Is EHR Dissatisfaction Driving Future Investments In HIT?

Capital investments in health information technology and telecommunications continue to account for the largest portion of health system expenditures and are expected to remain sizeable through 2017, according to a survey of C-suite executives by Premier, Inc.

“Hospitals are making necessary investments in infrastructure to meet the demands of this new generation of healthcare,” the company’s COO Michael J. Alkire said in public statement. “These investments are targeting HIT to provide more connected and efficient patient care, and modern clinical equipment that can deliver improved outcomes.

Comprising feedback from 127 CEOs, CFOs, and COOs in 112 hospitals across 32 states, the 2014 Economic Outlook indicates that investments in this category represent 49 percent of all capital investments by these industry stakeholders in spring 2014. This continues a trend of investments in health IT and telecommunications year over year with the percentage increasing from 45 percent and 46 percent in spring 2012 and spring 2013, respectively, to its current figure. According to the findings, mid-sized hospital executives were most likely to cite HIT investments (59%)...