EHR vendors are looking for implementation consultants and specialists

Electronic health record (EHR) vendors are looking for implementation consultants and specialists. The nice thing is that most of these EHR companies will train you, but you should expect to travel quite a bit for this type of job. The majority of these clinical informatics positions are being filled by nurses, but physicians can play a unique role when it comes to interacting with other physicians.

You see, physicians generally like to learn from other physicians. They want a colleague to provide them with pointers and tips on how a system can improve the clinical workflow. Many hospitals are cultivating physician "champions." These champions are influential advocates and have a unique way of communicating with other physicians in the hospital system. We need more champions, don't we?

So, if you're thinking about a career in health IT, consider how you can play a role in the EHR implementation process. Implementation is just the first step. Maybe you could be instrumental in helping physicians and hospitals reach "meaningful use" so they can receive financial incentives from the government through the HITECH Act (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act) within ARRA.

Who are some EHR vendors? Here are a few (in no particular order or preference): Allscripts, GE, Epic, McKesson, NextGen, eClinicalWorks, Practice Fusion, athenahealth, Cerner, ChartLogic, Eclipsys, Greenway, Ingenix, MedConnect, and many others.

Business Opportunities in Health IT for Clinicians

There's an interesting article in BusinessWeek about Health IT (or HITECH if you prefer). If you don't get BusinessWeek, then you should consider subscribing. The world of EHRs (electronic health records) and e-prescribing solutions will experience a major change over the next several years. However, it's also good to make sure that you're about to go beyond the hype of digital health. This article talks about how the UK is currently four years behind schedule in its initiative to digitize its government-run health system. Where will the USA be in four years?

If you have a strong interest in medical informatics, but you're not sure where to begin, then start by learning more about some of the major players. Specifically, here are some of the really big companies to research:

• Allscripts
  
• Cerner
• Epic
• GE
  
• McKesson
• Siemens

The economic stimulus plan includes $19.6 billion towards health IT and hardware and software vendors will be thriving if they play their cards correctly and collaborate to provide the most effective EHR services. If you're thinking about a transition into the non-clinical world, then maybe you should subscribe to BusinessWeek and learn more about health IT.