No matter where you live, if you're experienced in the medical field or computer technology, there's a new career within your reach in just six months via an online training program at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Fla.    

The all-online Health Information Technology (HIT) Workforce Training Program (www.sfcollege.edu/hit) is a six-month certificate program at an accredited public community college. Santa Fe was selected for a grant by the US government to provide electronic medical records training to individuals in a total of 50 counties, including 38 in Florida and 12 in Alabama.

"Health Information Technology (HIT) training is needed everywhere, even in less populated areas, as medical offices switch over to electronic medical records," explained Tracy L. Jones, coordinator of the HIT program at Santa Fe.

"People experienced in health care settings from front office staff to nurses and medical assistants are encouraged to apply. Also, anyone with an IT background or good computer skills is also encouraged to apply." 

There are no pre-requisites and admission is based on an individual's  previous work experience. The program has a rolling admission policy and new classes of HIT students start each month.

"We're going to celebrate our first class to complete the training in March," said Jones. "Our grant requires us to train 300 students by April 2012. We have 50 students who will complete their studies in the spring. And we're working with various employers in our service area -- Jacksonville, Tallahassee, even in Mobile, Alabama -- to assist students in job placement."

HIT is considered one of the fastest growing fields, and nationally certified professionals can work anywhere. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics is estimating demand for 50,000 HIT professionals by 2014.

Starting salaries average about $45,000 annually. And best of all, there are a lot of options for where and how one works, from hospitals and doctor's offices to serving as a traveling trainer. Students can train in one of five workforce roles: implementation specialist, implementation manager, technical support staff, trainer, and information management redesign specialist.

Tuition averages a total of about $800 and there is no cost for books since all the training is delivered online. (There are also no out-of-state tuition fees.) Students who complete the program in six months and begin working in relevant jobs may be reimbursed for about half of what they paid.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information issued a first-of-its-kind workforce training grant for HIT in fall 2010, and Santa Fe College was one of three Florida schools to receive this federal funding. Throughout the country, a total of five consortia of colleges exist with an aim of training 10,500 people a year. Santa Fe is included as part of the Southeast Region D Consortium, comprising 13 colleges from New Mexico eastward, all with HIT training of their own. 

The need for these programs has been prompted by the Obama administration's mandate that by 2015 all paper health records must be transferred to electronic media as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Santa Fe's HIT workforce training program received $1,070,000 in stimulus money to initiate the first two years of its program.

The transition to electronic records is expected to improve access among healthcare professionals, thus reducing healthcare costs. With the current paper system, different doctors often run redundant tests on the same patient, but with electronic medical records, practitioners could instantly access a patient's history and avoid repeating the same tests. Also, the Institute of Medicine in 1999 approximates that 98,000 people die annually from medical errors, a figure which could be reduced with the improved communication facilitated by electronic records.

Fore more information about the HIT Workforce Training Program at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Fla., please email to Tracy Jones at tracy.l.jones@sfcollege.edu or call 352-381-3730.