It's not "[bleepin'] golden" like a certain ex-governor of Illinois might say, but the opportunity for nurse informaticists in the next few years is pretty close. "Now that everybody is trying to get to meaningful use, think of the resource shortage we're going to have out there. And that's why all of us are golden," John Delaney, director of IT outreach at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, said at last week's ANIA-Caring conference, reports CMIO. "Will there be an increased demand for nursing informaticists? Man, you better believe it."

Delaney was practically giddy about the future of nursing informatics at the meeting of that profession's industry association in Boston, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "ARRA is funding a lot of the things you and I are going to be working on for the next several years," he said, specifically mentioning funding of state HIE development, the 60 health IT regional extension centers and various workforce training initiatives.

But he tempered his excitement with a hearty dose of reality. Like the fact that computerizing millions of patient records and automating various healthcare workflows won't be an easy job. Delaney has "big questions" about health information exchange, including the very definition of an HIE, and is eagerly awaiting federal guidance on that one. "We have to define what the value of the HIE is down to those individual parties, developing a sustainable business model, technical aspects and governance," he added. "There are lots of decisions out there.

To learn more:
- read this CMIO story

Related Articles:
Study: Safety-net hospitals need health information exchange help
Blumenthal: Stimulus provides strong foundation for HIE