Ironwood Daily Globe from Ironwood, Michigan • Page 182

THE DAILY GLOBE, Ironwood, Ml Saturday, Feb. 24,1996 Page 4 Health information critical field Two of the most rapidly changing facets of our society are health care and the methods of communicating information. The Health Information Technology Program at Gogebic Community College has taken on the challenge of dealing with both of these areas. The goal of the program is to assist students in obtaining the knowledge and skills necessary to respond to the needs of such a fast-paced environment. Students within the Health Information Technology Program have to be trained in communication systems from the Internet to the local facility network.

They must also be trained in the latest health care regulations, reimbursement systems and quality improvement mechanisms. The challenge for the program and for its graduates is to be innovative enough to develop ways to meld these two areas. The result being a patient information system that meets the needs of the patient, the health care facility and the regulatory agencies. With the dawn of fiberoptics, patient information as well as patient inages can be communicated anywhere in the world. Potentially, this means that images of the patient and his records can be transported to a specialist in another part of the country, while the patient himself sits in front of a camera and computer terminal in Ironwood.

Conversely, the specialist can enjoy the beauty of the Gogebic Range, while treating a petient who is located in a city of the east coast. Systems are currently of the market that can perform this function. As the use of these systems increases, Health Information Professionals will assure that the patient information conveyed is accurate, is transmitted to the appropriate location and is secure. Society is placing pressure on health care to provide quality services to patients or clients in a cost-effective manner. Health care facilities must utilize each employee to their maximum potential.

Training is important. The individual hired must be knowledgeable in their field of expertise, work accurately and efficiently. Health Information Technology Professionals are fully trained in accrediting agency and regulatory standards. They also receive advanced training in the various procedural and diagnostic coding systems necessary for accurate reimbursement. In order for a health care facility to survive in a cost effective environment, accurate timely information of revenue, expenses and quality of care is vital.

The Health Information Technology Program at GCC utilizes computer systems to train students to efficiently analyze health information. Change is inevitable! The Health Information Technology Graduates from Gogebic Community College are prepared to assist the health care community in developing innovative answers to the challenges of change. The Health Information Technology Program at Gogebic Community College is accredited by the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Programs in conjunction with the American Health Information Management Association. College, GOISD strong collaborators in vocational areas Gogebic Community College and the Gogebic-Ontanagon Intermediate School District have been working together to provide occupational education since 1972. As the Kleimola Technical Building was being completed in that year, GCC and GOISD planned shared use of the new building.

High school occupational classes would be taught in tjhe mornings, followed in the afternoon by college classes using the same classrooms and laboratories. Several instructional programs have used this arrangement. Currently, auto mechanics, graphic arts, building trades, and drafting share space. High school students from all area schools come to the college from 9 to 11 am. College auto service, graphic arts, construction, and computer-aided design students begin their classes at 11.

For some years, graduates of these high school programs were able to get a head start on their college training by being able to "test out" of some introductory college courses. In 1991 this ability was defined in an articulation agreement among eight area school districts, GOISD, and Gogebic Community College. A simple three-step process allows successful high school graduates to not only test out of college courses but also to receive credit for those courses. The agreement has become a model for other intermediate school districts and colleges. In addition to the areas listed above, students may also test out of business courses if they have participated in the GOISD Business Services and Technology program at either Ironwood or Ontonagon.

In 1992, the Western Upper Peninsula Tech Prep Consortium was formed by the GOISD, Gogebic Community College, and those eight area school districts. The purpose was to improve technical education for students who will be working well into the next century. New classes and programs were developed by the school districts. The college examined its classes to assure that the technical preparation of area high school students would match well with its programs. This project continues.

Gogebic Community College and the Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District have effectively worked together with school districts to provide occupational education for nearly a quarter century. By sharing resources and assuring continuity of training for' students, area educators have been able to keep the emphasis on state-of-the-art training. The GOISD has an office at Gogebic, open during the morning hours. Among the staff maintaining hours at the office are Tom Poisson, the Career and Technical Education Administrator. Poisson was the leader in developing the shared facility idea and has directed its growth to the current arrangement.

Others using the office are Pat Kolinsky, working in placement, and Howie Yesney, vocational counselor. Dawn O'Leary provides clerical support. Gogebic Community Colleges may transfer credits directly to Michigan Tech under a new agreement covering business, forestry, engineering, science and arts. Gogebic reaches accord with Tech Gogebic Community College is pleased to announce the signing of a formal academic articulation agreement with Michigan Technological University. The agreement will allow students from GCC who are enrolled in Associate of Art and Associate of Science programs a smooth transfer of credits as they progress into their junior and senior years of study at Michigan Tech.

