Survey: Healthcare Execs See Poor ROI from EHRs but Optimistic about Analytics

The billions in taxpayer dollars spent on electronic health records (EHRs) since 2009 have unfortunately generated a poor return for the nation’s healthcare system, according to a survey of more than 1,100 healthcare professionals conducted by Salt Lake City-based data analytics vendor Health Catalyst. Health Catalyst polled healthcare professionals attending the fourth annual Healthcare Analytics Summit September 12-14 in Salt Lake City.

Heather LandiWhen asked to assess the “return on digital investment” produced by the billions of dollars invested in implementing EHRs since the 2009 federal stimulus program, 61 percent of respondents to the online survey answered either “terrible” (19 percent) or “poor” (42 percent). Another 29 percent said the ROI from EHR investments has been “mediocre.” Only 10 percent rated the ROI from EHRs as either “positive” (9 percent) or “superb” (1 percent).

By contrast, 83 percent of respondents rated analytics as “extremely important” to “the future of healthcare and population health.” Fourteen percent of respondents said analytics is “very important,” while 3 percent rated it “moderately important.” No respondents rated the technology as either “somewhat important” or “not important.” The divergent views of the two technologies likely reflects the industry’s abrupt shift away from data collection and toward data analysis as healthcare transitions from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement...