Survey: CMIOs say culture change is key challenge to achieving MU

Culture change is the biggest challenge for U.S. healthcare providers to achieving meaningful use, according to a survey of CMIOs who attended the recent “CMIO Summit: The Key to Successful Meaningful Use” in Atlanta. The summit was hosted by CMIO magazine, AMDIS and CMIO Advisors.

About half of the CMIOs surveyed said they are most challenged by culture change; a third of respondents said implementing CPOE is the biggest challenge they face. Systems integration and exchanging information with internal and external healthcare facilities also are top concerns.

CPOE also is the No. 1 clinical IT priority for CMIOs for 2011 (44 percent), followed by system integration and interoperability (31 percent), and EMR and EHR implementation (25 percent).

The CMIOs were unanimous in saying that meaningful use criteria of the HITECT Act will result in improved patient care overall—but most are not confident that U.S. hospitals and health systems will achieve meaningful use before 2012, according to the survey. Some 71 percent of the CMIOs surveyed say they are very confident that their facility will achieve meaningful use in 2012, while another 29 percent are somewhat confident they’ll reach the goal. Confidence levels are far lower for 2011—a total of 36 percent say they are very confident or somewhat confident that their facility will achieve meaningful use in 2011, but 28 percent are not confident at all.

The survey also found:

• 80 percent of CMIOs predict the recent election and resulting changes in Congress are likely to bring cuts to healthcare funding;
• 81 percent say personal health records (PHRs) can improve patient care; but only 25 percent work in an organization that enables patients to use a PHR—6 percent have plans to enable PHRs soon; 69 percent do not;
• 88 percent say the best way to get physicians to embrace EMRs and IT systems is to recruit and use physician champions; 25 percent say financial incentives are a must.

The CMIO Summit attendees come from healthcare systems, multihospital organizations, community and regional hospitals and academic medical centers across 13 states.

A 2011 CMIO Summit is currently being planned for the spring. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with your colleagues! Plan to attend, network and discuss the challenges in achieving meaningful use. For more information, please visit www.cmio.net or contact the Events Manager, Meredith Dunn, at mdunn@trimedmedia.com.