There is no arguing that the Age of Information has ushered in some changes that the world could probably not have envisioned mere decades ago. But, how far does this revolution reach? Apparently, it’s completely altering the way Americans on all sides of the medical industry experience healthcare. Just how is information technology also changing the face of healthcare? As you’ll see, in some very exciting ways . . .
Health Information Technology (HIT)
This hybrid between healthcare and information technology, commonly referred to as Health IT or simply HIT, represents a completely new career frontier that a wide variety of professionals can pursue. For example, healthcare workers like nurses, medical transcriptionists, and medical insurance billers can choose to expand their skill set and enter Health IT, as can computer programmers, systems administrators, and software designers. Colleges, Universities, and Technical Schools nationwide are now offering an array of degree and certification programs in Health IT, to support the growing need for qualified HIT professionals.
Career Opportunities
As previously mentioned, the field of HIT is full of entry points for both medical and technical professionals, alike. It’s actually so ripe with opportunity that many emerging HIT professionals are creating their own career paths out of thin air. That is because new career frontiers like HIT are still finding themselves, and in all actuality are dynamically created by the brave ladder-climbers who dare to blaze a new trail in an unexplored land. In this way, HIT presents a unique prospect for healthcare professionals looking to broaden their horizons.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
Health IT has not only created new careers in the healthcare and technology sectors, but it has also completely changed how medical establishments, healthcare-related professionals, and patients complete, store, and share medical records. The new wave of medical record is digital (no paper needed), and can be shared across an ever-increasingly broad nationwide network. The radical change, as incited by President Bush’s 2004 President’s Health Information Technology Plan, and firmly propagated by President Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has yet to achieve full realization; therefore, the growth of HIT in terms of EHR management is inevitable.
Information technology is now integral to the evolution of the healthcare field, and in a number of ways, from careers that didn’t even exist a couple of years ago to safer patient medical records; and you can find more information about jobs in the field all over the web. This is a very exciting time to get in on the ground floor of a promising, rapidly changing movement in both the medical and technical fields. What’s more is it’s a great time to be a healthcare recipient in the United States.
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