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A new center to be housed in Rhode Island College's Institute for Cybersecurity & Emerging Technologies aims to bolster and protect the state's digital health ecosystem, Care New England Health System said.
As part of a collaboration with the regional public college, CNE will provide access to an Epic electronic health record academic license to help strengthen nurse and healthcare student training capabilities.
WHY IT MATTERS
CNE said the new partnership will foster a pipeline of highly skilled healthcare workers by preparing students for roles in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data analytics and digital health.
The health system will use its operational healthcare expertise and digital technology infrastructure to support RIC in designing new clinical and healthcare management degree programs, professional certifications and workshops, CNE said in an announcement on its website.
EHR experience training will be directly embedded into nursing coursework.
The integration with the Epic EHR offers students a chance to learn from simulation labs and immersive case studies using real-world clinical workflows and patient data processes, CNE said.
"As technology continues to redefine patient care, this initiative ensures Rhode Island will lead in cybersecurity, healthcare digital innovation and data-driven clinical excellence," said Tomas Gregorio, CNE's chief digital information officer.
Integrating real-world clinical and technical expertise into academics is key to driving healthcare innovation, according to Jack Warner, the college's president.
"We are building the workforce of the future and creating new opportunities for students, patients and the state’s healthcare ecosystem," Warner said in a statement.
THE LARGER TREND
Improving the realism of digital training in nursing education increases workforce resilience, according to some academic experts.
Educators at the University of Rochester School of Nursing told Healthcare IT News two years ago that the benefits of experiential learning are significant. As a result, graduating nurses express confidence as they enter the workforce, they said.
Meanwhile, Marquette College of Nursing in Milwaukee said it was the first academic institution in the United States to train nursing students in clinical documentation using Epic's Lyceum platform, an educational version of the EHR.
"Our goal in creating Lyceum is to simplify access to the EHR experience for future healthcare professionals," Seth Howard, Epic's senior vice president of research and development, said in a statement at the time.
ON THE RECORD
The Care New England partnership with RIC "represents a transformative collaboration between one of the state's key healthcare providers and one of its top educators of healthcare professionals," Warner stated.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
