Nearly half (49 percent) of hospital executives say their largest capital investment over the coming year will be in health IT. Despite this heavy investment, many hospital leaders are not satisfied with their IT systems, particularly their electronic health record systems, according to a new survey from Premier.
Health IT investments were predicted to be hospitals' largest investments more often than infrastructure and construction costs (34 percent) and the acquisition of clinical equipment (22 percent). The number of hospital leaders that said health IT expenditures were the largest drivers of healthcare costs at their organizations jumped from 17 percent in last year's survey to 27 percent this year.
However, these executives aren't always pleased with their investments. About 30 percent of hospital leaders said they are dissatisfied with their current EHR system, and 11 percent reported indifference.
"What we are hearing increasingly from healthcare leaders is dissatisfaction with their existing EHR systems, often citing cost and difficulty of use," said Michael J. Alkire, COO of Premier, in a news release. "Providers need a solution that integrates clinical, financial and operational data across their hospitals and health systems; the majority of EHR systems cannot do that."
Survey results are based on responses from 127 C-level executives representing 112 hospitals.
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