Rogue Community College issued the following news release:
Rogue Community College is working with regional healthcare providers and Oregon Institute of Technology to prepare students for new technologies in healthcare settings.
RCC has joined forces with Asante Health System to establish the nation's first training for a new healthcare informatics assistants (IA) career. The objective is to train 23 current staff member to understand clinical practices and gain advanced computer skills.
In addition to the Asante project, RCC is utilizing SIM Lab, a new computer-based healthcare information system developed by Oregon Institute of Technology.
This groundbreaking system uses virtual patient data and actual healthcare information technology applications and systems to provide simulated educational, training, and research opportunities.
Juliet Long, RCC Computer Science instructor, is working with Asante's Three Rivers Community Hospital employees studying the flow of patient data - from registration to the lab to the doctor's office.
Long said medical informatics, which is the intersection of information science, computer science and health care, is increasingly important nationwide. New computer technology, combined with huge volumes of healthcare-related data, is opening a wide range of highpaying, high-demand job opportunities.
To meet that demand, RCC has developed a one-year Health Care Informatics Assistant certificate and an Associate of Science degree articulated with the Information Technology/Health Informatics option at OIT.
Lori Kainer and Jennifer Monteith work with RCC instructor Juliet Long, who is teaching Three Rivers Hospital employees how to use new healthcare-related computer technology.
'It's part of a national push to streamline the flow of medical information,' Long said. 'The integration of paper and electronic documents will be more efficient, cut costs, and reduce the cumbersome paper trail. Patients would also have access online to some records.'
Asante and RCC received a $433,000 Jobs to Careers grant to jointly develop the new Healthcare IA training and offer college-level instruction. The first group of students began coursework fall term, with an emphasis on workplace-based learning. Included in that group are Three Rivers employees Jennifer Monteith, who works in the hospital lab, and Lori Kainer, who works in patient registration. Taking two classes per term over a two-year period, they each will earn a one-year certificate.
They train using the SIM Lab, which includes the types of applications and systems employed in a variety of health care delivery and support settings, such as hospitals, outpatient clinics, laboratories, and imaging centers. SIM Lab uses real patient profiles but removes any confidential or identifying information.
'This training makes us more well-rounded employees,' said Kainer, an auditor/trainer who is sharing her new skills with other employees. 'There's an exciting sense of being on the ground floor of new technology.'
She has suggested several ideas for her training that would have a patient bypassing registration and entering information from home, the doctor ordering tests, and the patient going straight to the lab.
Monteith, a lab assistant and data analyst, is working with Kainer to evaluate how that process ties in with posting lab results online, making it easier for doctors and patients to access information, and avoid unnecessary office visits.
'There's a need for this and not a lot of people going into a new field that has great potential,' Monteith said.
'The goal is to create an entire patient profile and input it into SIM lab, schedule tests and get results - all without using any paper,' Long added. Because it eliminates paperwork, the new system is likely to save money and improve patient service, she observed.
Contact: Margaret Bradford, 541/956-7304, 541/471-354, mbradford@roguecc.edu.
Margaret Bradford, 541/956-7304, 541/471-354, mbradford@roguecc.edu.
