The health care industry is currently faced with many challenges. Pressures to reduce the cost of health services, concerns regarding health care efficiency and quality, shortage of key professionals and the maldistribution of health professionals being top of mind. In addition, the world of health care is undergoing rapid global transformations with demographic trends, economic realities, political concerns and medical innovation all fueling change.
Ensuring a pipeline of qualified and talented employees can be a daunting task considering these challenges and rapid transformations. A few IT skills needed to effectively absorb these transitions include:
- Have technical expertise that bridges data, voice and video
- Become health care experts. Community colleges across the U.S. are offering training for electronic health record implementation (with federal funding available)
- Understand health care specific laws and regulation, for example: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for security and privacy
To support those in the health care industry, Frances Dare, director, Cisco IBSG Global Healthcare Practice, and I teamed up to discuss the transformations taking place in the health care industry, the critical role of information and collaboration technologies, and the skills that are needed to support these transitions.
Be sure to visit www.ciscolearningnetwork.com and www.cisco.com/web/strategy/healthcare for more information!