More career opportunities buoy spirits of HIT pros

Healthcare IT professionals have sometimes struggled with job satisfaction, burdened by the steady pressure to implement IT systems within healthcare organizations in short time frames for user groups that didn’t always appreciate their effort.

However, IT professionals’ moods appear to be improving, buoyed by a new sense of career opportunities now open to them after their trial-by-fire experiences over the past several years.

Since 2014, the number of HIT pros who reported feeling extremely optimistic about their career opportunities increased by 47 percent, according to results of a recent industry survey conducted by Pivot Point Consulting’s most recent report on the IT market. In the just-released survey, a total of 86 percent are either optimistic or extremely optimistic about healthcare IT opportunities over the next 12 months. Some 46 percent say they expect a salary increase of more than 3 percent over the next 12 months.

That optimism may be fueled by increasing career choices as well—the survey found that the number of HIT contractors and consultants who declined a full-time position increased by 25 percent, and the number of full-time employees who would consider consulting has hovered around 70 percent over two years.

More than 800 HIT professionals participated in the 2016 online survey, which in five previous years had been conducted by Greythorn, a healthcare staffing solutions firm that was acquired by Pivot Point late last year. The survey seeks feedback on compensation, benefits packages and career motivation.

Other key findings in the 2017 Healthcare IT Market Report include:

• About 57 percent of HIT professionals say they are satisfied with their current role.

• Workloads for HIT professionals appear to be moderating, and overtime demands seem to be lessening. Since 2014, 9 percent more respondents now report working 31 to 45 hours a week in the most recent survey. All categories for work weeks longer than 45 hours show decline year-over-year, except for those working 60-plus hours. Overall,40 percent of 2016 respondents say they work 41 to 45 hours per week, 23 percent work 46 to 50 hours a week.

• While factors like job security have become less important since 2014, research shows that over the same time period, job seekers have begun to prioritize bonuses (28 percent more respondents in 2016 than 2014), the commute (21 percent increase), and challenging and interesting work (17 percent increase).

“The market reports we’ve publish have provided healthcare IT professionals an opportunity to benchmark their compensation packages and skill sets. It has also allowed employers to identify what constitutes a competitive offer for top talent,” says Ben Weber, a managing partner for Pivot Point.