We have deep roots in the Health IT industry. The world’s largest Health IT organization, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), originated in Atlanta in 1961 at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Institute served as the headquarters for HIMSS for several years; the organization has grown from fewer than 50 members in 1961 to more than 23,000 members today.
In the mid-70s, Technicon Data Systems, Gerber Alley and Huff and Barrington & Owens (HBOC), three large pioneering firms, were all established in Atlanta. These three companies eventually evolved to become two industry giants, McKesson and Allscripts.
We’re home to more than 200 Health IT companies, and that number continues to rise rapidly. Several HCI-100 companies are headquartered in Atlanta, including McKesson Technology Solutions, which is ranked the world’s largest by Healthcare Informatics. In addition, Greenway Medical Technologies, WebMD, Transcend Services and other major players call the Peach State home. According to a survey conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia’s Health IT businesses are growing at a 40 percent rate. Georgia also ranks as one of the top states by revenue. More than $4 billion in revenue is generated annually by Georgia Health IT companies.
Georgia attracts and retains the most coveted employees. We’re among the fastest growing high-tech metro areas in the nation with more than 14,300 tech companies employing nearly 200,000 technology workers altogether. Georgia ranks as the 13th leading state for high-tech jobs, with more than 37 percent of those coming from software and IT services – the largest high-tech sector in Georgia. Georgia can fulfill the growing U.S. demand for Health IT workers thanks to our innovative higher education. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has spurred industry growth by investing $49 billion to help hospitals and physicians to switch electronic medical records by 2014. The state’s leading academic and research universities, technical colleges and workforce training programs continue to develop and improve programs to help fulfill this growing demand for Health IT workers.
BENEFITS
- As part of a 13-state consortium of community colleges that have health information technology programs, Atlanta Technical College is expanding its healthcare information technology program to meet a growing demand.
- The University of Georgia’s Center for Continuing Education offers a health management certificate program.
- Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of
Computing is developing a healthcare IT professional certificate program for workers interested in moving into this field.
- Georgia Institute of Technology’s Ph.D program in Human-Centered Computing (HCC) at the College of Computing is the first of its kind.