CEOs, Clinical Officers Cite Financial Constraints as Primary Barrier to IT Adoption, Survey Finds
Both chief executives and clinician executives at health care facilities cite the lack of financial support as the largest barrier to implementing information technology, according to a Health Information and Management Systems Society survey released yesterday. Both groups said improving patient safety and decreasing medical errors were among the top business issues facing health care in the next two years. Fifty-seven percent of clinician executives, including nursing and medical officers, said increasing patient safety was a top business issue for the next two years, compared with 43% of chief executives. Twenty-five percent of chief executives and 21% of clinical officers said lack of financial support was the most significant barrier to IT. Another 17% of chief executives and 15% of clinical officers said proving quantifiable benefits and return on investment for IT was too difficult, according to the survey. Ten percent of chief executives and 17 % of clinical officers cited vendors' inability to provide satisfactory products or services as the biggest barrier to IT adoption. Chief executives also were more likely than clinical executives to believe their organization's IT plan mirrored its business plan, the survey found. HIMSS surveyed 100 clinician executives and 51 senior-level health care executives in December 2002 and January 2003 for the survey. The survey, which was sponsored by Superior Consultant Company, is available online (14th Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey, 4/7).
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