August 25, 2011
Finding Jobs for ONC Workforce Program Participants
Written by: John
In response to my post about the ONC Workforce program, I got sent the following message:
I have also completed the ONC Workforce Program. Ms. Feldman is not exaggerating about its difficulty, though my program did not have assignment deadlines. Her comments prove to be another verification that the programs present the standard materials differently. We were told that the course work would take 15-20 hrs/wk, but found we had to double that to complete within 6 months (and work around the high attrition from instructors). When she mentions spelling errors, and missing or duplicated material, it may sound trivial until one sees the extent of the errors. In May, a “corrected” version of the material was released, however. I don’t know the extent of improvement because I completed the program with the beta version.
Perhaps worth discussion is the fact that there are few internships and NO positions that want HITECH graduates without Epic, NextGen, Allscripts, or GE Centricity experience. These vendors do not have classes/seminars on their software, except for facilities who have purchased their product.
When added together, I believe the Workforce Development Program has put people through an enormous amount of pressure, lost many capable people along the way (7000 entered, 2280 completed, according to ONC) and, because back-end gaps for transitioning into entry-level HIT positions exist, we are unable to gain entry to the fastest growing segment for the labor force. That helps nobody.
My heart definitely goes out to these people who’ve gone through the courses and can’t find the jobs. I was particularly taken back by the comment in the middle about there being no positions that want HITECH graduates without the specific EHR experience. Although, I think that might be location specific. Or maybe I just got lucky getting my first job in the EMR world without any EMR experience. I still remember when they asked me to tell them about my experience in healthcare and I responded, “I’ve been to a doctor.” So, there are exceptions, but you have to find them.
I took a few looks at the jobs listed on my EMR and EHR jobs board. Based on past postings, I can definitely say that it’s competitive to apply for an EMR job. Even if there’s a real need for a well trained healthcare IT workforce. I’m not sure if that’s a function of a down economy shifting many workers into healthcare or what.
I welcome other ONC Workforce Program participants to share their experiences in the comments. What have you found that works? Where can other graduates look for EMR and healthcare IT related jobs? I’ll be interested to hear your stories and suggestions.
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9 responses to "Finding Jobs for ONC Workforce Program Participants"
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I have completed the Implementation Manager Workforce program and I am also finding it quite difficult in finding my first (HER) engagement. Internships at the Regional Extension Centers are few and I can not find any positions that want HITECH graduates without Epic, NextGen, Allscripts, or GE Centricity experience.
I believe there is a lot which needs to be done in to transitioning HITRCH graduates into entry level HIT positions and internship opportunities. Graduated have invested a lot of time in completing these workforce roles and I wonder if there is a silver lining at the end of the tunnel.
[...] to segue inwards. Clearly there’s a shortfall of health IT professionals (and the paradoxical personal experiences that the newly minted health IT certified folks face – not being trained on vendor specific [...]
[...] John’s recent post about ONC trained participants finding it difficult to find jobs struck a chord. A different post over at HIMSS had me thinking in overdrive. [...]
Took the HIT-Pro certifying exam; did not take any course work (I’ve been doing this for a while.) The test was a joke – basically a compilation of ONC jargon and very general questions to check that the meaning of the jargon was understood. Nothing practical… and nothing that I felt would allow me to point to the exam as an indicator of competency in anything other than jargon-speak.
Nearly 4 months later (I took the exam at the first opportunity in late May), I still haven’t received notification of passing or failing! The testing center sent a letter in early June stating that my test would be graded after enough applicants had taken the exam to allow score validation, and others have commented on Linked-In of receiving the same letter as recently as 3 weeks ago. In other words, they’re grading (eventually) on a curve that they haven’t even developed yet. The whole thing is a mess; at best, it’s a poorly designed, hurriedly implemeneted program of dubious value; at worst, its a total tax dollar giveaway scam for FOBs in the education industry.
Al Davis,
I must admit that some of what you say is pretty unbelievable. Not because I don’t believe you, but because it’s so hard for me to believe that they could screw stuff up so badly.
The idea of it being a jargon test makes me sick.
I went through the training material from ONC and provided comments many months ago. The training was very simplistic and much is useless. I really don’t need my HIT staff to understand networking protocals. I need them to know HL7(which is barely touched upon) not TCP/IP – . I see the certification as similiar to A+ training for computer professionals. If you have a degree and some experience it may help. But it alone will not get your foot in the door and the training is so simplistic and unapplied that I feel it was a waste.
The HITpro certification costs $299 to take and $199 the second time you take it. If you have a free voucher from any of the community colleges, you would still pay $20 for registration and the $199 the second time you take it.
Who is making money here? Ahima or pearsonvue?
I wholeheartly agree with all of the comments. I too completed the ONC Workforce Training Program in December 2011. I am an R.N. with over 20 years of healthcare experience.I have no prior IT experience. The college did not offer hands-on-training.They should partner up with the IT companies so that students like me can get EHR hands on training. I have learned from the school that there is a disconnect with what the school teaches and what is on the HIT Pro Exam. I failed the trainer exam by 9 points because I was not trained in IT and was unable to apply my training to the exam. Students are not being fully trained for HIT jobs. I wrote the president in reference to this issue. $19 billion dollars of tax payers money has been invested in the training we should be prepared to get a job. I have be agressively looking for an entry level position also and have not been able to get work because when I speak to employers, recruiters, the outcome is always the same “the EHR companies want experienced people”, they are not interested in the HIT certification. The IT companies are being very selective at this time, they are looking for experts to implement the EHR systems. Eveyone is making money, the colleges,Ahima, Pearson Vue, computer companies, printer companies, and all of the supply companies that students buy equipment and supplies from. I have spent $3,000.00 on equiptment in preparation for taking the ONC training. It maybe tuition free, but it is very expensive to take the training. I have been unemployed for almost 4 years due to lay-offs. I have advanced training in healthcare and have spent large sums of money and remain unemployed. I thought that with my nursing back that I would have been a perfect for the ONC Trainer Role. I appreciate the training, but am greatly dissappointed with not be trained for the job industry. Well if anyone has any lead on how I can get a job please share the information.
Rosa, I’m sorry to hear about your challenges. I’m going to share your story in its own post so others can read and know the realities you face.
In that post I did add a comment that your $19 billion number is too high. It’s $36 billion for the whole HITECH act, and I think a little under a billion for the workforce program. Still far too much!