Study: Healthcare Organizations Find Clinical Informatics Positions Difficult to Staff

Newly formed clinical informatics positions can be difficult to fill, with 47 percent of healthcare organizations reporting challenges with recruitment, retention or both, according to a recent Hay Group (Philadelphia) study. In addition, 82 percent of respondents report that these positions are designed to be filled by full-time employees, rather than retaining specialists on a contractual or consulting basis. However, many say these positions originated with temporary agreements.

A surge in interest regarding clinical informatics positions was created in response to the American Recovery Act’s push to implement electronic medical record (EMR) systems to create efficiencies in healthcare, but also to create jobs. Nearly all respondents (96 percent) have begun to create these positions and structure these departments; 32 percent report that they are 1-2 years into the process (the largest segment currently in the timeline). Organizations reporting that they have completed the process of building EMR capabilities and have staffed the departments accordingly, said it took an average of 44 months.