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‘Huge Demand for People With Medical Information Technology Skills’ Say Professionals Working in Healthcare

UW Extended Campus Blog Team May 6, 2015
Graphic that reads "Demand for HIMT Professionals".

If you’re thinking about starting or transitioning to a career in health information management and technology, you probably have a lot of questions about what it’s like to work in the exciting medical information technology field.

We caught up with Mark Bakken, CEO of Nordic Consulting, and Lori Tremlett, program manager of an accountable care organization (ACO) at Dean Health, and asked them one of our burning questions:

Is there a demand for HIM and HIT professionals with medical information technology skills?

Below is the first installment of our video series about the real world of HIM and HIT. If you prefer to read their responses, see the transcript below.

Demand for Medical Information Technology Skills

Mark Bakken
CEO, Nordic Consulting

Right now, there is a huge, huge demand for people that understand electronic medical records and how to configure the software and how to optimize the software, how to support the software. The supply of people that understand that stuff has not been able to keep up with demand.

Lori Tremlett, RN
Program Manager
ACO, Dean Health

I can say there is a huge need for people who understand data in health care. It’s kind of like gleen in health care. It’s something that is well-known and well-used in manufacturing but is just kind of moving into health care. There are similar things with data. It has become more and more important.  

When I first began in health care, it wasn’t even something we talked about. You know, you just provided care, you documented your information in the record and that was that. But nowadays, everything you put into that record has meaning and can be used to improve things along the way.  

So it becomes more and more important for people to understand, again, how you get the data in, how you get the data out, and then how do you present that information to have meaning and value.

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Ready to start or advance your career in health information management (HIM) and health information technology (HIT)? Find out why UW Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management and Technology is a great program for working adults. Call 608-800-6762 or email learn@uwex.edu to talk with a friendly enrollment adviser today.

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Move Beyond Traditional Roles To Embrace Big Data, Says Health Information Management Program Director

Programs: Health Information Management and Technology