Finding a few good HIE staffers
Health information exchange was one of the topics the speakers addressed during the recent eHealth Summit presented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Staffing HIEs is challenging and there’s a lack of significant studies in this area, said Scott MacLean, MBA, deputy CIO and director at Partners HealthCare in Boston. He cited the collaborative effort of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Health Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS) that aims to identify current and future needs as well as determine ways to help people find work in this area, connecting them to organizations seeking employees.
“We wanted to identify what specific rules and responsibilities were key to the success and future of HIEs,” said Meryl Bloomrosen, MBA, vice president of AHIMA, “and what resources we could offer for additional training and ongoing support.”
Core Health Technologies, a health information security firm, surveyed HIEs and found that 86 percent of these health information organizations (HIOs) have 25 or fewer employees, said Charlie Rogers, CEO and member of the HIMSS HIE committee. “There is a lot of local competition for candidates,” he said, and people with HL7 expertise are difficult to find and keep. Since many of these organizations are quite similar in make-up to startups, they need to sell themselves to job candidates, he said.
“The dynamic nature of those entities now called HIOs warrants additional scrutiny,” said Bloomrosen. “There is an evolutionary path in front of us as we continue to explore the ideal state for future staffing needs, skills and responsibilities to make sure the nationwide goal of exchanging data can be achieved.”
With healthcare lagging behind other industries by 5 to 10 years, Rogers said CIOs are just “starting to sit at the table now as opposed to being glorified project managers.” Research is needed as well as leading organizations sharing their experience. “The organizations that get out front and lead, have a vision, can lead these discussions and drive the industry forward.”
Is the HIE in your region financially sustainable and how is it staffed? Please share your experience.
Beth Walsh
Clinical Innovation + Technology editor
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.