Sept. 11, 2000

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Health Care Puts Extra Effort Into Recruiting IT Staffers

By Karen D. Schwartz

ow that many health-care organizations have gotten the message that technology is the solution to many of their problems, it should be smooth sailing, right? Well, not quite. IT talent is still hard to come by. And health care, more than other industries, may be having a harder time attracting and retaining quality IT talent. "Health care has traditionally underpaid, which means it's even tougher for them to get skilled IT people," says Ken Kleinberg, research director for Gartner Group's health-care group.

Some companies, such as long-term health-care provider Vencor Inc. in Louisville, Ky., are putting more effort into finding and retaining IT personnel. Vencor has assembled a focus group dedicated to retaining IT workers by offering better training and incentives. Retention Committee initiatives have reduced turnover, improved the quality of the workforce, and raised morale, says CIO Richard Chapman. Vencor supplements its IT workforce with contractors.

Cardinal Health Inc. has gone one step further to ensure that the distributor of health-care products will always have plenty of qualified IT personnel on staff. "I've challenged every person who reports to me to take a school and champion it," says CIO Kathy White. "We've gone to rural schools to generate interest and colleges to recruit interns. Our managers go to the school they champion to teach a class each year."

Cardinal Health also invites the computer-science faculty in all 20 schools on its list to visit its headquarters in Dublin, Ohio. "We know there are 10 IT jobs for every person," White says, "so we take it very seriously."

Return to main story, "Good Health Goes High Tech"

Illustration by Jeffrey Fisher

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