Technical knowledge and experience for jobs in electronic health records management are necessary requirements for performing minimum job responsibilities. But, equally vital are communication and collaboration skills. According to IBM Systems Magazine, insufficient communication is one of the top seven reasons that IT projects fail.1
"The newest emphasis in healthcare IT is on so-called 'soft skills' — those behavioral competencies that enable individuals to interact with and influence others, be they teammates, customers, suppliers or management," said Elizabeth Black, founder of Career Collaborators and a 25-year veteran in education and workforce development. "Skills such as effective written and verbal communication, influencing, negotiating, conflict resolution, team building and strategic thinking top the list."2
Having the right people in IT jobs matters for patient outcomes, as well as for the hospital's financial health. With the costs of implementing EHR systems reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars, healthcare organizations must ensure that the systems are applied properly and demonstrate meaningful use. Meaningful use is defined as a set of criteria that must be met in order to verify proper use of healthcare systems' EHR technology as an effective tool.
In addition, by demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHR technology, hospitals are eligible for Medicare incentive payments. But, penalties for noncompliance are coming. CMS.gov explains: "For 2015 and later, Medicare eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals that do not successfully demonstrate meaningful use will have a payment adjustment in the Medicare reimbursement."3
Assessing soft skills is extremely difficult to do through the job interview. The most a recruiter can hope to do is devise realistic "what if" scenarios or behaviorally based questions involving technical situations, often a challenge for recruiters without a technical background. The best measure of a candidate's communication and collaboration skills is what can be gleaned by observing his or her performance over time. For this, employers must turn to a candidate's references — a step that has become logistically difficult in today's business environment.
With advances in reference-checking technology, online survey software can now aid employers wanting to collect feedback on a candidate's prior, on-the-job performance. These technologies enable employers to avoid making risky assumptions about soft skill sets that are not easily evaluated in the interview, ensuring that they source and select IT employees with a history of success.
The non-technical skills that CIOs most prize in IT workers are the most elusive. In the transition to EHRs, effective communication and collaboration comes into play in a range of situations. For example, the technology worker could be required to:
Fortunately, technology has removed many of these obstacles and breathed new life into the use of references to support hiring decisions. Thanks to online reference-checking software, companies can gather feedback via an online survey from references in a way that preserves confidentiality and protects parties from liability. As a result, references report on an applicant's skills and behaviors in candid detail through their answers to roughly 20 job-specific questions. Experience has shown that over 85 percent of references approached for feedback in this way complete the surveys.
SkillSurvey looked at recent reference feedback for more than 300 electronic medical records system analysts and assessed the level of developmental need among this group.
In the skill area of "clear communication": 25 percent had moderate to high developmental need (see Figure 1).
In the skill area of "working collaboratively": 15 percent had moderate to high developmental need (see Figure 2).
Such information, when provided on an individual job candidate, is invaluable. By attaching hard numbers to soft skills, IT departments are able to make the best hiring decisions up front and implement employee-specific onboarding plans to ensure future success.
Figure 1
Figure 2
When IT hiring decisions are made with candid feedback from those who have had the opportunity to observe candidates over time, employers can avoid hiring those who score low in areas that are critical to job success. They can also support those with moderate scores through training offered as part of the on-boarding process. By avoiding surprises and planning for employee development, IT will be among the leaders in improving the access, quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of healthcare.
Footnotes:
1 Joseph Gulla, “Seven Reasons IT Projects Fail,” IBM Systems Magazine, http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/power/Systems-Management/Workload-Management/project_pitfalls/?page=2, February 2012.
2 Black, Elizabeth, “Soft Skills Emphasized in Healthcare IT Roles,” ERE.net, www.ere.net/2012/07/02/soft-skills-emphasized-in-healthcare-it-roles/, July 2, 2012.
3 “The Medicare EHR Incentive Program,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms.
4 Figge, Helen, “Hiring Trends,” Healthcare IT News, www.healthcareitnews.com/blog/hiring-trends.
Mya Ekhouse is the director of marketing at SkillSurvey, Inc., the inventor of online reference checking solutions.You can reach her at mekhouse@skillsurvey.com or at (610) 947-6300, ext. 1227.
4 Tips to Prevent Common EMR Implementation Complaints
"The newest emphasis in healthcare IT is on so-called 'soft skills' — those behavioral competencies that enable individuals to interact with and influence others, be they teammates, customers, suppliers or management," said Elizabeth Black, founder of Career Collaborators and a 25-year veteran in education and workforce development. "Skills such as effective written and verbal communication, influencing, negotiating, conflict resolution, team building and strategic thinking top the list."2
Having the right people in IT jobs matters for patient outcomes, as well as for the hospital's financial health. With the costs of implementing EHR systems reaching into the hundreds of millions of dollars, healthcare organizations must ensure that the systems are applied properly and demonstrate meaningful use. Meaningful use is defined as a set of criteria that must be met in order to verify proper use of healthcare systems' EHR technology as an effective tool.
