| Healthcare professionals are currently working toward creating a more integrated health delivery system in the United States to provide a seamless continuum of care for patients. To do this, an integrated health information system must also be developed, and this effort is impacting the role and responsibilities of practitioners and educators in Health Information Administration (HIA). These changes may be diminishing the job satisfaction of HIA educators as they prepare entry level practitioners for unfamiliar and emerging roles. This uncertainty provided the impetus for this national study of job satisfaction among HIA faculty. This survey research utilized two instruments, the Job Descriptive Index/Job in General scales and a researcher-developed instrument. The five research questions were: (a) What job content and job context factors are significantly related to overall job satisfaction of HIA faculty? (b) Is there a significant relationship between organizational fit and overall job satisfaction of HIA faculty? (c) What institutional attributes are significantly related to overall job satisfaction of HIA faculty? (d) What individual attributes are significantly related to overall job satisfaction of HIA faculty? (e) Are HIA faculty pursuing terminal degrees and what incentives and impediments do they note in doing so?;Usable responses came from 109 faculty or 78% of those surveyed. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Overall, HIA faculty appeared very satisfied with their jobs. Work, pay, supervision, and co-workers appeared significantly related to overall job satisfaction. Of these four, work and supervision accounted for 47% of the variance of job satisfaction. Organizational fit, institutional attributes, and individual attributes were not statistically related to overall job satisfaction. Additional tests revealed that doctorally prepared HIA faculty valued research more than non-doctorally prepared faculty. These doctorally prepared faculty tended to be located in institutions which were perceived to statistically value research more than other types of institutions, specifically, public universities with academic health centers. Lastly, the findings revealed that, although 79% of faculty reported that their institutions were encouraging them to pursue advanced degrees, only 23.6% were pursuing doctorates. These findings may be useful to individuals engaged in recruiting HIA practitioners into academia. |
