HIMSS Finds Staffing Top Leadership Concern

Concerns about staffing resources were cited as the key barrier to IT, according to the 23rd Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey. Specifically, one-quarter of respondents said a lack of adequate staffing resources is the top barrier to IT implementation, and approximately two-thirds said they hope to increase their IT staff in the next year.

Leading areas in which survey respondents require staff are clinical decision support, network and architecture support and clinical informatics professionals.

As healthcare organizations move toward meeting their information technology priorities, key areas of focus as reported by the survey’s technology leaders are: achieving meaningful use and ICD-10 (data gathered before the recently announced ICD-10 postponement); participating in HIEs; addressing security concerns; and IT governance.

The Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey reports the opinions of more than 300 technology professionals from healthcare providers across the U.S. regarding the use of IT in their organizations.