ONC Training and KLAS

I recently spoke with a clinical applications manager who said she knew all about KLAS from training courses that she took at a local community college.  I found out that this college is part of an ONC-created consortium (The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology) of colleges taking advantage of a $70 million HITECH grant. This grant is enabling them to offer training courses to educate health information technology professionals. 

After some further investigation I learned that KLAS did not promote its inclusion in this curriculum. Whoever developed the curriculum for these federally-funded ONC programs (present in over 70 community colleges in all 50 states) has independently recognized the important role KLAS data plays in healthcare IT.  As a fairly new member of the KLAS family, this experience opened my eyes to how far reaching KLAS’s impact really is.

While KLAS did not partner with the ONC for this community college program, we do welcome opportunities to be involved in educational initiatives.  As our president, Adam Gale, said, “KLAS seeks to partner with educational institutions who strive to integrate technology into patient care. The pursuit of a degree in health sciences and information technology will give students the knowledge they need to become tomorrow’s leaders and innovators of healthcare. We encourage the addition of KLAS research into curriculums to achieve an enhanced educational experience.”