Analysis of ehealth Knowledge and Skills Specifications in Australian Clinical Job Advertisements Ambica Dattakumar, University of Melbourne email: ambicad@unimelb.edu.au Kathleen Gray, University of Melbourne email: kgray@unimelb.edu.au Helen Chenery, University of Queensland email: h.chenery@admin.uq.edu.au Kerryn Butler-Henderson, Curtin University email: K.Butler-Henderson@exchange.curtin.edu.au Anthony Maeder, University of Western Sydney email: A.Maeder@uws.edu.au December 2012 1
Support for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views in this project do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. This document may be cited as: Dattakumar, A., Gray, K., Butler-Henderson, K., Chenery, H., & Maeder, A. Analysis of ehealth Knowledge and Skills Specifications in Australian Clinical Job Advertisements. Available from http://clinicalinformaticseducation.pbworks.com/w/page/40085824/resources Executive Summary This paper reports on a study from an Australian national project to encourage a coordinated interprofessional approach to curriculum renewal for ehealth capability in clinical health professional degrees. Two previous studies in this project found that the need to prepare the future clinical workforce to work professionally with ehealth was not adequately addressed either in (1) teaching and assessment methods or in (2) degree accreditation standards. A third potential impetus for curriculum renewal could come from change in the healthcare industry work environments where graduates are employed. So this study investigates what health service provider organisations expect, in terms of ehealth competence, in the clinical health professionals they recruit. The texts of over 800 Australian clinical job advertisements posted in 2012 were analysed for evidence of specific ehealth knowledge and skills sought by employers. Ehealth related knowledge and skills scarcely rated a mention in job advertisements in any clinical health profession. The word ehealth never appeared. Fewer than 10% of advertisements included any other term that could be construed as relevant ( computer literate was most common) and the competence was often described narrowly or vaguely. Related knowledge and skills were specified as desirable more often than essential. It seems that mostly health service provider organisations do not look for clinical health professionals with ehealth knowledge and skills. In the rare instances where they do seek to recruit ehealth competent staff, the requirement is neither clear nor strong. These findings are concerning to anyone interested in the influences of information and communication technology on healthcare. Method A job search engine (mycareer.com.au) was used as a tool to conduct a search for jobs, advertised nationally in healthcare, across different sectors and sub sectors. This search was conducted over a period of three months in mid 2012. Searches were conducted at least two to three times a week across a three month period. As seen in Figure 1, the job descriptions had to fit certain criteria: 2
Figure 1- Flowchart of selection criteria for job description analysis Specifically, the job descriptions, had to be related to a clinical health profession and mention that the candidate had to possess a tertiary degree in a clinical health profession. had to be recently advertised and unique (that is, not the same advertisement for same role within the same organization, differentiated by state or recruiting agency only). had to include a detailed description of the role and selection criteria. At times, the job descriptions were re-advertised newspaper ads that did not contain sufficient detail about the potential applicants or the skills required. Had to contain the search term in the selection criteria (so not as a term used to describe the use of technology in the organisation). There were infrequent occurrences of advertisements where the term technology, would appear in the content detailing the organization s purpose. It would not however, appear in the selection criteria for the potential applicant. The jobs were searched for ehealth related terms: ehealth/e-health/electronic health, electronic record, computer, information technology, information management, document management. The job descriptions that fit the criteria are listed below in Table 1. They have been organized by the clinical professional degree qualification required for the role. The position title is then mentioned along with the state in which the position is based. This is followed by an excerpt containing ehealth/information Technology related terms in the job descriptions. 3
Degree Qualification Role State Description Audiology Audiologist WA Basic computer skills; some experience in using NOAH and familiarity with hearing aid software preferred. Dentistry Dental Assistant VIC Basic Computer skills Dentistry Dental Nurse VIC To be prepared to develop basic IT skills, possessing basic computer skills would be an advantage Dentistry Dental Nurse NSW Intermediate computer skills Dentistry Dental Receptionist/Nurse ACT Computer Literate Dietetics Manager Nutrition Services VIC Computer/Word processing skills. Medicine General Practitioner NSW Excellent computer skills Medicine General Practitioner QLD Computer literacy Midwifery Registered Midwife NSW Information management: Has appropriate IT/computer skills for the role; has an email address at BH and routinely accesses/utilises email for communication; obtains access and develops competence using all the relevant BH software applications e.g. Birthing Outcomes Systems (BOS), the BOSS Digital Medical Record (DMR) and results management systems, isoft Patient Management System (ipm), Cordis, RiskMan; Understands data collection requirements; maintains record management to accepted standards; adheres to medico legal requirement of documentation and recording; maintains appropriate documentation requirements. demonstrated high level of verbal, written and electronic communication skills. Midwifery Midwifery Aboriginal Maternal Infant Health Strategy Midwife NSW Demonstrated high level oral, written and interpersonal skills, including knowledge and skills in effective utilisation of computer based information systems and Microsoft applications. Maternal and child health VIC Experience in budget preparation and information technology is highly coordinator desirable Naturopathy trainer NSW Good numeracy skills and computer skills (word and excel) Naturopathy/complementary medicine ACFI Coordinator VIC Excellent computer skills (Word, Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint and Internet) ACFI Project Manager VIC Exceptional communication skills and computer literacy are a must. Care Manager, Aged Care NSW Sound computer literacy skills Clinical Manager NSW Computer literacy Clinical Manager Aged Care NSW You have well developed management and communication skills, a thorough understanding of ACFI and strong computer literacy. Clinical Nurse Consultant VIC You will have excellent communication and analytical skills, initiative and 4
