Healthcare IT Technician certificate now available from CompTIA

A new professional credential aimed at information technology (IT) professionals who install, manage and troubleshoot electronic health records systems for the nation's healthcare providers is now available from CompTIA, the non-profit trade association for the IT industry.

The CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician certificate is a vendor- and technology-neutral credential that validates the operational, regulatory and security knowledge necessary to provide hardware and software support in medical environments where electronic health record (EHR) systems are used.

"The federal government estimates that upwards of 50,000 new healthcare IT professionals are needed in the next few years to service the thousands of healthcare practices expected to implement EHR systems," said Terry Erdle, executive vice president, skills certification, CompTIA.

"These new employment opportunities will be hybrid jobs requiring a mix of healthcare knowledge and high-tech expertise," Erdle continued. "The CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician credential covers both categories and will identify professionals with the knowledge and skills required to support the implementation and maintenance of healthcare IT systems, including EHRs, in a broad range of clinical settings."

The CompTIA Healthcare IT certificate closely maps to two job roles for skilled health IT specialists identified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT as being critical in helping healthcare providers transition to EHRs. These job roles are implementation support specialists and technical and software support staff.

"The new CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician certificate, in combination with CompTIA A+ or equivalent experience and the comprehensive training provided by the Midwest Community College Health Information Technology curriculum for our technical roles, should provide demonstrable evidence of suitability to support health care providers, physicians, practices and organizations as they transition from paper to electronic health records," said Norma Morganti, executive director, Midwest Community College Health Information Technology Consortium.

Eighty-four community colleges across the country are now offering classes that address the six healthcare IT job roles developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. Students who successfully complete the implementation support specialist and technical/software support staff courses can validate their knowledge by attaining the CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician certificate.

CompTIA recommends that individuals interested in the healthcare IT certificate also hold CompTIA A+ certification, which validates foundation-level knowledge and skills for PC support, installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security and troubleshooting.

The CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician certificate exam covers the following areas:

• Regulatory requirements
• Organizational behavior
• IT operations
• Medical business operations
• Security