Health IT Entry Certification: A Rapid-Growth Industry Beckons New Talent

Presenter: Patricia Dombrowski
Bellevue College and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) developed an entry-level technician certification and free exam preparation curriculum to expand access to the field of health information technology. Participants in this session will sample interactive courseware co-developed with Carnegie Mellon, and join the presenter in assessing the benefit of the Certified Associate in Health Information and Management Systems credential to veterans, underserved learners, and incumbent workers.


ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
Patricia Dombrowski, Executive Director, Health eWorkforce Consortium, Bellevue College
Patricia Dombrowski’s work focuses on workforce development in health information technology. As the executive director of the nine-college Health eWorkforce Consortium, Dombrowski administers a Department of Labor award, with a special emphasis on welcoming veterans into health IT employment. Dombrowski also directs the Life Science Informatics Center at Bellevue College. As principal investigator for a recent NSF project, she led the development of a national entry-level certification in health IT. With support from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Dombrowski directed a 23-college/10-state consortium in the implementation of health IT programs. Previously, Dombrowski was director at the Bioinformatics Center of Expertise at the National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce, which was created through a U.S. Department of Labor High Growth Job Training Initiative. She was also the director of Increasing Health Professions Capacity, which was funded by the Department of Labor through a Community Based Job Training Grant. Dombrowski is founder and member of the Washington Health IT Industry-Education Council and Washington Community and Technical College Health IT Collaborative. She is also the national coordinator for Health IT’s Policy Committee Workforce Development subgroup. Dombrowski serves on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s Veterans Career Services Advisory Council and chaired its Career Services Task Force from 2011–12.