informaticist I
• Implementation Analyst
• Implementation Consultant
• IT Project Management
Coordinator

70. Recent Developments/
Future Plans

71. Recipient of St. David’s
Foundation Grant
• Health Information Technology Training for
Safety Net Clinics in Central Texas
• One year grant (9/1/12- 8/31/12
• Fund HIT education for 45 clinic personnel in 3 low
income clinics served by the St. David’s Foundation
• El Buen Samaritano
• Lone Star Circle of Care
• People’s Community Clinic

72. Training for Office of e-Health
Coordination
• Contract to provide 60 hours of didactic
content and hands-on learning with EHR
and HIE systems
• 10 individuals in the Office of e-Health
Coordination, Texas Health and Human
Services Commission

73. What’s Next?
• Conclude grant funded programs - 2013
• Continue professional education programs
• 3- 9 week certificate programs per year
• Develop executive education and
customized employee training programs

74. Continued
Development of
Health IT Learning
Center
•“Physician’s
Office of
the 21st Century”
•Expand HIE lab
• Home Health
• Telemedicine
• Other emerging
technologies/ mobile
applications
Norman Hackerman Building

75. Learn More at:
http://www.biosci.utexas.edu/HealthIT

76. Thank you!

77. The information in this presentation about the University of
Texas at Austin Health IT program is copyrighted. In no event
shall all or any portion of this presentation be disclosed or
disseminated without the express written permission of the
University of Texas at Austin.
Copyright © 2012 The University of Texas at Austin. All rights reserved.