Assessment of the Electronic Health Record Skills Needed for the Health Information Management Student.

Electronic health records (EHR) have continued to advance and improve patient care, treatment, and safety, but the education required for EHR use can vary. In preparing future health care professionals for the use of EHR, allied health programs such as health information management (HIM) should understand the current use of EHR skills of HIM professionals. This quantitative descriptive study identified the current use of EHR skills of HIM professionals within a region. An email containing a link to the electronic survey was sent to 350 HIM association members. The response rate was 34.6% (n=121). The results indicated higher use of federal and state regulations regarding privacy/security, problem solving and critical thinking skills for health information technology (HIT) systems, and data mining skills. But, there were some skillsets that had a lower use such as financial decision making, database design, and HIT software development. The findings suggest some specific EHR skills that are essential for HIM graduates. It is imperative that HIM programs have an understanding of what EHR skills are needed for their profession.