There is a significant demand for health IT professionals with medical experience, says a new report from MedZilla.com, a job site specializing in healthcare and life sciences. MedZilla estimates that 50,000 new health IT-related jobs have been created since the passage of the HITECH Act in 2009, which authorizes billions of dollars in incentives for showing Meaningful Use of electronic health records.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics a few months ago projected that health IT jobs would increase by 20 percent annually through 2018. That predicted increase is far above the average for any other occupation. Since 2009, a Computerworld survey found, the number of health IT jobs has risen by 67 percent.
Dale Johnston, manager of client relations at MedZilla, believes the explosion in health IT jobs shows what happens when two industries come together. "Health IT is a perfect example of this," he said in the report. "Here you have two, previously separate industries that are rapidly growing into one another. Where the two meet you have an opportunity to explore a completely new labor pool."
MedZilla cited positive trends that will continue to support the need for more health IT personnel. Among them are the doubling in the adoption rate of EHRs since 2008, and the decision by the Department of Health & Human Services to postpone the introduction of stage 2 of Meaningful Use to 2014. The latter move is intended to accelerate the spread of EHRs, which is likely to lead to more job creation.
To learn more:
- read the MedZilla.com announcement
- see the Healthcare IT News article