Employer Quotes

The quotes below are about this issue:
There is a need for training in electronic medical records, basic computer literacy, and other medical technology.

Employer Quote	Region
"Employer 1: We need to be open and ready and willing for those technological changes because it may be that people will eventually be using their phones to take pictures of their arm and then showing those photos to their doctor via their television. Employer 2: They're already doing that. Employer 1: Okay. They're going to be teleporting from—I was trying to think what we would be doing in 15 years that we're not doing now—we're teleporting. Employer 2: Absolutely. I think it's preparing students for change. What I teach you today is not what it's going to look like in three years. It will be different. We will adapt, too, and I think adaptation means being open to new ways of sharing your patient care experience."	Northeast
"Again, it really depends on who they are, where they are. Some people still don't have home computers. I think just having those skills taught in the program—not making the assumption that just because you're coming out of school now or that you're only 20-years-old that you have those skills. That's not necessarily true. Basic keyboarding skills, all your office speak, just that very general computer efficiency for any level. And if people already have that, you can test out of it. Fine. But I would still make it a requirement that people have that because they're going to need it."	Northeast
"Again, they're lacking experience. Sometimes it would be helpful if—you know, we do so much in the hospital environment with process improvement—and I don't know if there's a way to incorporate some of the PI tools or anything like that? And there are new technologies in the laboratory. Molecular is exploding, and they're not coming with a very strong molecular background. But it's such a changing science, so I don't have the answer for how we would incorporate that."	Metro
"Another thing is the new technologies that are coming down the road. We're sitting here talking about electronic medical records, but ten years from now that's going to look like we were on tricycles or something. There will be the use of telemedicine and the use of—I don't know—maybe robots and the use of Smartphones to treat people. I mean, who knows what's going to happen. So, it's keeping pace with that kind of progressive and innovative technology. And keeping up with that curve and those developments—it would be a lovely thing if it could be built into the curriculum."	Northeast
"Before, I just had to go to work, be a good nurse, take care of people, and write it on the charts. And the chart did tell the story. But now we have electronic medical records with built-in charts and graphs and things. And that electronic data can be good for prevention, too. I mean, there are all kinds of good things about all of it."	Northeast
"I think almost any health care position could probably use more training on basic computer skills—whether newly-hired people, people who've been with us a few years, or the longer-term staff. I think you could just never go wrong with that because as we've said, everything is becoming more and more computerized. So, I think that the more comfortable people feel with their computer skills, the better it is for everybody. Question: And this is part of the trend toward electronic records and such? Employer: Yes. There's always a new program to learn. It's even how people clock in and how they ask for vacation time. Everything is computerized. So, if you have a group of people who are paralyzed by the idea of that, then it just makes it difficult. People can always get over that, there's just a little more training required. Question: Is it fair to say that the people who come and apply today have pretty good computer skills? Employer: Not necessarily."	Northeast
"I think that in the jump from paper charting to electronic charting, that something was lost. Now, it's just making sure all the boxes are checked or filled in. And I find so much stuff isn't in there that needs to be communicated—or if there's an incident report that I need to follow up on—I can't even find anything in the medical record. So, I think the realization that the medical record is a communication tool and that other people are looking at it and they need the information that's put in there. So, I've found that moving from the paper to the electronic that a lot of stuff is lost. Question: Is that because either the incumbent workers or the new hires don't understand that that's a critical part of the patient care? Employer: I don't think they understand that the record is a story of the patient's life. That it's a record. To a lot of people it's just filling in the blanks. There's your screen. This has to be filled in. Let's fill it in with as minimal information as required and then go on to the next screen or whatever. So, the whole story about the patient isn't reflected in the chart."	Northeast
"I'd go with the technology side. I work in an outpatient setting. Most of the conversation has been related to the inpatient world, but in an outpatient world—in a clinic world—we're always in electronic health records. We talk about labs. We're interfacing either with the reference lab or we're trying to get your lab information system to talk to the electronic medical record, requesting the hospital's medical record. We need people who not only understand what the test means, but who also understand how to get it from this machine, into this system, and how those results spit out. It's not just an IT person who does it, it's your entire staff."	Northeast
"Qualified computer folks. Information technology folks that are at least four-year trained, and if they've got some experience that'd be great because so much of health care is now computerized. Whether it's electronic medical records or we're building portals for one thing or another, it's such a central function. And we really need more IT people than we can get our hands on. So, if you want to give that message to MnSCU."	Northeast
"Some clinics are still paper-based, but there's a push towards the electronic medical record. And now, there's even a push that wherever you go, wherever you receive care as a patient, no matter what institution, that your medical record follows you, and that health care professionals have easy exchange of this health information. Some of us struggle with our hospitals and clinics to get us all connected. But I think that—and I would think this holds true for the nursing population as well—that having the IT savviness would be helpful. The people that are building interfaces may not understand the health care portion of it, and that leads to problems with the build. And IT services are very expensive, so you don't want to have to re-do them. But with the nurses coming out of school, and needing to use the EMR, and to chart everything electronically, I think that the new grads do it better than those of us that are used to using the paper. It is very complex. And, boy, if you are an RN and you also have the IT piece of it—or you if you are a laboratorian and you know the IT piece of it—then you can really leverage that. And you will be able to leverage it even more in the future, I believe, than you can right now."	Metro
"Technology changes so much and everybody's technology is different, depending on what company you're working with. It's different here versus there versus anywhere. I mean, you can only do so much training because there's going to have to be some of that on the job. I definitely think that coming out of school with a solid technology background is important. But understanding that the technology is going to change, and having an interest in computers and just really understanding that—in the world of medicine now—you're going to have to be involved in technology."	Northeast
"The way that the care is delivered right now—I mean one of the big things is the technological component of how care is delivered. It's huge. I think we get a lot of applicants, and a lot of these people coming out of these programs, that are actually pretty adept at it. But the technology is not just about the clinical things, it's the electronic medical records, and it's about being able to be on the computer."	Southeast