About the Education Tab

Basic digital skills and education are required for all disciplines in the healthcare workforce. The level of eHealth and health IT skills needed depends on the place of education, the profession, the amount of technology used in healthcare in the country and even the personal interest for IT skills. Basic computing skills have increased with the use of personal devices (laptops, smartphones, other devices); however, especially in developing countries or in those with developing healthcare infrastructures, for example, in some smaller European states and global regions, workforce members need to be better adapted to the digital healthcare world.  Also, bridges need to be built between the healthcare and information and communications technology (ICT) domains.

To fulfil this need, the EU*US eHealth Work Project has developed a Foundational Curriculum for the workforce in the EU and US. The curriculum provides foundational skills for health IT and eHealth topics, but also provides an overview of the healthcare process for a professional in ICT.  The foundational curriculum serves as a material for independent studying as well as provides a mechanism for an instructor-led course, which can be used in lectures remotely or in a classroom setting. The curriculum is objective-based and provides activities and exercises to ensure retention of information.  The learning process within the foundational curriculum is not only conceptual, but also provides experiential learning opportunities so that learners can apply the theoretical components they study to real-life scenarios they may encounter on the job.  All Foundational Curriculum units can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

The Health IT Workforce Curriculum (also called “ONC Curriculum”)[1] has been a valuable source and inspiration for the foundational curriculum material; however, the final content has been extensively complemented from several other scientific and validated sources to fully cover the needs of the baseline and basic skills in Health IT.[1] Developed by Oregon Health & Science University, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000015.

Objectives for the Foundational Curriculum align with HITComp baseline and basic competencies.  Completion of the Foundational Curriculum should provide basic digital skills competency in eHealth.  Below, you will find a table listing the HITComp areas of competency and the corresponding Foundational Curriculum units that contain those competency areas.

Foundational Curriculum preview

The overview contains general information regarding the curriclum, its format, how it is organized, how to prepare yourself to take the 60-hour program, and tips for success.

wdt_ID	Area Of Competency	Foundational Curriculum Unit # (see keys below for more information on each module and unit)
1	Access to Information, Protected Health Information, and Health Information Management	C4M6U1, C4M6U2
2	Administration/General Mgmt/Governance	C1M1U2, C10M18U1
3	Business Process Design/Workflows	C2M3U1
4	Care Coordination	C2M2U1, C2M3U2
5	Clinical Decision Support and Pathways	C5M9U1, C5M9U2
6	Clinical Practice and Workflows	C2M2U1
7	Coding and Terminologies	C2M2U5, C2M2U6
8	Collection of Data/Knowledge Mgmt (Library)	C8M14U1, C8M14U2
9	Communication and Change Management	C10M20U2, C10M20U3, C10M20U4
10	Patient Access and Engagement/PHRs	C7M12U1

wdt_ID	Module	Cluster	Module Name	Module and Unit Description
1	1	eHealth	Introduction to eHealth	An overview of the people, places and processes of eHealth. This course includes an introduction to key concepts and components of eHealth and healthcare. Units include: Introduction to eHealth (1), The People of eHealth: Roles of eHealth Workers (2), and The Places of eHealth: eHealth Settings (3) (C1M1U1, C1M1U2, C1M1U2)
2	2	Clinical Process	Clinical Practice and Documentation	This module provides an overview of how clinicians practice medicine and document care, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others on the allied health team. It also covers clinical workflow basics. The module also includes medical terminology basics. Units include: Clinical Practice and Workflows (4), Clinical Documentation Basics (5), Clinical Documentation Principles (6), Clinical Documentation Requirements (7), Medical Terminology Basics (8) and Medical Terminology Concepts (9) (C2M2U1, C2M2U2, C2M2U3, C2M2U4, C2M2U5, C2M2U6)
3	3	Clinical Process	Business Process and Workflow Design	This module details the fundamentals of business workflows and process in a clinical environment, as well as clinical workflow design and redesign. Includes coordination of care, care planning and clinical pathways. Units include: Business Process Design and Business Process Redesign (10) and Care Coordination as Part of the Clinical Workflow (11) (C2M3U1, C2M3U2)
4	4	ICT Process	Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Information Systems Overview	This module provides a basic overview of computer systems, software and hardware devices, including architecture, data organization and structure; networking and programming basics; as well as terms related to information systems and computing. Units include: Information and Communications Technology Basics (12) and Information and Communications Technology Concepts (13) (C3M4U1, C3M4U2)
5	5	ICT Process	General HIT Knowledge/System Use	This module provides a continuation of the overview of computer systems with an expansion of general health information system knowledge, use and application into health information technology (HIT) and informatics. Unit: Information Systems and Programming Basics (14) (C3M5U1)
6	6	Informatics	Health Information Management, Legal and Coding Topics	In this module the management of health information is explored, including access to information, protected health information, confidentiality and system management. This module also includes legal, risk/compliance and ethics topics related to eHealth. It also includes medical coding concepts and billing and reimbursement, financial and account management. Units include: Health Information Management Basics (15), Healthcare Administration (16), Healthcare Finances and Revenue Cycle (17), Legal, Risk, Compliance, and Ethics Concepts (18), and Introduction to Medical Coding (19) (C4M6U1, C4M6U2, C4M6U3, C4M6U4, C4M6U5)
7	7	Informatics	The Informatics Process and Principles of Health Informatics	This module is an overview of the informatics process with an introduction to the principles of health informatics. Units include: Health Informatics Basics (20), Health Informatics Principles (21) and The Health Informatics Process (22) (C4M7U1, C4M7U2, C4M7U3)
8	8	EHR Systems	Working with Health IT Systems	This module provides an introduction to the electronic health/medical record system, including organization-wide as well as departmental systems. This also include system development and implementation/system lifecycle management. Units include: Introduction & Overview: Components of Health IT Systems (23), Types of EHR Systems: Acute Care Organizational and Departmental Systems, and Non-Acute Care Systems (24), Principles of System Implementations, Optimizations and Upgrades (25), and System Maintenance (26) (C5M8U1, C5M8U2, C5M8U3, C5M8U4)
9	9	EHR Systems	EHR Modules – Medications, Allergies, Clinical Decision Support and Order Entry	In this module clinical modules of the EHR will be covered, including medication administration, documentation and reconciliation; electronic prescribing; allergies documentation; clinical decision support including flags and alerts; and computerized provider order entry. Units include: Medication Administration, Delivery and Reconciliation Systems (27), Allergies, Alerts and Flags – An Introduction to Clinical Decision Support Systems (28) and Provider Order Entry (29) (C5M9U1, C5M9U2, C5M9U3)
10	10	System Connectivity	Interoperability, Interfaces and Integration of eHealth	This module provides a brief overview of data interoperability, including health information exchange, interfaces and integration. Also, includes standards and protocols including basic organizational methodologies of HL7, ISO and other standards organizations. Units include: Interoperability (30), Interfaces (31), Integration of eHealth (32) and Standards and Protocols (33) (C6M10U1, C6M10U2, C6M10U3, C6M10U4)