WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Congressman David Wu brought together private sector employers, universities, and community colleges to discuss the work force needs of the health care information technology (IT) sector.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed into law in February, directed $2 billion toward health IT.  A portion of those funds will be used for workforce training, based on provisions that Congressman Wu successfully included in that economic recovery package.  

Today's health IT roundtable was the latest in a series of meetings that Congressman Wu has held in Oregon’s 1st Congressional District to discuss ways that leaders from academia and the public and private sectors can collectively advance health care information technology.  Given the current economic downturn, part of the discussions focused on the role of health IT in creating economic growth.

"Jobs already exist in the field of health IT and the demand for trained workers will continue to grow rapidly," Wu said.  "The health IT language that I included in the recovery bill provides timely funds to train people for stable, essential jobs and makes a strong investment in the future health of our economy.  We want to create as many new hires as possible within the next two years, but we also have a responsibility to ensure good implementation in the long haul."

Oregon is a leader in the growing health IT field, with numerous businesses focused on technology creation and implementation and established training programs at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon Institute of Technology.  Community colleges are exploring ways in which they can help prepare students to obtain stable, well-paid jobs in this growing sector.

"There are opportunities for entry-level students coming out of community colleges to move straight into the workforce in the field of health IT," said Art Schneider, Portland Community College Sylvania Campus Interim Division Dean for Business and Computer Technologies.  "We are working with industry experts to develop the curriculum for a new associates degree in computer information systems—health informatics, and plan to continue working regularly with industry to update and improve our offering."

Those workers are desperately needed in hospitals, community health centers, private medical offices, and other health care facilities across the country.  

"I think that the challenge for the training institutions is to give us people we can really use, said Abby Sears, Oregon Community Health Information Network Chief Executive Officer.  "There's a difference between someone who can turn on a server and someone who can use health IT systems well."

Other participants raised ongoing questions in the health IT field, including funding and interoperability, which is the ability to transfer data smoothly between various health systems.

"It's really not about health care, it's about health," said Rusell Hargrave, Oregon Public Health Deputy Chief Information Officer.  "Health IT could be the holy grail for public health—a tremendous data resource for research to improve health outcomes—but we need to address interoperability to get that broader value."

Congressman Wu will continue to convene discussion forums as Oregon leads the nation in developing, implementing, and maintaining health IT systems.