Strategic Action on Labour and Skills Needed

The Health Informatics and Health Information Management Human Resources Report, the first economic study of its kind, identifies a serious need for increased labour and skills among these Canadian professionals over the next five years.

The 64-page report was published in November 2009.
HI and HIM Human Resources Report

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Key Findings

The report provides these statistics about HI and HIM professionals. See Report Highlights for details.

32,540: Current workforce
6,320 - 12,330: Additional professionals needed by 2014
10%: Vacancy rate in 6 of 27 occupational groups studied
8,880: Professionals now needing broader skills
13,690 - 32,170: Professionals requiring broader skills by 2014.

While the need for broader skills is driven by large-scale investments in electronic health information systems (EHIS) technologies, the demand for training to meet these requirements exceeds the resources that professional associations can offer.

"This study provides real metrics to substantiate the fears and views in both the public and private sector that the successful implementation of EHIS systems is jeopardized by the lack of qualified human resources," says Don Newsham, COACH CEO and Co-Chair, Study Steering Committee. "The findings are a wake-up call that COACH and the other study partners need to work together to devise successful strategies to address the skills gap."

The following three recommendations are made in the study:

A national initiative to monitor the human resource implications of implementing EHIS;
An ongoing forecast of HI and HIM human resource requirements;
The formulation of strategies to address skills shortages.

Study partners
The study was commissioned by these organizations that play key roles in supporting implementation of EHIS technologies.

For more information
Contact Study Steering Committee Co-Chairs Don Newsham or Paul Swinwood. See the related news release, Research Methodology and background sheet.

Download Background_HI_HIM_HR_Report (PDF)