Demand rises for graduates of health information technology programs

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Atlanta Technical College is expanding its health information technology program because demand for graduates is expected to grow by 20 percent through 2018.

"Established in 2007 and accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Health Information Management Education, the program has grown to about 350 students." A $1 million grant is allowing the college to hire more staff to educate more students. "Students take courses in anatomy and physiology; health care supervision and management; health information technology; data management and statistics; the legal aspects of keeping medical records; the coding of clinical data; pharmacology; and human diseases. These courses give them the technical knowledge and professional skills required to process, maintain, compile and report health information data for reimbursement, utilization management, research and other purposes." They also take internships at hospitals, and new graduates make about $16 an hour (Raines, 5/25).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.