Training manager Ryan Kingery to present research on electronic health records training for providers

Research by Ryan Kingery, Ph.D., M.Ed., Manager of Technical Training for University of Louisville Physicians (ULP), has been selected as a Best Practices in Medical Education oral presentation for the 2012 Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA) conference. Participants of the SGEA annual conference for medical educators, to be held April 19-21 in Lexington, come from 46 southern medical schools. SGEA is a professional development organization affiliated with the Association of American Medical Colleges. This is the first year an educator from ULP has been selected to present at the conference.

Kingery’s proposal, “Continuing Medical Education for Physicians: Needs Assessment for Electronic Health Record Courses with Meaningful Use Implications,” explored the need for specialized training as more and more doctors adopt electronic health records (EHR) technology. His presentation will take place at noon on Friday, April 20.

Meaningful use guidelines and related reimbursement have served as an impetus to the current upswing in electronic health record adoptions. These implemented measures impact providers significantly and training is needed for these providers. However, not all meaningful use measures impact providers equally. To determine a priority of training needs, Kingery conducted a needs assessment. In it, providers reported that their past technology experiences, technical prowess and area of practice all should determine details of EHR training course content, especially when it relates to meaningful use.

In 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH. The HITECH Act provides for $17 billion in incentive stimulus payments for the “meaningful use” of Certified Electronic Health Records systems. In order to meet the qualification for meaningful use, an EHR must be certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and the provider must meet various clinical and technical measurements, over three different stages, and report their activities to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. We are currently in the Stage 1 reporting period; Stage 2 begins in 2014, and Stage 3 begins in 2015.

Kingery earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Vanderbilt University, his master’s in education from the University of South Carolina and his Ph.D. in educational leadership and organizational development from the University of Louisville. He has more than 10 years of technical training and teaching experience. “I am proud of ULP’s successful training initiatives for physicians and delighted at the opportunity to share our training best practices with medical school representatives in the southern United States,” Kingery said.

The 2012 SGEA conference theme is “Best Practices in Medical Education: Bring Us Your Best.” The conference features the very best initiatives and practices in place at medical schools across the southern United States delivered through oral presentations, small group discussions, workshops, demonstrations and poster sessions. This year’s conference will be hosted by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine at the Hilton Lexington Downtown. For more on the conference, visit http://www.cecentral.com/live/2874