Butte’s ‘informatics’ discipline garners $400,000

The partnership between Montana Tech and St. James Healthcare received a $400,000 boost from the federal government, it was announced
Monday.

By Gerard O’Brien of the Montana Standard

The money will be used to help launch Tech’s new degree program for the National Center for Health Care Informatics, a discipline that combines
health care education and computer data information.

Tech will now begin recruiting instructors and students to the program, hire a grant writer to secure more funding and an architect to draw up plans
for an informatics lab proposed for the St. James Healthcare campus.

It is hoped that the partnership can obtain an additional $1.5 million in federal funding next year to advance the program and build an 8,000- to
10,000-square foot training center adjacent to St. James.
Neither Tech, nor St. James is committing any additional dollars to the program. It must survive on its own merits, officials said.
The undergraduate degree program will be the first in the nation. There are masters and doctorate degrees available in other parts of the nation,
but very few registered nurses take advantage of the discipline, according to Danette Melivn.

Melvin, an instructor in Tech’s nursing program at the College of Technology, was named the interim department head for informatics Monday. She
is currently working on a masters in the study.
The undergraduate program starts this fall at Tech. Along with Melvin, two to three other instructors will be recruited over the next few years to teach
the program.

Ray Rogers, director of college relations at Tech, said that Tech has received about 100 inquiries about the program. He expects from 25 to 50
students to start this fall. The deadline for applying is May 15.
The program is a two- to four-year program. The program bridges the gap between understanding medical needs of patients, and using a wealth of
medical technology and data that is available. Students can expect to earn $40,000 to $50,000 upon graduating, Rogers said.

Hopes are to:

Create a national reference and network center through this program.

Establish a business incubator focusing on health care data management.

Establish continuing education resources for health care professionals.

Develop corporate sponsorships for internships and permanent jobs for graduates

Create alternative training programs for health care workers who may want to study in a new field

Ease the shortage of health care professionals trained in computer data information.

"Although at this point, we cannot make any definitive projections on employment or economic impact," said Pat Dudley, director of human
resources for St. James, "we believe that the center has tremendous potential to become an economic catalyst for the state and provide an excellent
source of jobs."

http://www.mtstandard.com/breakingnews/break.html