AMIA and AHIMA Applaud House Passage of H.R. 1467, the ’10,000 Trained By 2010 Act’
BETHESDA, Md., and CHICAGO, June 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) applaud the House of Representatives for swift approval of the 10,000 Trained by 2010 Act (HR 1467) yesterday by voice vote. HR 1467 calls for a trained work force capable of innovating, implementing, and using health communications and information technology (IT). As key supporters and proponents of HR 1467, AMIA and AHIMA congratulate Congressmen David Wu (D-OR), Phil Gingrey (R-GA), Bart Gordon (D-TN), and Ralph Hall (R- TX) for their dedication, exemplary leadership and collaborative commitment successfully leading to the passage of the bill.
HR 1467 or the “10,000 Trained by 2010 Act,” would authorize the National Science Foundation to award grants to institutions of higher education that would develop and offer educational and training programs for healthcare workers and professionals in applied health and medical informatics. AMIA and AHIMA are hopeful that the Senate and the President will act expeditiously and enact this legislation so that our nation can move toward the development of an educated work force that will be poised to use technology effectively, to continue to evolve the delivery of care to be safe, timely, effective, and equitable.
In 2005 AMIA created “10×10,” a program with a goal of training 10,000 healthcare professionals in applied health and medical informatics by 2010. Dr. William Hersh, Director of the “10×10″ program at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) has been at the forefront of implementing this vision. Dr. Hersh served as a subject matter expert and source of information for Representative Wu and his staff as they crafted legislation to address the training needs of the nation’s healthcare work force. In addition to the OHSU program, AMIA now has partnerships with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Stanford University, and has collaborative agreements with the American College of Physicians, Mayo Clinic, the California HealthCare Foundation, and Scottsdale Institute.
In recent years AHIMA has addressed work force issues by advancing an agenda for electronic health information management, creating a virtual educational laboratory to provide training for students, and developing a framework for education that encompasses the new roles required by the electronic workplace.
“We are one step closer to fulfilling the promise of transforming health care with the passage of HR 1467,” commented Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, AHIMA CEO. This bill will not only provide the necessary funding to facilitate the development of healthcare informatics academic programs across the nation, but it will promote federal support of health IT and electronic health record systems adoption necessary to deliver patient-centered care.”
“We commend the House for its leadership in passing HR 1467 to create an educated healthcare work force that will be highly skilled in the use of electronic health record systems,” adds Paul Tang, MD, AMIA Board Chairman. “This action brings the country closer to the goal of providing all patients with the safe, high quality, cost-effective care they deserve.”
In 2005, AHIMA and AMIA jointly hosted the first-ever summit to develop strategies to address work force challenges related to electronic health records (EHRs) and a nationwide health information infrastructure. The summit produced targeted recommendations for preparing the existing health work force to use technology tools and to ensure a sufficient number of well-qualified health information specialists to achieve effective health IT transformation. The recommendations included federal support for health IT adoption and training, and legislation to increase funding for education programs.
For a copy of the summit report, “Building the Work Force for Health Information Transformation,” visit AMIA’s Web site at http://www.amia.org/.
About AMIA
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) is an organization of leaders shaping the future of health information technology in the United States and abroad. AMIA is dedicated to the development and application of medical informatics in support of patient care, teaching, research, and health care administration.
About AHIMA
AHIMA is the premier association of health information management (HIM) professionals. AHIMA’s 50,000 members are dedicated to the effective management of personal health information needed to deliver quality health care to the public. Founded in 1928 to improve the quality of medical records, AHIMA is committed to advancing the HIM profession in an increasingly electronic and global environment through leadership in advocacy, education, certification, and lifelong learning.
For More Information Contact: Tia Abner Kimberly Cambric Communications Manager Public Relations Manager 301-657-1291 312.233.1159 tia@amia.org kimberly.cambric@ahima.org http://www.amia.org/ http://www.ahima.org/
American Medical Informatics Association
CONTACT: Tia Abner, Communications Manager of American MedicalInformatics Association, +1-301-657-1291, tia@amia.org; or Kimberly Cambric,Public Relations Manager of American Health Information ManagementAssociation, +1-312-233-1159, kimberly.cambric@ahima.org
Web site: http://www.amia.org/http://www.ahima.org/