Upskilling Healthcare IT Staff to Meet AI and Cybersecurity Needs

What Is Upskilling in Healthcare IT?

Upskilling refers to the development of new skills to support an employee’s current role. It can take many forms, from online or in-person coursework to peer coaching and stretch assignments that take workers beyond their skill level.

As an industry that requires continuous professional development while undergoing constant change, it comes as little surprise that more than half of healthcare workers are interested in upskilling, according to an Amazon/Gallup survey. Among those who had participated in an upskilling program, 61% said it increased job satisfaction, and 59% said it improved their quality of life.

“Organizations invest significant time and resources in recruiting talented individuals across a range of positions,” says Antoinette Hays, a former registered nurse who is now president of Regis College, a Massachusetts-based institution specializing in nursing, health sciences and IT. “Once hired, investing in upskilling those individuals demonstrates a commitment to their professional success and promotes loyalty. It also provides the organization with greater operational reliability and consistency.”

Why Is Upskilling Critical for AI and Cybersecurity?

While healthcare organizations have typically focused their upskilling efforts in areas ranging from data analysis to clinical training, AI and cybersecurity have proved especially important in recent years. One reason is demand from employees. The Amazon/Gallup survey found that while 27% of healthcare workers wanted to build technical or digital skills, only 6% participated in upskilling in these areas.

Another motivation is the adverse impact of a workforce without cutting-edge technical skills. According to a 2023 survey from GlobalData, 43% of healthcare professionals said a lack of IT expertise has delayed digital transformation. Organizations with limited proficiency in AI cannot take advantage of use cases ranging from ambient documentation to billing automation. A lack of cybersecurity skills, meanwhile, leaves organizations vulnerable to data breaches and other attacks.

Labor shortages offer a third reason for the emphasis on upskilling. ISC2 has projected a global workforce gap of 4.8 million in the cybersecurity industry, with 47% of jobs going unfilled. The story is the same in AI, with the hiring gap for AI roles estimated at 50%. Healthcare also comes with unique regulatory, risk management and incident response challenges that require additional credentialing and expertise, making it even harder to find qualified talent externally.

READ MORE: Focus on integrated clinical automation platforms to mitigate nurse burnout.

How Can Healthcare Organizations Upskill Their IT Staff?

One of the key value propositions of upskilling is the ability to retain the institutional knowledge that employees gain over years or even decades on the job, says Aquart. Another is the ability to directly apply what employees are learning to real-world projects and business challenges.

“It’s a blend of curriculum, mentorship and immersive learning,” he says. “The assignments and technical instruction can get theoretical, and then we look for ways to apply theory in a practical way.”

Hays agrees, pointing to Regis’s integration of classroom instruction, internships and experiential learning opportunities. “This approach allows students to immediately apply the knowledge they have obtained in professional settings, preparing them for new responsibilities.”

Regis has partnered with three organizations in Massachusetts — Emerson Health, Lawrence General Hospital and South Shore Health — to provide workforce development and upskilling programs. A $260,000 grant awarded last year helps cover tuition for certification programs as well as support services.

For its part, Northwell Health has partnered with Multiverse to create its Data and AI Academy, which provides personalized training to help employees learn to use data and AI workflows in a real-world setting. Among the 155 employees who participated in the upskilling program, 73% reported a more positive view of AI. In addition, 36% said learning to use AI helped them save time by automating manual or inefficient workflows, with time savings averaging six hours per week.

“Upskilling builds competence and confidence, which translates to efficiency. It helps employees develop new skills as well as paths for career growth,” Aquart says. “And as an organization, as we implement new technology, the buy-in runway gets shorter because more and more employees are confident in applying AI in their role.”