Health Execs to Get IT Help

The American College of Physician Executives is offering some preventative medicine to keep hospital medical executives from being overwhelmed by the changing world of health IT.

The ACPE says its new health IT leadership certificate program is designed to help medical executives "more easily and effectively lead health care IT changes." The organization says its 40-hour online training courses will help executives talk knowledgeably about IT issues and fundamentals, manage IT implementers, and plan and implement health IT systems and changes.

After completing the 40-hour curriculum, participants will meet in Scottsdale, Ariz., in November, for a two-day capstone course at the ACPE Fall Leadership Institute. The total program cost is $4,800 -- $100 an hour for the courses, plus $800 for the capstone event.

Coursework is grouped into three categories: health IT fundamentals, electronic health record adoption and implementation of EHRs, and clinical functionality.

Several of the courses are available now. Courses include informatics and meaningful use of EHRs, health care and information security threats, health information exchanges, the chief medical officer-chief information officer partnership, and implementation support. Clinical functionality courses focus on specific functions including e-prescribing and clinical decision-support systems.

The courses can be used as elective credit toward an ACPE master's degree. The work also counts as continuing education for physicians.