HIT field facing record growth, not enough qualified workers
The health informatics field is facing both record growth and a shortage of qualified workers.
The demand for health informatics workers is projected to grow at twice the rate of employment overall, according to a report from research firm Burning Glass. Also, job postings for those positions stay open longer than those for other positions.On average, health informatics positions stay open for 35 days which is two days longer than the national average posting duration of 33 days.
Postings for medical records clerk stay open for 18 days on average, compared to 38 days for those for clinical analysts.
The report authors noted that new and emerging health informatics positions stay open twice as long as the ones they are replacing.
They also note than healthcare changes such as payment reform, privacy requirements and the looming conversion to ICD-10 are making these emerging health informatics positions more complex.
The new jobs often are hybrid positions, requiring skillsets from different disciplines that personnel are not trained on together.
Aside from causing challenges with basic functions such as paying the bills, the shortage of qualified workers might impede efforts to improve the healthcare system, according to the report. Educators, training organizations and workforce policymakers need to develop more opportunities for students and job seekers to cross-train between healthcare and IT specialties, it said.
Access the full report.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.