Applications now being accepted for ONC/HITECH funded AppliedHealth Informatics Progr

Mijourney · Oct 31, 2011

Has anyone completed this program or will be completing this program in the near future? If so, have you had any job offers? I believe there is a community college HITECH program as well. Has anyone completed or is near completion in one of these programs? I just wondered how things were progressing with the nurses who entered the ONC/HITECH programs.

informaticsBee · Nov 6, 2011

Has anyone completed this program or will be completing this program in the near future? If so, have you had any job offers? I believe there is a community college HITECH program as well. Has anyone completed or is near completion in one of these programs? I just wondered how things were progressing with the nurses who entered the ONC/HITECH programs.

Hi!!

I was apart of the first cohort to finish this program back in May. My cohort was composed of 50% clinical background (mainly nurses) & 50% technical (i.e. programmers, system analyst, etc). It was a great program to get a better insight into the informatics field. I wished some of the aspects of the practicum were planned better...but it was their first time of implementing the program so it should improve with the feedback we gave them.

I applied for a position back in June as a Clinical Nurse Informatics Analyst. I didn't get that job due to lack of informatics experience, as they told me. They were, however, impressed with my clinical skills and my experience and knowledge gained during the AHI program.

I recently took the job of application coordinator in my organization to work with the clinical documentation module. It especially helps that I have a clinical background. I'm pretty excited about this new path in my career!:)

AgentR · Nov 8, 2011

Hi!!
I was apart of the first cohort to finish this program back in May. My cohort was composed of 50% clinical background (mainly nurses) & 50% technical (i.e. programmers, system analyst, etc). It was a great program to get a better insight into the informatics field. I wished some of the aspects of the practicum were planned better...but it was their first time of implementing the program so it should improve with the feedback we gave them.
I applied for a position back in June as a Clinical Nurse Informatics Analyst. I didn't get that job due to lack of informatics experience, as they told me. They were, however, impressed with my clinical skills and my experience and knowledge gained during the AHI program.
I recently took the job of application coordinator in my organization to work with the clinical documentation module. It especially helps that I have a clinical background. I'm pretty excited about this new path in my career!:)

Are you aware of admissions rates or percentage of students who got federal funding for your cohort? I've tried getting though to the admissions department, but no luck hearing back from them so far. Congrats on your new job!

informaticsBee · Nov 9, 2011

Are you aware of admissions rates or percentage of students who got federal funding for your cohort? I've tried getting though to the admissions department, but no luck hearing back from them so far. Congrats on your new job!

When talking to admissions last year, they said they accepted about 30% of the people who applied to our particular program. The admission director said they wanted to keep the class small. There were exactly 30 people in this cohort (with a 2 drop-outs). So I'm guessing they received a little over 100 applicants.

The percentage of students who received federal funding was small; they had only enough for 5 people to receive federal funding from our program, from what the app said. And it still did not cover everything. You can also look into other funding such tuition reimbursement (if your job has it), scholarships, etc.

And thanks on the congrats!!!

AgentR · Nov 13, 2011

Thanks for the info! I asked JHSON and they gave me some standard admissions data for the whole school. Obviously this program is pretty different.

When talking to admissions last year, they said they accepted about 30% of the people who applied to our particular program. The admission director said they wanted to keep the class small. There were exactly 30 people in this cohort (with a 2 drop-outs). So I'm guessing they received a little over 100 applicants.
The percentage of students who received federal funding was small; they had only enough for 5 people to receive federal funding from our program, from what the app said. And it still did not cover everything. You can also look into other funding such tuition reimbursement (if your job has it), scholarships, etc.
And thanks on the congrats!!!

Mijourney · Nov 14, 2011

Hello. I have located the website that includes additional information about HITECH programs:

http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/healthit_hhs_gov__hitech_programs/1487

It appears that the ONC portion of the funding for the programs is ending March 31, 2012. The ONC is hoping that the colleges and universities would continue on with the HITECH programs. I understand that there are graduates that have not been hired yet, but I don't know if most of them are some type of clinician or not. There are still a good number of providers and practitioners that have not planned for or implemented an EHR in their setting (including my own physicians). It would not surprise me if everything hits the fan in the next one to three years. With the upgrades in coding and final EHR requirements around the corner, we will probably have a Y2K time in health care for the next several years or so. I wish those of you pursuing the ONC/HITECH programs the best.