Returning to the office after spending a few days at HIMSS18 last month, a colleague and I shared our thoughts with our team about what's on the minds of CEOs, CIOs and others attending the annual health information and technology conference. Listening to IT leaders and others who work in the trenches at hospitals and health facilities across the nation, we learned that data, health data interoperability, and data security are top of mind for these executives.
Summary
Health IT leaders at HIMSS18 emphasized data accessibility, interoperability, and security as key to improving the patient experience, bolstered by federal attention to patient data access. However, CIOs face a pronounced healthcare IT talent and skills gap—particularly in analytics, BI, biotech/health IT, and cybersecurity—intensified by budget and location constraints. The article highlights workforce optimization and domestic outsourcing (onshoring) through Genesis10’s SSAE-18 certified Delivery Centers as practical strategies to close capability gaps and support secure, interoperable data initiatives.
Federal Focus on Interoperability
At HIMSS18, White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, in an unexpected appearance, joined CMM Administrator Seema Verma as she announced new initiatives for health data interoperability.
What Is Health Data Interoperability?
Health data interoperability describes the extent to which systems and devices can exchange data, and interpret that shared data. For two systems to be interoperable, they must be able to exchange data and subsequently present that data in a way that it can be understood by a user.
Why It Matters Now
Kushner told HIMSS attendees that the administration has a plan for making access to health records and health data interoperability a priority.
"There is overwhelming consensus that America needs better access to patient data and interoperability now," he said.
The timing is right. In its coverage of the event, Healthcare IT News reported that
"achieving interoperability and ensuring access to health data will empower patients and reduce waste, fraud and abuse, while creating more interoperability to use AI, machine learning and Big Data will drive greater improvements in how we identify new diseases and treatments."
The Goal: Improve the Patient Experience
CIOs and others are working to ensure that valuable health information is easily accessible by those who need it, like physicians and patients, while leveraging emerging technologies and managing a growing skills gap and a well-documented healthcare IT talent gap. As my team sees it, they must effectively address this to achieve their ultimate goal of improving the patient experience.
How Do We Get There?
The Healthcare IT Talent and Skills Gap
We've noted that CIOs across the country are facing a technology skills and talent gap, and that's certainly true at the nation's hospitals and health facilities where CIOs can't find qualified resources to execute strategies they're developing to leverage technology to manage and secure data.
IT skills most in demand (2018) include:
- Data Analytics and Business Intelligence
- Biotechnology and Healthcare IT
- Cybersecurity
These roles are highly compensated and in demand across all industries, intensifying competition for talent.
Budget and Location Constraints
To further compound and complicate the situation, CIOs at hospitals—especially smaller facilities and those in rural areas—are often managing ever-tightening budgets on top of talent and skills constraints that contribute to the healthcare IT talent gap.
Workforce Optimization as a Strategy
To help these CIOs, Genesis10 provides workforce optimization which identifies and addresses critical capabilities gaps and either sources or develops talent, while factoring in key human capital variables such as:
- Desired flex/staff ratio
- Resource mix
- Workforce diversity strategy
Our teams help to define, develop and deploy workforce solutions through a lifecycle approach—mapping the future, identifying potential gaps, and acquiring and training to build the right blends of talent for both short- and long-term business and IT objectives—helping close the healthcare IT talent gap while supporting secure, interoperable data initiatives.
Domestic Outsourcing (Onshoring)
Already, some hospital CIOs are taking creative approaches to their workforce strategy, capitalizing on location strategy and domestic outsourcing, as we reported in our last blog, Healthcare IT Leaders Use Location Strategy to Manage Technology Resources.
Domestic outsourcing, or onshoring, is a talent alternative that meets business requirements for proximity, delivery speed, agility and compliance, providing an option when operating in a talent-constraint and budget-constraint environment. Genesis10 provides domestic outsourcing whereby our consultants work from Genesis10-operated, highly collaborative Delivery Centers to provide support services. Each Genesis10 Delivery Center is SSAE-18 Certified, providing heightened rigor in the controls and processes we use to support delivery of infrastructure, application development or IT modernization efforts.
Q&A
What priorities dominated HIMSS18 for health IT leaders?
Answer: Data accessibility, interoperability, and security were top concerns, all aimed at improving the patient experience. Federal attention to patient data access—highlighted by Jared Kushner’s remarks and Seema Verma’s announcements—reinforced the push to make health records more accessible and interoperable.
Why is health data interoperability so important, and what does it mean?
Answer: Interoperability means systems can exchange data and present it in a way users can understand. Achieving it empowers patients and reduces waste, fraud, and abuse, while enabling AI, machine learning, and Big Data to accelerate discoveries in disease identification and treatments.
What’s driving the healthcare IT talent gap, and which skills are hardest to find?
Answer: Demand for Data Analytics and Business Intelligence, Biotechnology and Healthcare IT, and Cybersecurity outstrips supply—skills that are highly compensated and competitive across industries. Budget pressures and location challenges, especially for smaller or rural hospitals, further limit CIOs’ ability to hire the talent needed to execute data and security strategies.
How can CIOs close capability gaps while managing constraints?
Answer: Workforce optimization helps identify and address critical capability gaps by sourcing or developing talent and aligning human capital variables like flex/staff ratios, resource mix, and workforce diversity. A lifecycle approach—mapping the future, spotting gaps, and acquiring/training talent—builds the right blends for near- and long-term objectives and supports secure, interoperable data initiatives.
What is domestic outsourcing (onshoring), and how does Genesis10 support it?
Answer: Onshoring places work with U.S.-based teams to deliver proximity, speed, agility, and compliance in talent- and budget-constrained settings. Genesis10 provides onshore support through SSAE-18 Certified Delivery Centers, where consultants deliver infrastructure, application development, and IT modernization services to advance secure, interoperable data efforts.
