This year, health information technology investments will be directed toward driving clinical and operational improvements and improving EMR functionality, according to a new survey released today by Royal Philips at the annual HIMSS conference in Chicago.
The survey asked 121 health care IT leaders about their HIT investment decisions and what technology they adopt to address reform initiatives. Among the respondents, 88 percent are associated with standalone hospitals or integrated delivery networks — over 40 percent hold C-level positions, mostly chief information officers, and 33 percent are IT directors and managers.
Health IT is moving away from just satisfying compliance requirements to caring for the patient wherever they are, according to Dr. Joseph Frassica, chief medical officer and chief technology officer for patient care and monitoring solutions at Philips.
The respondents reported that the majority of investments were put toward improving EMRs with new capabilities or modules. But 60 percent of the respondents are also focusing on deploying mobile solutions, 58 percent are utilizing telehealth technologies and 38 percent have implemented remote patient monitoring.
When the respondents are making purchasing decisions, 26 percent put patient health security as their main priority, 24 percent think about whether clinicians will adopt the technology and 22 percent consider whether it will enhance reimbursement through Meaningful Use.
The vast majority of the respondents — 91 percent — are deploying the technology in physician offices, 47 percent are in ambulatory surgery centers, 45 percent in urgent care centers, 43 percent in diagnostic imaging centers, 42 percent in patient homes and 26 percent for EMT services.
Over half of the respondents are planning on investing in early warning scoring (EWS) and modified early warning scoring (MEWS) technology in order to provide earlier deterioration detection. A few of them are going to use EWS/MEWS software on the med-surg floor from their EMR but 15 percent are going to use a dedicated independent solution or a solution at the bedside that complements the EMR.
