Workforce shortages in healthcare information technology (HIT) labor force may be greater than federal government estimates and may be slowing meaningful-use efforts, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
The government has estimated there will be a HIT labor shortage of 50,000 over the next five years. “There is evidence to suggest the reality may be even greater” than that shortage estimate, the report said.
According to the survey of chief information officers and human resources professionals, 3 out of 4 companies said they were hiring IT professionals, 2 out of 3 said they had IT staffing shortages, and more than half said shortages would affect their ability to get federal electronic health record incentive payments.
