Healthcare IT Support Specialization

In this course you will receive an overview of the health IT ecosystem with a specific focus on the role of electronic health records (EHRs). You’ll be introduced to the factors that contributed to the move from paper records to digitized records and who the most common vendors are. We’ll go over features of EHRs such as computerized provider order entry, clinical decision support, documentation capabilities, and medication reconciliation. Like a physician’s stethoscope, the EHR has become an important tool in healthcare delivery and plays a part throughout the patient’s journey. You’ll go through each of the steps from patient scheduling, to front desk registration, outpatient visits, emergency room encounters, and inpatient admissions.

During the course, we’ll also cover examples of how technical issues related to the EHR can be as simple as problems with logging or password resets. But how they can also be more complex related to alerts that are firing and the display of information. Although some of those challenges are beyond the scope of the IT support staff, having familiarity with the scope of potential problems and the broader EHR landscape is important. This course also includes an introduction to database architecture, servers, and interfaces. We wrap up by discussing the importance of training end-users on healthcare technology and the way in which effective change management strategies are crucial.

Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with a medical device installation where issues related to IP addresses, networking, and MAC addresses come up.

When there are disruptions in technology, you’ll need to use training, tip sheets, and problem-solving skills to determine how best to handle the situation. Supporting a high reliability organization means being familiar with the existing processes and protocols for handling calls, creating tickets, escalating issues, and resolving matters. We’ll introduce you to the concept of self-service tickets and the guidance given to hospital staff on how to submit a ticket. You’ll learn about the different priority levels for tickets as well as the tiers of IT support. When a call comes in, there are some important resources you’ll need to access in order to troubleshoot the problem. These can range from standard question templates to tip sheets to complex matrices and knowledge base articles (KBAs). Having these tools in your arsenal is essential as a Health IT support specialist. We‘ll also cover the JIRA process, the need for excellent documentation, and ways in which requests for change are communicated.

In the final course of the Healthcare IT Support program, we will focus on the types of healthcare data that you need to be aware, complexities of security and privacy within healthcare, and issues related to compliance and reporting. As a health IT support specialist, you’ll be exposed to different types of data sources and data elements that are utilized in healthcare. It’s important for you to understand the basic language of healthcare data and for you to recognize the sensitive nature of protected health information (PHI). Maintaining data privacy and security is everyone’s responsibility, including IT support staff! We’ll go into detail about HIPAA and the risks associated with security breaches, ransomware and phishing. We’ll go into detail about some of the key laws and regulations specific to healthcare and the importance of compliance with them.

You'll leave this course well versed on the Stark Law, the Joint Commission and the purpose of quality measures. We wrap up the Healthcare IT Support certificate with tips on job interviews, skills that can make you standout, and words of advice on the endless possibilities in this dynamic and growing field. Make sure you talk to others who’ve been there before about the process of being hired at a large health system. Be rest assured that you’ll receive training when you start a new role, and you might even be partnered with someone else for the first few weeks as you get onboarded. Remember, this is not the end--rather, it’s just the beginning of the next step in your journey!