IS spending to increase
June 1, 1997 2 minutes read
IS spending to increase
Health care systems, notoriously tightfisted when it comes to investing in information technology, will be doubling their spending over the next few years, according to a new survey of health care executives.
Nearly half (44.6%) of the respondents to the Information Systems Leadership survey plan to spend 1% to 2% of total budgets on information systems (IS), a level that has long been the industry average. Another third say they will spend 3% to 4%.
But a surprising 39.7% said they would spend between 5% and 10% on IS, while another 12.8% plan to spend more than 11%. Their top priorities include computer-based patient records, development of clinical data repositories, measuring outcomes and management of multiple managed care contracts.
These CEOs and chief information officers (CIOs) are also looking for cost-analysis management tools, tools to manage multiple payer contracts, and eligibility and benefits information. This marks a shift away from traditional IS spending for areas such as billing, accounting, payroll, and claims processing. Those areas fell to the bottom of the executives’ shopping lists.
One caveat: CEO respondents apparently don’t have much faith in their CIOs. Two-thirds (67%) of CEOs said they don’t believe their CIOs are fully prepared to meet the informational challenges facing their organizations. They criticized their CIOs for lack of initiative and strategic orientation; a bent toward process orientation at the expense of operational goals; lack of understanding of the industry, especially clinical operations and managed care; lack of management and leadership skills; and lack of "big picture" systemwide vision.
The survey was conducted by the executive search firm of Witt/Kieffer in Oak Brook, IL. It surveyed 1,000 health care CEOs, CIOs, and IS directors in hospitals, health systems, and managed care organizations last year and received a response rate of 6.4%. Despite the low response rate, the survey confirmed previous IS surveys. For a free copy of the survey results, call (630) 990-1370, Ext. 244.
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