When President Barack Obama talks about creating more jobs for the citizenry he doesn't frequently mutter the letters “ICD” followed by the number “10,” but some experts in the thick of healthcare are starting to view the conversion as a way to employ more Americans.

Healthcare IT jobs and spending are projected to trend upward this year, while the clock keeps ticking down toward two government mandates, HIPAA 5010 and the even more complex ICD-10.

Indeed, at the HIMSS10 conference last month, the organization released a report finding, among other things, that some two-thirds of respondents expected to increase the number of IT staff in 2010.

Preceding that, a February survey by the American Society of Health Informatics Managers (ASHIM) determined that 96 percent of respondents believe between now and 2015 some 50,000-200,000 new healthcare IT jobs will be created.

The Oct. 1, 2013 ICD-10 compliance deadline is nearly three years away, and many providers, payers, and vendors are behind even the January 1, 2012 HIPAA 5010 timeline, so it's too early for either survey to pinpoint exactly how many of those new roles will be ICD-10 related.

Several industry experts, however, concurred that HIPAA 5010 in the shorter-term and ICD-10 beyond that will require new hires.

“One of the big opportunities for our country is that there's money out there to hire Americans to do this work,” says Mike Arrigo, CEO of consultancy No World Borders. “HIPAA privacy and security require that data not leave production environments – and that means more Americans can be put to work doing that.”

What with the economy still in sorry shape, healthcare organizations will naturally try to re-purpose as many of their existing IT personnel for ICD-10 work as possible – but that will suffice only to a point.

“Staff skilled in project management for complex technical implementation within the healthcare industry will not automatically understand ICD-10 or issues related to implementing the new code set,” explains Tori Sullivan, manager in Capgemini's healthcare practice.

Stanley Nachimson, co-chair of WEDI's timeline initiative, adds that HIPAA 5010, ICD-10 and the various related projects “will create a lot of work. There's the impact assessment, the information technology work, education for providers and plans.”

That's just the beginning. Capgemini's Sullivan notes that as providers and payers move beyond assessment and into actual implementation, activities including procedural modifications and software testing will increase and, in turn, so will the need for dedicated staff.

“Most organizations will look for experienced staff to add to their team, however these specialized resources are limited,” Capgemini's Sullivan continues. “Successful implementations will include an assessment of resources necessary to complete implementation activities and will actively recruit and hire skilled staff sooner rather than later.”

Tom Sullivan blogs regularly at ICD10 Watch.