Welcome to 2010, and by all accounts, the health information and informatics management and technology field can look forward to some exciting opportunities emerging throughout the rest of the year.

Most importantly, recipients of funding from the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH Act) should be decided and announced in the first quarter of 2010.

To review, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on Feb. 17, 2009. The ARRA statute includes HITECH, which provides significant funding for a comprehensive work force development program in health information technology (HIT).

This funding is being made available to meet the estimated need of more than 51,000 qualified HIT workers through the next 5 years, based on estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Education and other non-governmental studies. For complete details on ARRA / HITECH, please click here.

Specifically, the work force development program will consist of four programmatic components, including the establishment of a Community College Consortia, Curriculum Development Centers, Competency Examinations and program assistance for university-based training for information technology professionals in health care.

Though the impact of these programs may not be fully available until 2011, there is no better time than now to be proactive in pursuing your personal education and certification opportunities to place yourself at the ultimate competitive advantage when these estimated 51,000 jobs need to be filled.

If you are interested or considering pursuing any American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) certification exam, please make note of the following two important updates:

First, please note the following fees for all AHIMA certification exams in 2010. These fees went in effect on Jan. 1, 2010:

Second, for all candidates specifically pursuing the AHIMA certified coding associate (CCA) certification exam, please be aware that beginning March 31, 2010, the Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM) will launch the 2010 version of the CCA exam with immediate scoring. This means that all CCA candidates will have to present the 2010 version of the ICD-9 and CPT codebooks to test on or after March 31, 2010. If a candidate presents the incorrect codebooks at the testing center, they will be turned away and forfeit their test fee. Please ensure you have the correct codebooks by reviewing the list of allowable codebooks located on the following Web site:  http://www.ahima.org/certification/exam/default.aspx

Additional information regarding AHIMA professional certification offerings can be found by visiting the AHIMA Web site and following the links to certification/credentialing within the professional development section, by contacting the AHIMA customer relations department by calling (800) 335-5535 or directly through the following link: http://ahima.org/certification/.

Mike Niederpruem is vice president of certifications for AHIMA.