Survey: CIOs now driven more by budgets, collaboration
While state revenues slowly rise from the declines of 2009 and 2010, there remain budget shortfalls sizeable enough to motivate states to change, consolidate and reduce, according to a survey of CIOs from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO).
The report, “The 2011 State CIO Survey,” gathered data collected from the summer of 2011 from 51 state and territorial CIOs on state IT topics, including cloud computing, business intelligence and healthcare. “Because of rising healthcare costs and other liabilities, the structural imbalances in state finances may continue for years,” the report noted. “As state leaders pursue all avenues to maintain program budgets and service levels, CIOs, consolidations and IT-enabled efficiencies come to the fore as a means to improve performance and control costs.
“Until the national and state economies recover, tight budgets will continue to spur action in the states,” the report stated.
According to report, national healthcare policy and federal funding drive state responsibilities for and investments in health program administration. “Information…drives healthcare delivery systems and services, and it is quickly overwhelming all other state IT. Many CIOs have been quick to engage with healthcare information issues, recognizing the major role they can and must play,” the report stated.
Eighty-two percent of the respondents believe that CIOs will have a role in health benefit exchanges. However, the nature and scope of a CIO’s role and involvement are not yet clear in many states. The researchers asked whether CIOs would consider collaborating with other states on system models or existing technology for health benefit exchanges. Fifty-six percent of CIOs said they plan to collaborate with other states. Another 16 percent of CIOs do not plan to collaborate with other states, and 28 percent do not yet know or had other responses.
When asked about compliance with Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) requirements, 56 percent of the CIOs stated they plan to replace existing legacy systems. “Because the federal government finances 90 percent of MMIS design, development and installation, this is going to require major federal funding, and getting those funds from a federal government with its own budget problems could be problematic,” the report found. Another 24 percent would update their existing MMIS, and the remaining 20 percent had a variety of other answers.
CIOs were asked about considering combining other state benefit programs into the health benefit exchanges; 49 percent of respondents said they will, whereas 35 percent have no plans for integration.
State CIOs face increased demands on resources as health information exchanges (HIEs) progress beyond project planning and initiation into the procurement phase, the report stated. “Fortunately, 76 percent of CIOs said they already have the technical architecture in place to facilitate HIEs.
“Collaboration is the new standard for relationships, and consolidated IT services are the new normal, moving away from the old silo model,” the report concluded. “Many services have already been consolidated or are undergoing it. More services will be consolidated soon as states continue their search for increased efficiency and effectiveness. However, even with their increased clout, CIOs must be cautious about the search for the holy grail of cost reduction, remembering that consolidation is not the only solution; innovation can also provide many of these benefits. After service rationalization, CIOs need to focus on service optimization.”
The report, “The 2011 State CIO Survey,” gathered data collected from the summer of 2011 from 51 state and territorial CIOs on state IT topics, including cloud computing, business intelligence and healthcare. “Because of rising healthcare costs and other liabilities, the structural imbalances in state finances may continue for years,” the report noted. “As state leaders pursue all avenues to maintain program budgets and service levels, CIOs, consolidations and IT-enabled efficiencies come to the fore as a means to improve performance and control costs.
“Until the national and state economies recover, tight budgets will continue to spur action in the states,” the report stated.
According to report, national healthcare policy and federal funding drive state responsibilities for and investments in health program administration. “Information…drives healthcare delivery systems and services, and it is quickly overwhelming all other state IT. Many CIOs have been quick to engage with healthcare information issues, recognizing the major role they can and must play,” the report stated.
Eighty-two percent of the respondents believe that CIOs will have a role in health benefit exchanges. However, the nature and scope of a CIO’s role and involvement are not yet clear in many states. The researchers asked whether CIOs would consider collaborating with other states on system models or existing technology for health benefit exchanges. Fifty-six percent of CIOs said they plan to collaborate with other states. Another 16 percent of CIOs do not plan to collaborate with other states, and 28 percent do not yet know or had other responses.
When asked about compliance with Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) requirements, 56 percent of the CIOs stated they plan to replace existing legacy systems. “Because the federal government finances 90 percent of MMIS design, development and installation, this is going to require major federal funding, and getting those funds from a federal government with its own budget problems could be problematic,” the report found. Another 24 percent would update their existing MMIS, and the remaining 20 percent had a variety of other answers.
CIOs were asked about considering combining other state benefit programs into the health benefit exchanges; 49 percent of respondents said they will, whereas 35 percent have no plans for integration.
State CIOs face increased demands on resources as health information exchanges (HIEs) progress beyond project planning and initiation into the procurement phase, the report stated. “Fortunately, 76 percent of CIOs said they already have the technical architecture in place to facilitate HIEs.
“Collaboration is the new standard for relationships, and consolidated IT services are the new normal, moving away from the old silo model,” the report concluded. “Many services have already been consolidated or are undergoing it. More services will be consolidated soon as states continue their search for increased efficiency and effectiveness. However, even with their increased clout, CIOs must be cautious about the search for the holy grail of cost reduction, remembering that consolidation is not the only solution; innovation can also provide many of these benefits. After service rationalization, CIOs need to focus on service optimization.”