Hospitals Put Out Help Wanted Sign for IT Personnel

A look at the week of September 12 in public advocacy for the IT channel: This week, Obama revealed a new jobs plan with tax cuts targeted at small businesses.  Now that Congress is back in session, cybersecurity is topping their agenda.  The healthcare industry reports it is understaffed, in terms of its IT needs.

Small Business Is Focus of Tax Cuts— The Wall Street Journal reports that President Barack Obama's new jobs plan seeks to coax wary employers to invest and hire more by slicing their share of payroll taxes next year.  But while the payroll-tax cuts figures appeal to Republican lawmakers, the cuts face some resistance. Many Republicans and even some small business advocates are opposed to more temporary tax breaks. Some liberal Democrats are nervous about reducing the taxes that are paid to support Social Security, even though the administration promises its plan would have no impact on the program.

Congress to Target Cybersecurity — House lawmakers returned from the August recess resolved to fight the nation’s cyber adversaries with a flurry of new legislative proposals aiming to boost security of public and private networks and infrastructure, says Politico. Key House members are readying a series of bills that address a variety of online security issues — from toughening law enforcement of cybercrimes to giving the Department of Homeland Security oversight of federal IT and critical infrastructure security to lessening liability for private companies that adopt cybersecurity best practices.

Hospitals Put Out ‘Help Wanted’ Sign for IT Personnel — While high unemployment continues to drag on the rest of the economy, the healthcare industry can’t seem to find enough qualified people to fill its information technology needs, reports Healthcare IT News. Unlike other sectors where hiring remains muted, health systems are crying out for talent in IT, information management and coding, employment specialists say.