The introduction of Information Technology in the healthcare industry has brought about tremendous change. Issues like globalization, workforce diversity, and telecommuting are some of the current trends being experienced in the modern healthcare industry (Bullen, 2007). Nowadays, local and international personnel comprise our healthcare workforce representing varying races, languages, cultures and religions.
Organizational change is inevitable and so healthcare organizations have not been an exception. Through application of technological solutions like electronic medical record provision of healthcare services has become more efficient and effective. Healthcare organizations needs people who can carry out very complex business models and also manage organizational change. Organizational expectations on IT professionals as they play key role in ensuring that the organizational success (Robbins, 2004). IT professionals are also expected to be competent, up-to-date on local and global progress and able to successfully introduce and manage change.
Healthcare institutions which do not have trained IT professionals in house embrace global outsourcing of personnel. Such institutions seek the services of needed professionals for a fee, from other organizations outside the country. To the contrary organizations with surplus IT professionals are willing to offer their services to other institutions under a charged fee (Kastrul, 2008).Job opportunities and pay advance are driving IT professionals to seek jobs only in their country but they are now focusing in other countries with better job opportunities.
Telecommuniting has become a common practice in the healthcare sector in modern society. Modern technology and work practices allow different people to work on the same assignment or project while at different locations. It is not a must that staff stay in one office to perform a given task. Most organizations are embracing this technological advancement because it is more convenient and it minimizes operational costs.
Success of a healthcare organization largely depends on how the institution managers and motivates its workforce. Workforce diversity has posed a great challenge to many institutions. Employees motivation driven from promotions, allowances, holiday trips, healthcare coverage, decision making freedom among other incentives supports enhanced output (Mamaghani, 2006). Motivation is the key to ensuring there is a good working relationship among employees and that the employees put forth their best.
References
Bullen, C.; Abraham, T. & Galup, S. (2007). IT workforce trends: Implications for curriculum and hiring. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 20. 545-554.
Kastrul, S. (2008). Recruiting the new U.S. IT workforce. Employment Relations Today, 34(4), 37-44. doi:10.1002/ert.20174
Mamaghani, F. (2006). Impact of information technology on the workforce of the future: An analysis. International Journal of Management, 23(4), 845-850.
Robbins, S. (2004). Some thoughts on our globalized workforce. Information Systems Management, 21(3), 86-87.
