Almost half of health care organizations struggle to fill clinical informatics positions due to problems with recruitment, retention or both, according to a new study.

In a recent survey by global consulting firm Hay Group, 42 percent of providers reported having difficulties finding and keeping clinical IT staff for newly formed positions.

The demand for skilled HIT employees is largely driven by the government's push for the implementation and adoption of electronic health records. Of those surveyed, 96 percent said they have started to create new clinical IT positions and departments, while 32 percent said they are already about one to two years into the process.

"These positions are so new and so specialized that it's not surprising to see these professionals capitalizing on the market demand for their services," Dan Mayfield, a health care consultant with Hay Group, said in prepared remarks. "Retention will be tough until more talent develops in the market. Also, programmers tend to enjoy the design and implementation project phases, rather than the maintenance and utilization of systems. We see this difference in IT positions across all industries."

Organizations that have successfully developed their IT strategies and implemented EHRs said it took about 44 months, according to the study.

To collect the data, the Philadelphia-headquartered Hay Group surveyed 65 hospitals and health systems.

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