Study: Providers take long view when it comes to health IT spending

A majority of healthcare organizations have built IT expenditures into their financial plans for the coming years, aaccording to a report by Beacon Partners, a healthcare consulting company.

“Most of our survey respondents are, indeed, funding IT advancements to support patient care, clinical quality and safety as part of their annual spending, tactical planning and strategic investment,” the Beacon Partners study stated. However, 45 percent of the 200 respondents have not applied for any federal or local grants for technology implementation to assist them in attaining meaningful use.

Among the other findings of the study:

• More than 80 percent of healthcare organizations report they will either maintain or increase their IT investments if they are awarded meaningful use incentive payments;
• Although only 15 percent of respondents have operational HIEs, nearly 60 percent of respondents have HIE plans in development and another 20-plus percent are in the pre-planning stages;
• More than 40 percent of respondents have plans to enhance physician and patient portals;and
• In their efforts to achieve meaningful use, “quality reporting” is the biggest concern for 73 percent of respondents.

The third annual study included U.S. healthcare executives to determine the status of how well these organizations are faring in their journey. Click here to view the study.