Health IT jobs for physicians looking for non-clinical careers

With all the recent buzz about health information technology (health IT), you may be wondering: "what are the various types of health IT jobs that are currently available for physicians?"

You probably won't find many books on this issue. The health IT field has been growing over the past decade, but we're about to see a significant explosion because of the HITECH provisions within ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Recently, I've seen more webinars and conferences on health IT then I've ever seen. There is a lot of excitement about health IT, but many physicians who are interested in a non-clinical career in health IT simply don't know where to begin.

You may not jump to a Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) right away, but there are many other types of opportunities depending on your level of training and experience. I predict a growing role for health IT consultants who can help physicians, clinics, offices, and hospitals choose and implement electronic health record (EHR) and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) solutions. We will see an increase in e-prescribing usage. More physicians will rely on smartphones and other mobile computing devices on a regular basis. EHR companies will be looking for more clinical experts and consultants who can help them market, deploy, and distribute their products. Strategic partnerships will occur among companies that wish to combine resources and offer turn-key packages. Start-up companies will be looking for clinical experts and medical consultants who can help them develop marketable services and/or products. The bottom line is that I think we will see a large growth of non-clinical physician jobs in the health IT industry.

So, are you excited about information technology? Do you have strong computer skills? Maybe you should consider a career in health IT. Interested in receiving career advice from some health IT physicians? Contact me if you're interested.