Infection Control personal drive and computer skills in Word and Excel. Community Care Manager QLD You will have a proven ability to use, or willingness to learn, computer software in the delivery of care services. Director of Care NSW Tech savvy - able to operate various computer systems EN/RN NSW Have excellent organisational and computer literacy skills. Gastroenterology Clinical VIC Computer literacy and competence Nurse Consultant Hepatitis Clinical Nurse Advisor VIC Excellent computer skills Hepatology Clinical Nurse VIC Computer literacy and competence Consultant Mental Health CNS, RN and NSW Sound Computer Skills EEN Roles Mental Health RN WA Clear and concise written and computer skills Nurse Unit Manager NSW Proficient Computer skills Practice Nurse/Enrolled Nurse WA Good computer skills Registered Nurse NSW Basic Computer Skills Registered Nurse NSW Recent clinical experience, proficient computer skills, effective communication and time management skills and be able to work within a team environment. Registered Nurse NSW Computer literacy Registered Nurse VIC Computer Literacy Registered Nurse/Quality NSW Sound computer literacy skills Assurance Health Promotion Officer VIC Computer literacy Surgical Liaison Nurse VIC Advanced Computer Skills Project Officer Home Dialysis VIC Computer literacy Health Promotion Officer VIC Computer literacy Child and family health nurse NSW Computer literacy, word processing and data entry skills with a demonstrated ability to maintain concise and contemporaneous clinical documentation. Practice Nurse WA Comprehensive understanding of Medicare systems and computer systems would be advantageous. Director of NSW Sound computer literacy skills General Practice Nurse VIC Computer literate Nurse Manager Rehabilitation VIC Computer literacy and word processing skills Unit Theatre clinical nurse manager VIC Advanced computer literacy Renal vascular access coordinator VIC Basic computer literacy 5
State quality manager aged WA High computer literacy, especially in Microsoft packages care Care Coordinator (Aged Care) NSW Good computer skills. Occupational Therapy Occupational Therapist VIC Possess excellent interpersonal skills, including computer literacy and the ability to produce well written reports. Occupational Therapy Occupational Therapist VIC Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills, including computer literacy and the ability to produce well written reports. Occupational Therapy Occupational Therapist NSW Computer literate Seating/Equipment Specialist Paramedicine Paramedic NSW Intermediate/strong clerical & computer skills. Pharmaceutical science Senior Pharmaceutical Officer, Clerk Grade 9/10 Legal and Regulatory Services Branch NSW Demonstrated high level oral and written communication skills, as well as demonstrated high level computer skills and experience in using word processing, presentations, email/electronic communications, spreadsheets Pharmaceutical science Senior Pharmaceutical Officer, Clerk Grade 9/10 Legal and Regulatory Services Branch NSW and data. Demonstrated high level computer skills and experience in using word processing, presentations, email/electronic communications, spreadsheets and data. Pharmacy Graduate Pharmacist NSW Computer literacy & demonstrated experience in working with Fred dispense system. Pharmacy Part time pharmacy assistant NSW Be computer literate with sound product knowledge Pharmacy Pharmacist NSW Excellent computer skills Pharmacy Clinical Pharmacist Grade 1 VIC Interpersonal and information technology skills, possesses well-developed computer skills, proficiency in word processing, spreadsheet and dispensing software applications. Pharmacy Clinical Pharmacist VIC Strong computer literacy and experience in specialist pharmacy software Physiotherapy Physiotherapist NSW Computer skills, social media awareness. Physiotherapy Physiotherapist NT Proficient computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite Psychology Autism Spectrum Disorder VIC Competent in the use of computers Case Consultant Practitioner Psychology Psychologist Mental Health NSW Sound Computer Skills Psychology Mental health support worker NSW Applicants should be computer literate in Windows Office programs. Psychology/Counselling/Social Work Neurofeedback counsellor WA Demonstrated high level verbal and written communication skills including computer literacy Psychology/social work/health/counselling Senior Intake Officer/Counsellor NSW Well developed oral and written communication skills including computer literacy, and use of Microsoft packages. Public health Population health manager NSW The successful candidate will have post-graduate qualifications in public health, health promotion or another relevant field as well as advanced knowledge of research and statistical methodology, including extensive 6
experience in the use of computer packages for data analysis. Social Work Psychiatric Triage Clinician VIC Utilise advanced computer based technology Social Work Diabetes Social Worker VIC High level computer literacy Social Work, Counselling, Sexual Assault, Psychology, Aboriginal Sexual Assault Worker NSW Demonstrated written and oral communication skills and experience in using computer programmes such as Microsoft Office. Social Work, Occupational Therapy Bilingual counsellor Mandarin NSW Computer literacy speaking Speech Pathology Grade 2 Speech Pathologist VIC Computer literacy, by ensuring that clinical and non-clinical activity using IBA software are entered within a fortnight of the activity, consistent with departmental protocols. Speech Pathology Speech Pathologist (adult) VIC Good computer skills grade 2 Speech Pathology Speech Pathologist level 3 senior VIC Excellent written and verbal communication skills, computer literacy and time management. 7