Staff Shortages Could Adversely Affect EHR Adoption, Survey Says

A majority of health care CIOs believe a shortage in health IT workers will have an adverse effect on their organizations, according to a recent survey from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Health Data Management reports.

The survey was conducted in early September and included responses from 182 member CIOs of CHIME.

Survey Results

According to the survey, more than 70% of CIOs said their organizations had inadequate IT staff to implement clinical application software, while 51% said that such staffing issues may affect their ability to implement electronic health record systems and qualify for “meaningful use” incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid.

Ten percent of respondents said the health IT work force shortage would definitely have a negative effect.

The survey also found that:

• 76% of respondents have concerns about retaining existing health IT staff; and
• 50% of respondents report having insufficient funds to increase staff in 2011 (Goedert, Health Data Management, 10/6).

CIOs from smaller hospitals had the lowest percentage of vacant health IT support positions, while larger hospitals had a higher percentage of open positions, the survey found.

The most vacancies were for positions related to clinical software implementation and support staff, including:

• Analysts;
• Application coordinators;
• Informatics staff;
• Project managers;
• Report writers;
• Technical writers; and
• Trainers.

Addressing the Issues

More than one-third of respondents said they plan to use third-party consultants to address immediate staffing needs.

CIOs also said they intend to provide health IT training to staff from within their organization (CMIO, 10/7).

Many groups also plan to try other ways to retain staff, such as setting up professional development or telecommuting programs (Health Data Management, 10/6).
Source: iHealthBeat