Larry Pawola
Associate Dean,
Academic Practice & Distance Education
University of Illinois, Chicago
Hundreds of thousands of medical providers--doctors' offices, clinics, hospitals--will be converting to digital medical records. That expectation is nourishing an academic discipline called health informatics. Larry Pawola shares his experience as the major provider of online learning currently in that field.
What recent federal appropriation of $22 billion includes an opportunity for higher education?
Most everyone knows about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which earmarked about $100 billion for K-12 and higher education. A subpart of ARRA called HITECH involves health information technology, and it's worth $22 billion or more. HITECH will stimulate the purchase and implementation of technology in health care organizations. And those organizations will need people with skills in leadership, project management and an understanding of software, technology ad informatics.
What effect has ARRA had on your campus and your online education operations in Biomedical & Health Information Sciences?
The demand for additional education in these fields is extremely high. The people who are applying here are very high quality students. We are seeking opportunities to partner and expand our offerings, particularly in our undergraduate and graduate online health information management offerings. We are also looking to expand our availability in rural communities.
What are your online offerings and how are they doing?
We offer a Master of Science in health informatics, and we have seen six-fold growth in the last 18 months. We also offer a post-Masters certificate in health informatics, which has also grown substantially. We offer two post-baccalaureate certificates, one in health informatics and another which leads to HIA certification. For our Spring 2010 semester we'll have more than 400 students in those programs, and we anticipate continued growth.
What role did the Sloan Foundation play in your health informatics offerings?
We received a Sloan Foundation grant in 1997 to begin conversion of face-to-face courses to blended and online courses. We received another Sloan Foundation grant in 2008 to further develop blended and online undergraduate offerings.
What internal decision was made by the faculty, the college, the faculty senate and board of trustees in 2005-06, and what resulted?
The university approved my department's online offerings in 2005 and re-priced them under our e-tuition rates. Those rates do not differentiate between in-state and out-of-state residents, and they are somewhat higher than on-campus rates, because of convenience and an absence of additional fees. The Illinois Board of Higher Education approved the appropriate credentials. CAHIIM is the accreditor for the American Health Information Management Association, and they approved our graduate programs in health informatics that same year, and we were among the first three schools so appoved. In 2006, the college faculty approved investments in our department of biomedical health information sciences to grow our online offerings. That set the stage for our search for a partner.
Describe the competitive bid situation that resulted in 2007.
We decided to look outside for marketing, web development, student recruiting, student advising and student satisfaction. I spent about half my time that year shepherding a request for proposal in accordance with Illinois requirements with the help of a full-time assistant. A faculty-staff committee was empaneled. We issued the RFP in the Spring of 2007. About seven bidders responded, and the committee selected two finalists who made on-site presentations. Compass Knowledge Group was selected, and a performance-based contract was negotiated, signed and approved by Spring 2008.
What criteria did you use to select the winning vendor?
I wanted a partner with skin in the game. Our university contracting people agreed. Compass was able to demonstrate success with similar urban public universities. They provided all the desired services without subcontractors or the need for additional service providers. They furnished references of schools who chose Compass and schools who didn't, which helped us immensely. Faculty had confidence that Compass' approach will facilitate growth in our programs.
What results have you experienced since January 2008?
As of today we have the nation's largest online enrollment in health informatics.
What is the tuition, and who are your students?
We charge $695 per credit hour with no additional fees. Our students are all adults, most all of them employed. Many are health professionals, even physicians, nurses and pharmacists. Others have business and computer science backgrounds. They reside throughout the United States and in several other nations. Some are active duty military folks overseas.
What is your edge in this growing field?
We have been providing these courses and programs since the 1990s. Our faculty includes a mix of active practitioners and academic researchers. The University of Illinois brand is a strength as well.
Who are the U.S. pioneers in health informatics?
Clem McDonald, formerly at the Reigenstrief Institute, is noteworthy. Octo Barnett at the University of Utah is notewothy as well. Huff, Barrington Owens, Meditech, Shared Medical Systems, and McAuto were active in the early days. Now Cerner, EPIC, Meditech, IBM, GE, and Siemens are among today's heavy lifters.
Are there office or IT workers on U.S. college campuses who might create entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves in health informatics?
Absolutely. The opportunities for idea-rich small companies are enormous.
Where would you like to be five years from now?
I'd like to be here doing exactly what I'm doing today.