The Perfect Health IT Engineer is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Everyone likes to believe it exists, but nobody has ever found it. The truth of the matter is that the perfect Health IT engineer is actually made up of a team of engineers. It’s like the saying goes “a mile wide and an inch deep” – well in healthcare it is “a mile wide and a mile deep.” There is no one person who is going to be able to:
- Manage an EMR implementation from start to finish
- Program integration interfaces
- Install and maintain system hardware
- Train users on the various applications
- Analyze and improve workflow and billing procedures
- Perform compliancy audits
- Test Disaster Recovery procedures
and the list goes on and on…
Simply staying on top of the current trends is a job in itself. That’s not to mention if you are using enterprise technologies such as VoIP and/or Virtualization. If you happen to know someone who matches all of these qualities – please send us their resume.
With the current state of the economy, patients opting for less expensive treatments and the constant decrease of reimbursements, it becomes increasingly difficult to retain engineers on staff who can keep your infrastructure running the way it should – efficient and stable.
The government’s stimulus package as it pertains to healthcare is expected to create more than 50,000 information technology jobs. Many IT vendors are already starting to recruit IT professionals by the hundreds in preparation for the coming war on talent. That is why it is important to start building a relationship with a partner who has that team of engineers and only then will you find the elusive Perfect Health IT Engineer.
Here are a few important credentials to look for when qualifying that IT partner:
- Healthcare Domain Knowledge
- Current trends, health system vendors, billing, workflow, etc.
- Technical Knowledge
- Interfacing, application support, reminder systems, kiosks, etc.
- Project Experience
- EMR implementation, system upgrades
and References! Don’t be ashamed to ask for them!
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