In speaking with CIOs on a daily basis, we often hear them lament about the candidate-driven market and how difficult it is to hire and keep good talent.

With hospitals engaged in frantic efforts to meet meaningful use and address the accompanying technology demands, many hospital IT departments are competing not only against other hospitals or health systems, but against consulting firms that are growing rapidly. Consulting firms are able to substantially increase a professional’s compensation, which may be flat at his or her present organization.

The situation might be likened to healthcare’s own Y2K – but with more extensive ramifications. Yet, in many ways, it’s a new frontier requiring imagination, speed and innovative strategies to keep positions filled.

A recent report indicated that 51 percent of CIOs are worried they will have to put off or delay planned implementations of EHRs if they do not find the right individual to get the job done. A survey Kirby Partners recently conducted through CHIME showed more than 50 percent of hospital IT departments have open positions they have been unable to fill for more than three months. This same survey revealed that 53 percent of CIOs and their directors and managers felt staffing levels would increase this year.

With regard to hiring, healthcare is one of the few booming industries in the United States. Already, there is a shortage of skilled healthcare workers and it will only worsen as Baby Boomers retire and younger, smaller segments of the population take their place. As of August 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that IT jobs in healthcare were “expected to grow 20 percent annually through 2018.” Competition for skilled IT staff members will only continue to increase.

Additionally, we hear there is a pent-up demand for change as individuals look to advance their career and increase their currently flat compensation. As the economy recovers, there is less fear of making a change. In our recent survey of healthcare IT management and non-management about their future career plans, 74 percent of healthcare IT directors and managers and 64 percent of IT staff plan to either “keep their eyes open,” or “actively seek new opportunities” within the next 12-18 months. The “hunker down” effect created by the past three years’ economic challenges is slowly ebbing and the best employees are pursuing new opportunities.

Since the average person has somewhere between seven and 11 jobs during their career, team changes are inevitable. It is neither realistic, nor desirable, to have zero percent turnover. However, every effort should be made to retain “A” players and gracefully part ways with “C” and “D” performers.

Retention of existing IT staff members who provide value and enthusiasm to an organization’s initiatives is an important strategy to reduce open positions. Providing semi-retirement programs to Baby Boomers interested in reducing work hours is becoming increasingly popular. Organizations with the longest tenured members offer flexible hours, remote telecommuting opportunities, retention bonuses, formal succession plans offering consistent opportunities and educational opportunities.

In terms of the federal education initiatives to train more healthcare IT workers, the CIOs we have spoken with welcome a larger pipeline of applicants for their open positions, but no one we have spoken with has hired any through the program and feel graduates from these programs are not ready for primetime. In other words, the frantic pace of healthcare IT initiatives means most CIOs are looking for people who have in-depth experience and a proven track record.

There have been several comments by industry leaders that the current healthcare IT hiring boom will ease off as we get closer to the 2015 deadlines. We feel it will continue: There will be an increased need for data management, analytics, business intelligence professionals, revenue cycle management experience, social media expertise and informatics. These necessities, coupled with the mass exodus of Baby Boomers, confirms hiring trends will be a dynamic factor in the healthcare IT industry for the foreseeable future.