Managed Healthcare Executive - January 2009 - (Page 27)

{ TECHNOLOGY } Young health IT professionals expect more exibility Recruit your next generation of IT workers from a larger pool while transitioning your experienced staff to retirement BY DAVID BENNETT David Bennett is a senior editor in Advanstar Communication’s Centralized Content Group S A GENERATION OF IT workers prepares to retire, health plans are maneuvering to replace the vast amount of experience and knowledge that is leaving with them. The health information technology (IT) sector, while resilient, isn’t immune to what some experts call “brain drain.” As chief information o cer for the Regence Group with plans located in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington, Cheron Vail has experienced the knowledge gaps left behind by retiring IT employees. She recruits the rm’s next generation of information technology sta and manages long-term retention strategies. A Vail expects that between 60 and 90 people—about 10% to 15% of her existing IT sta —will retire over the next ve years. “It is de nitely challenging for us to replace IT members who have many years of experience on our systems,” she says. Vail explains that the company is constantly recruiting in certain key competencies, including systems engineering, data architecture, data management and system analysis. Besides the area universities, the Regence Group is looking beyond the Northwest for future IT employees. “We have found over the last couple of years that as we back ll existing competencies and bring new competencies in house, we have to cast a wider net,” she says. “For example, we will recruit a lead Java developer from some other part of the country if that person has the right skills, whereas two or three years ago, we would not have looked outside our own geography for candidates.” Publicly-traded Computer Sciences Corp., an IT sta ng rm headquartered in Falls Church, Va., last year collaborated with Madison, Wis.-based rm, Next Generation Consulting Inc. to examine brain drain in health IT departments. That shortage has been magni ed by the di culty of recruiting and retaining younger sta fast enough to ll both vacant and newly created positions. “The Multi-Generational Healthcare IT Workforce” report, published in September 2008, includes data from CIOs and other senior IT managers from 10 healthcare organizations located around the United States, includJANUARY 2009 Rayman/Digital Vision/Getty Image 27

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managed Healthcare Executive - January 2009

Managed Healthcare Executive - January 2009 Contents Editorial Advisors For Your Benefit News Analysis Politics & Policy Letter of the Law Managed Care Outlook New Day 5 New Realities of Disease Management Pharmacy Best Practices Health Management Technology State Report: Hawaii MHE Resource Ad/Edit Index

Managed Healthcare Executive - January 2009

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