A strategy for recruiting and retaining health information management professionals

In the summer of 1998, the University Health Network (UHN) faced an acute personnel situation in which an exodus of skilled resources was taking place. The turnover of information management staff was increasing dramatically, and despite best efforts to recruit new employees, the vacancy rate remained at an unsustainable level. This case study reviews both the short- and long-term strategies that were employed to address these issues and to establish UHN as an employer of choice in health information management. Material in this article is based in part on papers presented at HIMSS 2000 and INFOCUS 2000 (Cameron, Claiter and Murphy 2000).