Maryland Colleges to Offer Health IT Curricula

Johns Hopkins School of Nursing will soon be offering a new health IT curriculum, thanks to a grant through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act.

Using a new six to 12 month informatics curriculum developed at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and used throughout the nation, local colleges will be able to offer high-quality HIT educational programs, while helping their instructors supplement their own level of knowledge.

The new JHUSON Curriculum Development Center will create the new curriculum in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Schools of Nursing, Medicine, Public Health and Business, as well as four community college partners based in Maryland: Harford Community College, Anne Arundel Community College, Howard Community College and the Community College of Baltimore County.

“Anyone who takes these HIT courses in their local communities will have the benefit of a rigorous curriculum, built by high-level university experts. Geography is irrelevant; no matter where the students are located, the will be able to access high quality training,” associate professor Patricia Abbott said.

The Center is funded through a $1.8 million grant from the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act grant made to Abbott. Her co-investigator on the grant is Harold Lehmann, associate professor at the JHU School of Medicine. A second $3.75 million ARRA HITECH grant will be led by Lehmann, with Abbott and Jonathan Weiner, professor at the JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health, who are co-investigators. The team will collaborate to develop the JHU Health IT Workforce Training Program, which will create post-baccalaureate HIT programs in all three schools. The School of Nursing plans an eight-month certificate program in applied health informatics, where students will earn 13.5 academic credit hours that can be applied toward a master’s degree.

Abbott said collaborating on the Curriculum Development Center and the University-Based Training Program at the same time will create a great health IT synergy at JHU.

“Despite mounting evidence that electronic health records have the power to transform healthcare, many hospitals, clinicians, and others aren’t using them,” Abbott said. “The shortfall of HIT workers—approximately 50,000—is a major barrier to HIT adoption. We’re doing our part to prepare and train this desperately needed workforce.”