Alameda Services Asks: Is Your Workforce Ready to be Employed in an EHR Job?

NEW YORK, NY, June 17, 2011 (Press-News.org) Now more than ever, workforce development organizations must be innovative and able to quickly adapt to the changing needs of the workplace and the region. One growing area for workforce development is the Certified Electronic Health Record Specialists (CEHRS). Job growth for medical records and health information technicians is expected to grow 20 percent or more over the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But in order to qualify for these hot jobs, the workforce must pass stringent certification requirements to become competent, experienced staff members for healthcare organizations. Alameda Services, a Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) consulting and training organization, has developed an Electronic Health Records (EHR) Employment Readiness Checklist to help workforce development organizations and healthcare providers better assess the readiness of their workforce to enter the growing EHR job market. More information about Alameda Services is available at http://www.alamedaservices.com.

Accurate and easily accessible patient records are critical to the operation of every healthcare office, hospital and medical facility. Creating, maintaining and securing these records is the job of the Certified Electronic Health Record Specialist. Alameda Services has developed training standards and processes that often exceed the requirements of the National Healthcare Association (NHA), the governing body for CEHRS certification.

"We believe that EHR employment readiness requires training and knowledge of both the healthcare industry and the information technology that the industry uses. We often see one or the other, but it isn't sufficient," says Lena Feygin, Dip LC, executive vice president and director of business development for Alameda Services. The training organization has developed a five point checklist to help prospective workforce development organizations, students and healthcare providers assess the readiness of an EHR candidate for certification and employment.

EHR Employment Readiness Checklist

1. Get healthcare and EHR expertise. Candidates for EHR training and CEHRS certification should have prior experience in either healthcare administration or information technology. Someone who has worked in a healthcare practice as a front desk clerk, billing person, or office manager might require a skills upgrade that will not only enable them to maintain their existing job, but gain a new job and add to their earning power. Someone with IT experience who understands hardware and software infrastructure will require clinical- and healthcare-specific software training that will allow for a wider spectrum of job opportunities. Training for the CEHRS exam requires that students understand both healthcare practice operations as well as medical record-keeping information. "It's not enough to understand how a healthcare practice operates or how some software works; Electronic Health Record Specialists must understand both in order to be effective," says Feygin.

2. Study with an NHA-approved curriculum. Ensure that the training program is approved by the National Healthcare Association (NHA). "Training organizations that provide approved national certification, such as CEHRS, as part of their programs report better retention, and placement," says Feygin. "In addition, approved certification fosters the adoption of standards and an understanding of basic topics required for better job opportunities."

3. Obtain more hours of EHR training than the baseline. While the NHA only requires 60 hours of training, Alameda Services suggests that significant additional training is necessary so EHR students can spend hands-on time with more than one EHR system, making them more versatile with multiple products. This increased training can also enable them to actively participate, where applicable, in the selection of an EHR that is most fitting for a given healthcare practice. "We provided students in our EHR training programs for La Guardia Community College and the Met Council on Jewish Poverty with more than five times the required baseline - over 300 hours of training," says Feygin. "The NHA certification sets the criteria and baseline for the industry. But we feel it is important to understand that achieving the baseline alone is not enough for success in the field."

4. Become fluent in healthcare records compliance. There is an entire alphabet-soup of healthcare records compliance requirements that healthcare records specialists must be fluent in: HIPAA, ARRA, HITECH, PQRI and Meaningful Use criteria. "We recognize that this can almost seem like speaking a second or third language," says Feygin. "But healthcare providers must adjust to the new rules and demonstrate compliance. EHR specialists must be capable of preparing practices for these changes in the field."

5. Learn multiple EHRs. While there are many competing EHR software packages, there are a great number of similarities. Becoming trained in multiple EHR programs makes students more employable, according to Feygin. "Healthcare EHR staffers who have hands-on experience with more than one EHR are able to provide guidance to their healthcare practices about which one might be the best fit. They can also quickly adapt to an existing EHR as a new employee."

About Alameda Services
ALAMEDA Services is a Healthcare IT organization specializing in workforce development through in-class/on-line training and consulting. The company's mission is to bridge the gap between the healthcare and information technology industries, and to satisfy their growing workforce demands by providing technology and educational expertise. More information is available at http://www.alamedaservices.com.

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