Y2K tops priorities list in early HIMSS survey results
By DON LONG
Healthcare InfoTech Managing Editor
ATLANTA What a difference one year can make.
For 1999, the top information technology priority for healthcare organizations is going to be the implementation of Y2K conversions, far surpassing last year’s No. 1 priority of attracting and retaining top IT staff.
This, at least, is the conclusion of the preliminary results of this year’s Healthcare and Information Manage ment Systems Society (HIMSS; Chicago) Leadership Survey, issued Thursday, the last day of this year’s HIMSS conference at the World Congress Center here.
The early results from 1,100 respondents represented much less than one-10th of those attending this year’s gathering the total estimated at around 17,000, an increase of 2,000 from the 1998 gathering in Orlando. Complete survey results and analysis will have to wait until sometime in March, according to HIMSS staffers.
But while the numbers were preliminary, the degree of change in the survey priorities suggests the new emphasis is real. The 39% expressing "most concerned" with Y2K compliance this year was a more than three-fold jump over the 11% of respondents in 1998 who said they were most worried about the Y2K bug. And while the concern with retaining IT staff last year was a priority for 17% of respondents, that figure fell this year to just 8%.
While the increase in Y2K interest demonstrated a very obvious trend, according to HIMSS board member Jeff Cooper, who presented the preliminary findings, he expressed surprise that the figure wasn’t higher, considering the little time left until 2000.
Any lack of concern about Y2K certainly was no fault of HIMSS conference organizers, since there were at least eight sessions on the issue all held in large halls at the World Congress Center conference site and all well-attended. Most discussions of the issue focused on the need for healthcare facility preparedness, chiefly by developing contingency plans for the areas of greatest risk for system failure and greatest risk to patient health.
During a Tuesday panel, presenter Sharon Klein, an attorney with Decker Price Rhodes (Philadelphia), emphasized that the Y2K problem is more than "a matter of two zeroes," as recent press coverage has dubbed it. The problem will add up to a great many zeroes, she said the several occurring in the "octillion" lines of code yet to be corrected, and those which could produce a $2 trillion bill for litigation worldwide.
Besides encouraging the use of contingency plans if necessary, reverting to paper-and-pencil record keeping her most emphatic advice was for healthcare facilities to attempt to get airtight compliance statements from their vendors and, in any new or revised warranty agreements, demand language covering Y2K failures.
Some other preliminary figures from the HIMSS leadership survey provide additional insight into the trends expected by healthcare professionals as we near the new millennium.
Respondents identified lack of sufficient funding as a barrier to hiring top-notch staff and implementing top-quality IT programming, but the 23% identifying this as the primary barrier was far below the 35% figure of last year. Optimism concerning more funds was similar to that reported last year: 72% said they expect more IT funding over the next 12 months, and 48% said they expect more IT funding for long-term strategic plans. Another aspect of the funding profile is the increased use of outsourcing: 81% said they are outsourcing key IT functions, compared to 66% last year. The top outsourced function was applications support at 15%.
Following is a selection of other preliminary survey findings:
• U.S. healthcare organizations are making faster progress in implementing computer-based patient records (CPRs). In 1998, 2% of respondents said they had fully operational CPR systems, but this year’s figure climbed to 10%; 24% reported a CPR implementation plan in place; and 29% said they were beginning CPR installation. Those who have yet to put a CPR plan in place: 28%
• When it comes to information security, healthcare organizations are more concerned with internal rather than external threats. The 30% saying this was their No. 1 security concern was little different from last year’s figure of 31%. In a Q&A session, there was general agreement that these internal risks were primarily random security lapses rather than concerted, planned break-ins. And HIMSS representatives noted they had not attempted to quantify these lapses.
• Technologically speaking, current web applications used by healthcare organizations are unsophisticated but growing. As was the case last year, the top web applications were listed as, first, "organizational promotion;" second, employee recruitment; and third, provision of consumer health information. Compared to the 6% reporting on-line physician/provider directory use in 1998, this year’s figure was 15%. And twice as many are conducting electronic vendor transactions via the web as compared to last year though last year’s figure was just 1%.
• Most respondents reported use of telehealth applications, with only 16% reporting no use. The type of telehealth applications were, as follows: 24%, image transmissions; 19%, management- or business-related videoconferencing; 16%, continuing education; 8%, patient interviews and consultations; and 9%, patient education.
• Wireless communication is the top emerging technology. Twenty percent of respondents cited this as the technology they are most likely to adopt over the next year; with voice recognition next at 16%. This reverses last year’s order, which was 31% for voice recognition and 13% for wireless communications. The next technologies most likely to be adopted this year are web-enabled transactions, 19%, and data mining, 14%.
A word about the survey respondents: A majority represent hospitals, 42% from hospital networks, 16% from stand-alones. The remainder were described as "employed at a wide variety of healthcare organizations, including long-term care, home health care, group medical practices, and HMOs."
HIMSS has posted a full summary of the survey’s preliminary results on its web site. When the complete results are compiled, they also will also be posted on the site. Or they can be obtained from Paul Bjorneberg, phone (312) 422-9500, e-mail, [email protected]; or Sue Hoff man, (914) 642-5407, e-mail, [email protected].
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