Fletcher Allen Health Care Teams with Vermont HITEC to Train EHR Data Abstractors
For Release: Immediate (July 8, 2008)
Contact: Kim O’Leary
Marketing & Communications
Fletcher Allen
802-847-2886
Fletcher Allen Health Care Teams with Vermont HITEC to Train EHR Data Abstractors
Applications for Free Training Program Due July 20th
BURLINGTON, VT - Fletcher Allen and Vermont HITEC announced today that they are recruiting candidates for the partnership’s first training program to prepare participants for a career working with Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The training will lead directly to a one-year term of employment at Fletcher Allen, with the possibility for additional training and continued employment.
Up to 25 program participants will be trained to work directly with Fletcher Allen’s new Electronic Health Record system, called PRISM (Patient Record and Information Systems Management) as EHR data abstractors. EHR data abstractors convert medical data from physical patient files to an electronic record.
The training programs are targeted to unemployed and underemployed Vermonters, as well as current Fletcher Allen staff, and are offered free to selected participants. Successful graduates of the program will be offered positions for a term of one year at Fletcher Allen at the completion of the 5-week course. The pay scale for EHR data abstractors starts at $11.50 per hour. The positions will also include a comprehensive benefits package.
Individuals will be selected for the training program through an extensive recruitment process. The deadline for applying to the Fletcher Allen EHR Data Abstractor ITAR program is July 20, 2009. Individuals interested in applying to the program must visit www.vthitec.org to fill out an online application. Questions and inquiries can be directed to Lisa Gorman, ITAR Project Leader, Vermont HITEC, Inc., P.O. Box 1548, Williston, VT 05495, or by email at lisa.gorman@vthitec.org.
For up-to-date program information, visit: www.vthitec.org.
"We deeply value our partnership with Vermont HITEC, which has grown into a long-term commitment to train Vermonters for jobs in the health care industry – not just today, but for many years to come," said Melinda L. Estes, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Fletcher Allen Health Care.
"The emergence of the Electronic Medical Record in Vermont is creating a new branch in the job market," added Gerry Ghazi, President of Vermont HITEC. "As Fletcher Allen pioneers the adoption of this technology, our goal is to match the growing needs of this field by providing highly-motivated Vermonters with a valuable skill set.”
The EHR data abstractor program is conducted under the auspices of the Fletcher Allen Workforce Development Institute, a partnership between Fletcher Allen and Vermont HITEC. The Institute is funded with support from Senator Patrick J. Leahy. The EHR data abstractor program follows on the success of five previous training programs implemented by the partnership between Fletcher Allen and Vermont HITEC over the past four years.
About the Fletcher Allen/Vermont HITEC Partnership
The Fletcher Allen Workforce Development Institute was created in partnership with Vermont HITEC to help address critical workforce development needs by training unemployed and underemployed Vermonters for jobs that are persistently difficult to fill. The institute is designed to be flexible to match current workforce needs.
Fletcher Allen and Vermont HITEC developed their partnership in 2004 with funding assistance from both the State of Vermont and the U.S. Department of Labor. The first Vermont HITEC training session was conducted over an eight-month period in an intensive training program for 20 medical transcriptionists. This work-at-home program was followed by the launching of a more formal health care workforce development training institute developed with the support of a $325,000 federal grant secured by Senator Patrick Leahy. The federal funding allowed for the implementation of the workforce institute and associated programs. Senator Leahy has since secured another $588,000 to support additional training programs.
Funding for the EHR data abstractor program is offered in part with support from the Vermont Department of Economic Development and the Vermont Department of Labor. To date, a total of 68 Vermonters have been trained and offered positions at Fletcher Allen Health Care as a result of these programs.
About Vermont HITEC
Vermont HITEC is a 501C (3) non-profit organization with a mission to educate, train and employ Vermonters in a variety of fields. Vermont HITEC has employed over 300 Vermonters over the past seven years in medical transcription, information technology and manufacturing partnering with over 20 Vermont businesses including Fletcher Allen Health Care, Husky Injection Molding Systems, Hazelett Strip Casting Corporation, IDX Systems (GE Healthcare) and Dealer.com.
About Fletcher Allen
Fletcher Allen Health Care, together with our partners at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is Vermont’s academic medical center. Our mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve by integrating patient care, education and research in a caring environment. Fletcher Allen serves as a regional referral center – providing advanced are to approximately one million people in Vermont and northern New York – and as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties. With more than 30 patient care sites and 100 outreach clinics, programs and services throughout the region, Fletcher Allen is committed to being a national model for the delivery of high-quality academic health care for a rural region. For more information about Fletcher Allen, visit our Web site at www.fletcherallen.org.