Healthcare IT leaders expect to increase contingent IT hiring this year, according to a TEKsystems’ healthcare IT survey. Half of healthcare IT leaders, 50%, plan to increase contingent IT hiring — up from 44% who planned to do so in 2016. The survey also found 32% plan to keep temporary hiring the same, down from 54% in 2016, while 18% plan to decrease contingent IT staff, compared to only 2% last year.

Additionally, 67% plan to increase hiring for full-time IT staff in 2017, up from 48% in 2016; 25% expect hiring to stay the same, down from 49%; and 8% plan to decrease hiring, up from 3%.

The survey also found 43% of healthcare IT leaders expect their overall IT staff’s salaries to increase this year, down from 79% in 2016. There has been a significant shift, with 56% expecting salaries to remain the same, up from 26% last year. However, for key skills associated with information sharing (security) and patient engagement and personalization (business intelligence/big data), more than 50% of IT leaders expect to increase salaries.

The report also found respondents who expect their organization’s healthcare IT budget to increase in 2017 surged to a three-year high of 63% from 41% who said the same entering 2016. And 82% of IT leaders expressed confidence in their ability to satisfy overall organizational IT demands, up from 68% in last year’s survey and the highest level since TEKsystems’ first annual IT forecast survey in 2013.

“What we’re seeing here is the continued evolution of and investment in technology for key initiatives in quality care and patient engagement — with a focus on big data, business intelligence and security,” said John Kurcis, regional director for TEKsystems Healthcare Services. “While the healthcare industry, and the Affordable Care Act specifically, may undergo changes, the long-term shift towards quality care and outcomes is inevitable and therefore will continue to drive investment priorities.”

TEKsystems, part of the Allegis Group, is the largest IT staffing firm in the US.