PURE-HIT

Overview

The Professional University Resources and Education for Health Information Technology (PURE-HIT) consortium project is supported by a $5.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The PURE-HIT consortium is led by Texas State University-San Marcos in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Biomedical Informatics.

PURE-HIT is a consortium that is designed to increase the number of university-trained information technology professionals in healthcare. Employing existing and new curriculum programs offered face-to-face in classrooms and online distance settings, PURE-HIT provides rural and urban Texans with equal access to HIT education. The extraordinary demand for health informatics professionals is a result the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directed toward increasing provider adoption of electronic health records, improving patient care via the comprehensive management of health information, and the secure electronic exchange of information between entities.

The programs will train for all six ONC targeted roles: clinician leader, public health informatics, health information management (HIM) and exchange specialist, HI privacy and security specialist, research and development scientists, programmer and software engineer, and health information sub-specialist. In addition, a new master's degree in Electronic Health Records/Health Information Exchange (EHR/HIE) implementation will also be offered. Program graduates will be prepared to work in public health, health information management, or physician’s office EHR implementation. Depending upon experience and prior education, many graduates will be prepared to enter the job market in supervisory and managerial positions.

Targeted populations for recruitment include post-associate degree, post-baccalaureate computer science and business professionals, and members of the healthcare professions. The partnership of Texas State University-San Marcos, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Biomedical Informatics, and The University of Texas at Austin will graduate 291 HIT professionals with certificates, and 29 with a master's degree in EHR/HIE during the three-year funded program, concurrently creating a sustainable HIT education resource to support health information technology implementation and maintenance throughout Texas.

Texas State University Health Information Management Department is recruiting students for their new certificate programs: Graduate Certificate in Health Information Management and the Health Information Privacy and Security Certificate. PURE-HIT grant funding of up to $10,000 for tuition and fees is available for the one year certificate programs for qualified applicants. 

Mission:

PURPOSE: The purpose of the PURE-HIT consortium-training grant is to rapidly and sustainably increase the availability of individuals qualified to serve in specific health IT professional roles requiring university-level training. The participating institutions are expected and plan to continue the educational programs beyond the grant-funded period.

VALUES: The PURE-HIT consortium participant organizations share a commitment to education, research and public service.

VISION: The PURE-HIT consortium envisions a health information technology and healthcare workforce with the necessary training to support and accelerate health care provider efforts to become and remain meaningful users of certified electronic health records.

NOTE: American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is pleased to offer all HITECH students membership at a special rate of only $50-- that's a $115 discount! AHIMA membership provides a world of resources, including access to more than 61,000 other health information, informatics, and technology professionals committed to advancing the industry.

Join today: https://www.ahimastore.org/hitechmember/

NOTE: Texas State University-San Marcos Health Information Management Department and PURE-HIT grant consortium have started accepting applications for Fall 2012 semester for Graduate Certificate in Health Information Management and Health Information Privacy and Security Certificate programs. Applications may continue to be received after the deadline on a first-come, first-served basis, with no guarantees for admission consideration.