I thought I could resist chiming in - but it turns out I can't.
I prefer to recruit from within. Find a person who's is known to the users, has a vested interest in the community and the organization, is trusted and strong in their field of expertise, and can't leave a problem unsolved. Then lure them into IS with the possibility of making tremendous changes for the better and unlimited problems!! This has worked well for us. We have a dynamite IS team! Peggy Esch, MBA CPHIMS HCIS Manager Citizens Memorial Healthcare 1500 N. Oakland Bolivar, Missouri 65613 phone: 417-328-6526 ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Shirley Hammack Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 10:12 AM To: Gord Dowling; Cyndy G. Zoch; [email protected] Subject: Re: [MEDITECH-L] how do you recruit analysts? Very wise words, Gord. The few exceptions just serve to prove the rule. Shirley Hammack I.T. Financial Analyst Jackson County Memorial Hospital 580-477-7484 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Gord Dowling Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 5:34 PM To: Cyndy G. Zoch; [email protected] Subject: Re: [MEDITECH-L] how do you recruit analysts? Hi Cindy, Sorry to hear your troubles. I do not do the recruiting here but do have some thoughts on the subject. If at all possible recruit from the outside, clinical people, in their mid to late 30s, who have migrated to IT. They are smart people, generally. You can teach them enough of Meditech and how the dictionaries/parameters affect everything in a few months. IT people tend to come from the finance and manufacturing world. It's a whole other culture. While many are brilliant, they don't generally understand what all goes into good patient care and become confused by the expectations of the new clientele (nurses, doctors, technologists, and technicians). They find the language of medicine to be totally foreign. That said, for operations/networks hire IT. That's their niche. The reason you should prefer outside over inside is politics, and man-management. If the new hire has no history with the staff they are going to deal with day-to-day it will be easier for that staff to take direction/advice from the analyst. The downside to this is that the new-hire has to be brought up to speed on the internal politics of the place while they are trying to learn the new system. Not a new problem. The IT industry recognizes that it takes 3 months to acclimatize an IT new-hire when they migrate from one position to another. We are no different in that respect. Why mid to late 30s? It takes time to acquire a clinical skill set and an IT skill set. Ten years in a hospital makes you 28 before you even start thinking about migrating on to IT. As per your question about pay... Once you train someone to be a Meditech Clinical of Financial Analyst they become targets for recruiters. The better their reputation in the Meditech world, the heavier the recruiting gets. Poaching by your peer hospitals becomes business fact regardless of backroom agreements to the contrary. Your challenge as a manager is to build staff loyalty to the organization, to the department, and to yourself. Dollars are a factor at the organization level. If the recruiters can offer a betterment of life-style, you will have a problem. Note that life-style is not wages. Wages help drive lifestyle changes. If the lifestyle of the IT analyst is perceived by the analyst to be significantly inferior to their peers on the clinical side of the house, you as the manager need to find a way to overcome that perception. If you've hired an RN to be your nursing analyst and the nurses are paid better than she is, the difference had better be lifestyle. (No shift-work, reduced exposure to occupational hazards, cleaner working environment, air-conditioning, a perceived support of the manager they work for. You get the idea.) On the reverse side of that equation, if you aren't able to provide a happy workplace, you better open the cash drawer. Even that won't be enough since the recruiters currently promise nirvana in addition to the dollars. Gord Gordon Dowling [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Applications Analyst Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance Stratford, ON N5A 2Y6 (519)272-8210 ext2268 ________________________________ From: Cyndy G. Zoch [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 1:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [MEDITECH-L] how do you recruit analysts? Hello, For the 4th time in less than a year, we are having to fill the position of Clinical Analyst. In the past, we have brought in people from the outside that have had varying degrees of experience with Meditech. Two of the three have left the organization. The third took another position within the organization. We are now re-evaluating our recruitment strategy. I'm wondering how you handle recruitment for such a position and what success you have had with specific strategies. Specifically, I'd like to know: 1. Do you recruit from the outside or do you try to find someone in-house to take the position? 2. If you select someone from in-house, do you find it's best if they have clinical knowledge and then teach them Meditech or do you try to find people that are IT savvy and teach them the clinical pieces? 3. If you start with a clinical person, how do you convince them to switch over to IT? Right now, our clinical employees make much more than our clinical analyst position pays. Have you had to adjust your pay scales so that analyst salaries are in line with clinical salaries? 4. Any other advice or suggestions you have Thanks in advance for your help! Cyndy Zoch Information/Public Relations Division Director Trinity Medical Center 700 Medical Parkway Brenham, TX 77833 (979)830-7438 [EMAIL PROTECTED] This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Any unauthorized dissemination, review, distribution or copying of these communications is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify Trinity Medical Center - Cyndy Zoch at 979-830-7438 and delete or destroy the message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ The documents accompanying this transmission contain confidential information, belonging to the sender, that is legally privileged. This information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this information is prohibited from disclosing this information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any reading, disclosure, copying, distribution, or action taken in reliance on the contents of these documents is strictly prohibited. Violators may be prosecuted. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and destroy the transmitted information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ The information contained in this e-mail, including any attachments,is legally privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use or dissemination of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify us by telephone 417-328-6526 and delete this message from your system. Even though this e-mail and any attachments are believed to be free of any virus or other defect that might affect any computer system into which it is received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that it is virus free, and no responsibility is accepted by Citizens Memorial Hospital for any loss or damage arising in any way from its use.
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