In addition, by demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHR technology, hospitals are eligible for Medicare incentive payments. But, penalties for noncompliance are coming. CMS.gov explains: "For 2015 and later, Medicare eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals that do not successfully demonstrate meaningful use will have a payment adjustment in the Medicare reimbursement."3
Assessing soft skills is extremely difficult to do through the job interview. The most a recruiter can hope to do is devise realistic "what if" scenarios or behaviorally based questions involving technical situations, often a challenge for recruiters without a technical background. The best measure of a candidate's communication and collaboration skills is what can be gleaned by observing his or her performance over time. For this, employers must turn to a candidate's references — a step that has become logistically difficult in today's business environment.
With advances in reference-checking technology, online survey software can now aid employers wanting to collect feedback on a candidate's prior, on-the-job performance. These technologies enable employers to avoid making risky assumptions about soft skill sets that are not easily evaluated in the interview, ensuring that they source and select IT employees with a history of success.
Competing for the best
All indications are that the demand for IT talent is growing and could exceed supply in most U.S. markets. Estimates reported by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, a leading national healthcare IT association, show that 1 in 9 U.S. jobs will be in healthcare by 2020, with a 66-percent increase in IT staff in the next year.4 In such an environment, companies face stiffer competition in filling positions with candidates who have all the required skills, both technical and non-technical.The non-technical skills that CIOs most prize in IT workers are the most elusive. In the transition to EHRs, effective communication and collaboration comes into play in a range of situations. For example, the technology worker could be required to:
- Listen carefully to others — including chief medical informatics officers and chief nursing officers — as they explain system requirements.
- Verify that design specifications meet user requirements.
- Consult with others and get agreement on final outcomes.
- Effectively explain complex concepts, such as the process for connecting medical devices to EHRs, to people with varying degrees of technical knowledge.
- Troubleshoot with teams of healthcare specialists, business users, and designers as systems are being developed, modified and implemented.
- Keep various stakeholders apprised of project progress.
The technology edge in IT hiring
One way to ensure that job candidates have the desired skills is to collect evaluations of past behavior from their managers, peers, subordinates and other business associates. Yet, references are often prohibited by company policy from revealing more than employment histories. In other cases, they are reluctant to say anything negative that could be traced back to them.Fortunately, technology has removed many of these obstacles and breathed new life into the use of references to support hiring decisions. Thanks to online reference-checking software, companies can gather feedback via an online survey from references in a way that preserves confidentiality and protects parties from liability. As a result, references report on an applicant's skills and behaviors in candid detail through their answers to roughly 20 job-specific questions. Experience has shown that over 85 percent of references approached for feedback in this way complete the surveys.
Identifying developmental needs
A well-designed survey will probe on behaviors that correlate specifically with success in an IT position and will require the reference to respond based on observations made of the candidate over time. For instance, questions can be developed to ascertain how well the candidate communicates information, such as high-level design specifications, so that programmers and other users can understand. Or, how well the candidate works collaboratively with project sponsors, finding mutually acceptable ways to effectively implement software systems.SkillSurvey looked at recent reference feedback for more than 300 electronic medical records system analysts and assessed the level of developmental need among this group.
In the skill area of "clear communication": 25 percent had moderate to high developmental need (see Figure 1).
In the skill area of "working collaboratively": 15 percent had moderate to high developmental need (see Figure 2).
Such information, when provided on an individual job candidate, is invaluable. By attaching hard numbers to soft skills, IT departments are able to make the best hiring decisions up front and implement employee-specific onboarding plans to ensure future success.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Avoid surprises in the future
With a federal mandate to implement EHRs by 2015, hospitals have been working diligently toward the secure, confidential, electronic exchange of information. Their success will depend as much on people and processes as on systems and software.When IT hiring decisions are made with candid feedback from those who have had the opportunity to observe candidates over time, employers can avoid hiring those who score low in areas that are critical to job success. They can also support those with moderate scores through training offered as part of the on-boarding process. By avoiding surprises and planning for employee development, IT will be among the leaders in improving the access, quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of healthcare.
Footnotes:
1 Joseph Gulla, “Seven Reasons IT Projects Fail,” IBM Systems Magazine, http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/power/Systems-Management/Workload-Management/project_pitfalls/?page=2, February 2012.
2 Black, Elizabeth, “Soft Skills Emphasized in Healthcare IT Roles,” ERE.net, www.ere.net/2012/07/02/soft-skills-emphasized-in-healthcare-it-roles/, July 2, 2012.
3 “The Medicare EHR Incentive Program,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms.
4 Figge, Helen, “Hiring Trends,” Healthcare IT News, www.healthcareitnews.com/blog/hiring-trends.
Mya Ekhouse is the director of marketing at SkillSurvey, Inc., the inventor of online reference checking solutions.You can reach her at mekhouse@skillsurvey.com or at (610) 947-6300, ext. 1227.
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