Health IT Teaching Curriculum components Available at No Cost

Enhanced Health IT teaching materials now available to the public

ONC is pleased to announce that an enhanced set of 20 curriculum components is now available to the public at no cost, including all institutions of higher education nationwide and internationally. Funded by the $10M ONC Curriculum Development Centers program, these teaching materials have been in use since 2010 with great success by the 82 member colleges of the ONC Community College Consortia program. Based on the enthusiastic response when first released publicly in June 2011, these materials clearly fill an urgent need in the educational marketplace.

Tell me more about the materials.

Designed around the six mobile workforce roles identified by ONC, the components form the building blocks of health IT courses at community colleges and universities. Each component is made up of several units that can be modified and combined to meet the needs of instructors as they design their courses. The components include slide-based lectures with professional audio narration and transcripts, learning activities, self-assessment questions with answer keys, and instructor manuals.

The components cover topics such as workflow process redesign, technical support, networking, usability, and project management, among others. Three of the components offer a hands-on lab experience for students supported by the VistA for Education EHR software package, also available at no cost.

What has changed since the previous version?

This new version contains many improvements over the previous version in both content and formatting. Of particular note, accessibility for people with disabilities has been increased substantially. Content across the components has been streamlined. And new information has been added in the areas of meaningful use as well as privacy and security.

How do I access the materials?

To obtain the materials, go to http://www.onc-ntdc.org or http://www.onc-ntdc.info to set up a profile and download the components.

Visit the ONC website to learn more about the Curriculum Development Centers program and other ONC health IT workforce development programs.

How long will the materials remain available?

The materials will continue to be made available through this program until the end of the calendar year but earlier versions will no longer be supported. Planning is underway for self-sustainability of the materials in 2013 and beyond.

Totaling over 9 gigabytes of information across more than 200 units, these innovative teaching materials offer a robust set of tools for health IT instructors.

For questions relating to the Curriculum Development Centers Program, email HITCurriculum@hhs.gov.