Stoltenberg Consulting's Health IT Industry Outlook Survey Reveals Hospital CIO Plans Amid IT Talent Strain

According to the 10th annual Health IT Industry Outlook Survey conducted by Stoltenberg Consulting Inc., a leading healthcare information technology consulting firm, "retaining and budgeting for qualified IT resources" looms as hospitals and health systems' most significant operational burden related to IT. Taking the top spot for a third consecutive year, IT talent strain earned 65% of survey votes — reaching an all-time high in 2022.

To keep up with such resource burden and "great resignation" turnover, healthcare organizations seek new IT talent programs, with 54% of CIOs identifying "flexible IT staffing support to ramp up or down with real-time project demands" as the most desired area for additional support.

"Hospitals are facing fierce competition for qualified IT staff," said Stoltenberg Consulting CEO Sheri Stoltenberg, "yet they are also tasked with uncovering further pandemic recovery cost savings. Instead of frantic quick-fill tactics, IT departments must strategize a pipeline of cross-certified, on-demand resources. Utilizing a flexible IT support program curbs continuous onboarding cycles, eases pressure on existing staff for priority IT initiatives, and speeds up issue resolution to quickly return clinicians to patient care."

In joint efforts to maximize system value, "getting the most out of existing IT purchases" ranked as the highest CIO priority for IT-related financial goals at 64%, while catching up on "EHR new version upgrades and/or system alignment" earned the greatest IT spending focus at 43%. Both topped their categories for a second year in a row.

Stoltenberg Consulting surveyed healthcare CIOs — all members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) — through a virtual survey. Survey participants represented a comprehensive spectrum of U.S. hospital facilities, including multi-hospital health systems, community hospitals, academic medical centers and ambulatory surgical facilities. This year's findings mark a decade of the annual health IT survey report.

For a complete look at the 2022 survey results including the CIO help desk wish list segment, click below:

Access the Report

About Stoltenberg Consulting
For over 27 years, Stoltenberg Consulting has exclusively served the healthcare industry by providing customizable IT support solutions. FlexSourcing, Stoltenberg Consulting's three-time Best in KLAS Partial IT Outsourcing program, delivers day-one ROI through a versatile, certified health IT support workforce — including Tier 1+ help desk services — that can scale up at any time. Averaging 15 years of experience, Stoltenberg consultants are skilled in both financial and clinical systems with best practice expertise for Epic, Oracle (Cerner Millennium, Cerner Soarian and Cerner Invision) MEDITECH, NextGen, Veradigm (Allscripts), Altera, eClinicalWorks and McKesson customers. To see how Stoltenberg simplifies healthcare technology, visit stoltenberg.com.

Media Contact
Shana Tachikawa, Director of Communications
Stoltenberg Consulting
stachikawa@stoltenberg.com