Health systems across the country are rapidly embracing AI to enhance patient care, streamline operations and reduce clinician burnout. But as the technology gains momentum, a critical question arises: do these organizations have the IT talent necessary to support and scale these AI-driven initiatives?
Despite growing investments in AI, a nationwide shortage of skilled tech professionals continues to challenge healthcare organizations. Dennis Chornenky, chief artificial intelligence adviser at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, Calif., told Becker's that staffing gaps persist, even in well-resourced hospitals.
"Most hospitals, even well resourced ones, struggle with talent and getting adequate funding for it, especially IT talent necessary to deploy AI solutions," he said.
Sarah Hatchett, senior vice president and CIO of Cleveland Clinic, echoed this sentiment, noting that recruiting IT talent for healthcare is particularly complex. She added that health systems with experience in "classic AI," such as predictive modeling, may be better positioned to adapt to the latest advancements in generative AI.
"The complexity of the latest AI development and deployment in healthcare requires not only a strong technical foundation but also specialized knowledge in data science, machine learning and healthcare-specific regulations such as HIPAA," she told Becker's. "The shortage of talent with this unique blend of skills, as well as the challenges with training and upskilling the current workforce may require health systems to pursue vendor solutions or other managed services to bridge the gap and accomplish their AI goals."
Despite these challenges, Mr. Chornenky pointed out that some health systems may already have untapped IT talent that can drive AI initiatives.
"They [health systems] may have a number of different engineers, some of whom happen to specialize in advanced analytics and machine learning," he said.
At UCSF Health in San Francisco, the focus has been on upskilling the current IT workforce to meet AI demands.
"It's not just about having enough IT employees, but rather having employees with the right skill sets to support implementation of AI tools," Sara Murray, MD, chief health AI officer of San Francisco-based UCSF Health told Becker's. "While some new hires have been necessary, a lot of our focus has been on upskilling our workforce, helping our teams learn the fundamentals of successful AI implementation and making sure they have time to do the work."
As AI adoption accelerates, healthcare organizations must address the dual challenges of staffing and expertise to ensure successful implementation and long-term sustainability.