Integration of disparate IT systems is one of the most significant challenges for healthcare CIOs and IT leaders, according to a report from healthcare operations software provider Symplr.
Symplr collected input from 210 respondents. The respondents are CIOs and IT leaders who are members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and clinicians within these healthcare systems.
The aim of the survey was to determine challenges and opportunities faced by top healthcare organizations in the U.S.
One of the most significant challenges identified in the survey was the integration of disparate IT systems, which 80% of respondents found to complicate their roles.
Additionally, 84% of respondents believed that clinicians could allocate more time to patient care by consolidating healthcare operations software onto a single platform.
Additional findings from the survey include:
- Forty-one percent of respondents stated that clinician burnout and workforce challenges surpassed financial pressures, which 39% of respondents said was the most significant threat organizations will face in 2024.
- Sixty-seven percent of clinicians agreed that their organization's user experience for healthcare operations software was difficult to manage. Meanwhile, only 48% of IT leaders and CIOs reported this issue.
- Fifty-five percent of organizations rely on more than 50 separate point solutions to manage their healthcare operations.
- Clinicians voiced concerns about nurse retention, ensuring the well-being of healthcare workers, optimizing technology efficiency, and streamlining workflows as top priorities, in contrast to their CIO and IT counterparts.
The full findings are documented in the 2023 Symplr report, titled "From Imminent to Urgent: Aligning Clinicians & IT is Critical to Streamlining Healthcare Operations."