As new and emerging technologies show promise in helping hospitals and healthcare systems manage challenges associated with rising costs and shrinking labor shortages, Chief Information Officers and other IT leaders are increasing their investments. Nearly 80% of respondents in a new survey from Bain & Company said they increased their spending in the past year – and 75% say they expect to spend even more in the coming year.
WHY IT MATTERS
For their paper, Healthcare Provider IT Report 2023: Doubling Down on InnovationBain & Company and KLAS Research surveyed more than 200 healthcare IT managers earlier this summer.
The poll found that academic medical centers and large health care systems are likely to spend more money, compared to smaller hospitals, as they dedicate resources to innovation projects.
But across the board, investment is increasing, with more than half of respondents (56%) saying new software is one of their top three strategic priorities – compared to just one in three in 2022.
Bain and KLAS show that revenue cycle management and clinical workflow optimization are key areas for investment – and their research also shows that patient engagement and cybersecurity are moving up their priority list.
At the same time, IT leaders who responded to the survey say they are looking to streamline their budgets with fewer vendors, “with nearly two-thirds of respondents saying they look to existing vendors first, especially electronic health record providers, for new functionality before adding new vendors and offers are being evaluated.”
As for the elephant in the room?
Artificial intelligence looms large in these leaders’ strategic planning, but many IT managers are still deciding how to approach it. Only 6% of respondents said they have currently implemented a generative AI strategy, but 50% are “actively working on it or planning to develop one in the near future,” researchers say.
THE BIG TREND
This AI finding aligns with another recent Bain study that found IT decision makers are excited about the potential of AI and automation to help them boost their financial and operational processes and reduce physician burnout . But despite their belief that AI has “reached a turning point in its ability to reshape the industry,” the percentage who had an organizational strategic plan for deploying AI was in the single digits.
And when it comes to cybersecurity spending – the value of which is impossible to dispute at this point – a recent poll of a specific subset of IT leaders found that many of them were frustrated with the money allocated to them. “The global recession is putting pressure on security budgets and how CISOs must remain steadfast in pressing the C-suite for critical controls to protect their organizations,” according to a Proofpoint study.
ON THE RECORD
“While there are many moving pieces and competing trends in the marketplace today, providers made clear in our research that they will continue to accelerate their investments in IT and tech solutions, including AI,” said Bain & Company and KLAS- researchers in the report. .
“As providers continue to face a range of structural challenges – including supplier shortages, an aging population and financial pressures – they will increasingly prioritize IT solutions that deliver tangible ROI and increasingly look to simplify their tech stacks . to offer the best solutions or compelling suites to differentiate themselves.”
Mike Miliard is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.