Future of Health Information Technology Positions and Professional Qualifications of Employees

Introduction: The optimal use of information technology in health sector requires due attention to human resources training. The purpose of this study was to determine the future of health information technology positions and professional qualifications of the employees to achieve them. Methods: This qualitative-quantitative study was conducted in 2016. A nonsystematic review of the articles published over the last 10 years was performed in well-known databases and websites using relevant keywords. Positions were extracted and then discussed using the Delphi technique in a panel of experts of 25 members including board members and faculty members of medical universities across the country. Agreed-upon positions were confirmed and job descriptions and professional qualifications were identified and compiled. An applied cross-sectional study was conducted on all health information management employees (38 people) of hospitals affiliated with Kashan University of Medical Sciences to determine the existing gap. A researcher-made questionnaire was developed based on the professional qualifications obtained for the expert panel and distributed after being checked for validity. Reliability was approved with Cronbach's alpha (0.91). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in terms of frequency and percentage. Results: The future health information technology positions were found to be health information management, insurance and accounting, information technology, computer applications, and data management. Professional qualifications of statistics and epidemiology, disease classification, information storage and retrieval, health data management, legal considerations and information security, information technology, and software engineering concepts were determined. The most effective qualification was knowledge of storage and retrieval methods. Employees’ skills in statistics and epidemiology were at an average level. Conclusion: New positions are constantly being introduced into the field of health information technology. Continuous curriculum revisions and additional courses for insurance and accounting, data storage and retrieval, statistics and epidemiology are essential.