Vendor CEO: Final Report

Respondents were asked to identify their clients’ current top five IT priorities. Integrating systems in a multi-vendor environment (51 percent in 2004; 53 percent in 2002), implementing technology to reduce medical errors/increase patient safety (48 percent), upgrading security on IT systems to meet HIPAA requirements (42 percent), and implementing privacy modifications to meet HIPAA requirements (35 percent) were the most frequently cited priorities. All these were also among the top four cited by 2003 respondents.

Survey participants were also asked to identify their clients’ top IT priorities in the next two years. The most frequently cited priorities were implementing an EMR (46 percent), implementing technology to reduce medical errors/promote patient safety (46 percent), and implementing wireless systems (44 percent). Last year’s most frequently identified response, integrating systems in a multi-vendor environment, was selected by only 35 percent of respondents, compared to 48 percent of 2003 survey respondents.

Although it is among the top current priorities, respondents project that integrating systems in a multi-vendor environment will become less of a priority in the next two years. Half of the respondents report it is a current priority for their clients, while only 35 percent report it as a priority in the next two years. HIPAA is also projected to decrease as a priority in the next two years. The implementation of privacy modifications to meet HIPAA requirements was identified as a current priority by 35 percent of respondents; it was identified as a future priority by only six percent of respondents. Upgrading security and implementing EDI solutions to meet HIPAA requirements also showed similar decreases. Respondents also project that training personnel to use existing and newly installed systems will be less of a priority in the next two years (19 percent currently; six percent in the next two years).

With a focus that has shifted from HIPAA, respondents project that clients will show an increased interest in several systems in the next two years. Specifically, 41 percent indicated that the implementation of enterprise-wide applications would be a priority to their client in the next two years (compared to 21 percent who identified this as a current priority). Respondents project that the implementation of EMRs, wireless systems, speech recognition systems, and inpatient clinical information systems will also be a greater priority in the next two years. Compared to the number of respondents who selected each of these items as a current priority, each was identified by ten to 15 percent more respondents as a future priority.

Respondents were also asked to identify the five business issues they believed would have the most impact on healthcare in the next two years. The most frequently cited issues were cost pressures (59 percent), increasing patient safety/reducing medical errors (55 percent), adoption of new technology (49 percent), and improving operational efficiency (40 percent)—all were among the top five cited in 2003. Compared to 2003 responses, the most significant decreases were observed for HIPAA compliance (decrease from 68 percent to 31 percent) and availability/retention of staff (decrease from 27 percent to five percent). The largest increases were observed for increasing patient safety/reducing medical errors (increase from 39 percent to 55 percent) and adoption of new technology (increase from 34 percent to 49 percent)