ARRA turns 1, uptick in health IT jobs expected

Mary Stevens, Editor

It’s been a year now since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed. And what a year it's been! Critics of the Act say it’s done little to generate jobs, proponents say it’s created or saved a million jobs, possibly more.

Now, as federal health IT funds reach states, the employment outlook is decidedly upbeat among some health IT pros. In fact, 42 percent of the health IT professionals, who participated in a recent survey by healthcare nonprofit organization American Society of Health Informatics Managers (ASHIM), believe at least 50,000 new jobs in health IT will be created by 2015. About 28 percent believe 50,000 to 100,000 new jobs will be created, and 13 percent of respondents believe that 100,000 to 200,000 new jobs will be created.

Joy L. Pritts has a new job. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHA) has named Pritts as the first-ever chief privacy officer at its Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). This new role at is part of ONC’s ongoing reorganization, as a result of the ARRA. As chief privacy officer, Pritts, a lawyer by training, will advise Dr. David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT, on forming policies on privacy, security and data stewardship of electronic health information.

Perhaps Medicare’s Physician Quality Reporting Initiative should hire a workflow consultant. A recent Medical Group Management Association survey of medical practice leaders cited multiple, continued administrative challenges with reporting data for PQRI. Specifically, survey respondents cited the unnecessarily arduous process for accessing feedback reports, and expressed little to no satisfaction with the feedback reports. This is the second time MGMA has conducted research on member experiences with the PQRI, which is in its fourth reporting year.

And states from Ohio to Georgia to Rhode Island are ramping up HIE and job training efforts following last week’s announcement that HHS and the Department of Labor have released a total of nearly $1 billion in ARRA funds for adoption and meaningful use of health IT and to train workers for healthcare jobs. The agencies said the awards will help more than 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians adopt health IT by 2014, and train or retrain thousands of people for careers in healthcare and IT.

There's a growing need for healthcare IT expertise in the rest of the world as well, but collaboration is also necessary for technology deployment. Partnerships among academic and government institutions in high- and low-income countries can help establish health informatics programs which can capture and manage data that are useful to all parties. However, establishing effective partnerships in e-health will take time and sustained effort, according to an article in the February edition of Health Affairs.

Finally, as we count down the days to HIMSS, watch CMIO.net for pre-show news updates, and tune in during the event (Feb. 28 to March 3) for the latest news and announcements at HIMSS 360.

--Mary Stevens, Editor
mstevens@trimedmedia.com