HIMSS study suggests positive outlook for health IT staffing

The outlook for health IT staffing is looking rosy, according to HIMSS’ 2013 Inaugural Workforce Survey.

Of the 224 respondents, 85 percent indicated that their organization hired at least one employee in the past year and 13 percent reported layoffs. Seventy-nine percent of those from healthcare organizations and 96 percent of vendors said they plan to hire staff in the next year.

In the area of IT, over half hired one to five employees, primarily in clinical application support or help desk positions. “Survey respondents overwhelmingly indicated that they look for seasoned professionals with industry experience for their open positions and use competitive salary and benefits packages as a hiring strategy,” according to the report. In particular, organizations most frequently use job boards to recruit IT staff but often resorted to recruiters.

Respondents identified the availability of qualified workers as their most significant barrier to meeting staffing needs, in particular in the IT department. As a result, close to half of the respondents working for healthcare provider organizations reported placing an IT initiative on hold or considered placing one on hold because it could not be fully staffed, HIMSS found.

In other results:

• 76 percent of provider organizations plan to outsource a service rather than hire directly
• 93 percent of provider organizations have plans to outsource an area in the next year

To request a copy of the report, go here.