The agreement will apply toward all undergraduate majors within the following schools and colleges at MTU: School of Business, School of Forestry, College of Engineering and the College of Science and Arts. There are a number of advantages available to GCC students who become participants in this agreement. Most significant is that students who enter into the agreement are guaranteed acceptance into Michigan Tech with junior standing after satisfactory completion of the recommended program of study at GCC. Curriculum guides are available for students to follow during their freshman and sophomore years at GCC. The guides will list the credits and courses that apply toward the respective degree program at MTU.

Opportunities to travel to Michigan Tech's campus for tours, seminars and other schedule activities will also be made available to GCC students. To learn more about this articulation agreement and the application process, you may contact GCC's Transfer Coordinator at 932-4231, ext. 219. Since 1972, Gogebic Community College and the Gogebic-Ontanagon Intermediate School District have been working together to provide occupational education within the confines of the Kleimola Technical Building. The building now is the site of the most tech aspect of Gogebic's program, its interface with the Internet.

GCC telecommunications efforts moving forward Imagine being a high school student taking a college level psychology course with neighboring high schools, all whom are in their own schools, able to see and communicate with each other and their instructor. That instructor is teaching from a classroom at Gogebic Community College, live. Or imagine being a GCC student taking a junior- or senior- level college course at a regional college or university without having to leave GCC's campus. Or imagine being an instructor or community leader being able to attend staff development meetings and interact live with other participants from outside our community without having to leave Ironwood. Imagine working on a science- related term paper and being able to access the reserch and reference files of the National Science Foundation through the Internet.

All of these opportunities are rapidly becoming a reality as GCC continues to telecommunications capability. Moving rapidly toward reality is the installation of a fiberoptic distance learning network between the college, Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School District, and the Ironwood, Bessemer, Wakefield, Marenisco, Ewen- Tr-out Creek, and Ontonagon School Districts. These schools have joined together to form the Gogebic-Ontonagon Long Distance Learning Consortium, which has accepted bids on a leased distance learning ststem. Consortium participants have secured funding commitments from their respective governing boards. Each participant will contribute a $47,000 lease cost (the total for a seven-year period) and a annual consortium membership fee of $5,000.

The GCC Board of Trustees approved the college's participation in this initiative at its Jan. 30 meeting. Consultants used by the consortium have indicated that the cost of the proposed system is significantly lower than anticipated, or experienced at other locations throughout the Great Lakes region. Keen j. competition between Ameritech and Bresnan the two primary bidders on the system, has been cited as the reason for the lower cost.

Bresnan Communications has subsequently been selected as the system vendor. The distance learning system will allow schools to expend their curriculums by providing opportunities to share courses and programs. For example, schools that could not previously offer foriegn language courses due to low enrollment, could take advantages of such courses offered at another school via the live audio and video interactive learning system. Likewise, GCC can offer courses to high school students at several locations simultaneously via the system. The system will also enable the college to expand some extension center course offerings utilizing courses that originate on the Ironwood campus.

Additionally, staff development and community service programs could be shared. Since the necessary funding commitments have been made by consortium participants, installation of the system will begin in the spring, witt the system expected to be operational in the fall. Classes will likely be offered beginning in January of 1997. GCC has also received grant funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to devolop the distance learning classroom which will access the consortium.

This classroom is located in the Technical Building, room T23. Looking to the future, the consortium is investigating opportunities to connect the local long distance learning system with a similar system serving the Copper Country Intermediate School District. Concurrent with the consortium project, the college will be installing two-way audio and video teleconferencing capability in room T23 of the Technical Building. This compressed audio-video system will enable the college to communicate live with other colleges, universities, governmental agencies, and businesses and industries, and will enable GCC to become a site on the Michigan Collegiate Telecommunications Association system. Benefits of this site-to-site system are that it will enable GCC to share courses and programs with other higher education organizations, as well as enable users to conduct live meetings without traveling to distant sites.

The installation is being funded through a grant from the Michigan Community College Association and will be tied in with consortium. It is expected that the system will be fully operational in early March. Another aspect of telecommunications that is recieving consideration attention on campus is Internet access. With grant funding from the Merit Network (a Michigan-based higher education computer network) and National Science Foundation, the college is installing the communication lines and computer equipment necessary for staff, students, and eventually the community to rectly access the Internet from a direct connect and local dial-in telephone number located at the college. The inital line and equipment have been installed with trouble- shouting and internal and internal system setup now taking place.

Access will be available soon. Also under consideration is an acceptable use policy for subscribers to Internet service. Student and staff access will be initiated first, with the community usage to follow. Internal staff training on these new systems is being planned and will be announced when scheduled. If you have any questions regarding the telecommunications initnlives, you can call the Office of Community Services and Continuing Education at 932-4231, 216.

An enclosed walk connects the Lindquist Student Center with the other buildings in the Gogebic Community College academic complex..