Cedars-Sinai named among '100 Best Places to Work in IT 2012'

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has earned a distinction for the fourth year in a row as one of the best places for technology professionals to work, winning a top spot in a national ranking for its use of IT staffers as strategic partners in patient care.

The medical center ranked 13th in a list of the "100 Best Places to Work in IT 2012," its best showing to date in the report compiled by IDG's Computerworld, a leading national publication devoted to information technology.

Computerworld noted that Cedars-Sinai's IT information technology experts provide a wide array of services to support the technology infrastructure of the medical center, helping doctors, nurses and other staff deliver quality patient care.

Cedars-Sinai recently completed implementation of a comprehensive electronic medical record system, putting it among the top tier of academic medical centers that use technology to improve care.

"This Los Angeles-based nonprofit healthcare provider views the IT department as a strategic partner that plays a vital role in fulfilling the organization's goals," the publication noted. "IT staffers learn about the latest medical technologies, such as electronic health records and nursing informatics, and they work with clinical staffers on implementing systems that automate tasks and free up medical professionals to focus on what's important: caring for patients."

Computerworld has ranked the top work environments for technology professionals since 1994, basing its conclusions on a comprehensive questionnaire about company offerings in categories such as benefits, diversity, career development, training and retention. The publication also conducts extensive employee surveys.

More than 33,000 IT professionals were surveyed for this year's list, and their responses factored heavily in determining the rankings. Cedars-Sinai ranked 24th last year, 32nd in 2010 and 47th in 2009.

Medical center leaders said they were pleased that Cedars-Sinai continues to advance in the rankings, putting it among the country's top 15 IT employment spots.

"It's our people who make the difference in this large and complex organization," said Darren Dworkin, senior vice president and chief information officer. "We innovate with leading edge technologies to enable clinicians to do their jobs more efficiently."

In its report, Computerworld found that Cedars-Sinai is among the top employers when it comes to preparing its IT workers, providing 10 training days for each employee annually. Only eight other employers on the list offer more training.

In addition, Cedars-Sinai ranks high in another key area, one that also brought recognition last year: how it values diversity among its IT employees.

Forty-seven percent of its managers in this area are women, while 62 percent of its staff are minorities. The figures surpassed last year's results, when 42 percent of women were managers and 60 percent of employees were minorities.

Barbara DeMartin, chief application officer and health system director, said that Cedars-Sinai's implementation of leading clinical technology attracts the best and brightest minds in the field.

"We are proud of our record," DeMartin said. "It shows we are heading in a strong direction."

Source: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center