According to a new study released by the health information technology practice of the New York-based consulting firm PricewaterCoopers, LLC (New York, N.Y.) health organizations are worried that there aren’t enough people with skills to handle the volume and complexity of health information as use of electronic health records (EHR) grows.
As a result, a hiring spree will take place to employ health informaticists with both clinical and technical skills. According to PwC, health organizations plan to increase informatics staffing levels over the next two years, with particular emphasis on people to help with the technical aspects of EHR implementation, data integration, and interoperability.
PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI) has developed a report on the state of clinical informatics in the health industry. In developing the report, PwC’s HRI conducted a survey of 600 health organization professionals from hospitals, health systems, health insurers and pharmaceutical and life sciences companies. The PwC survey found:
- Seventy percent of health insurers, 48 percent of hospitals and 39 percent of pharmaceutical / life sciences companies plan to increase hiring of technical informatics professionals over the next two years.
- Four in ten hospital and provider respondents surveyed said that lack of skilled informatics staff is a barrier to developing a comprehensive clinical informatics program.
- Half of hospitals and physician respondents said that misalignment of clinical and technology teams is an organizational barrier, something they will need to address to incorporate sophisticated analytics into clinicians’ everyday work.
