Patient engagement and population health were among the highest rated issues of importance in a recent survey of hospital decision makers about their facilities’ IT purchase intentions for the year ahead. However, most leaders are uncertain of their approach or vendor(s) of choice. Furthermore, only 25 percent of hospitals said they planned a data security purchase in 2015, despite the real potential for multi-million dollar losses due to security breaches and medical identity thefts.


The report, 2015 Healthcare Tech Purchasing: Market Share, Mindshare, and Renewal, was conducted by Peer60 over a three-week period. More than 950 C-suite executives, vice presidents, directors and department heads participated in the survey, representing a quarter of US healthcare system leaders. The survey asked decision makers about their plans to purchase IT solutions in several areas: EHR, data analytics, data security, ICD-10 migration, patient engagement, population health management and revenue cycle management. 


Generally, the likelihood of making IT purchases is correlated with bed count, with hospitals of different sizes having different immediate and long-term needs. Small hospitals, for example, are more likely than larger ones to make EHR purchases in 2015. However, they are less likely to have or buy data analytics tools, which come with sophisticated in-house staffing needs.


Data Analytics and Security


Nonetheless, data analytics is an area of interest to CIOs, 60 percent of whom said their organisation would “make some sort of purchase” in 2015 related to analytics. More than a quarter of respondents said they planned to purchase analytics tools or an enterprise analytics suite, with 30 percent of those representing first-time purchases instead of replacements.


As for the relatively low ranking of data security in the IT purchase plans of hospital leaders, the report warns, “Maybe a little more pain will spur more action.”


Patient Engagement and Population Health


Patient engagement efforts may be moving too slowly for many providers, which contributes to the uncertainly about solutions and vendors. “The critical market for patient engagement is still forming as almost 40 percent of hospitals don’t have a solution yet,” according to the report. “That isn’t stopping hospitals that already have patient engagement solutions from making changes, though.” 


Population health management is an area where more than half of hospitals intend to select new solutions in 2015. The report notes that this is logical considering the legislation in place that requires hospitals to move toward improved patient care quality and value. “In other words, the population health management market in 2015 is going to be absolutely gigantic,” the report states.


Source: Peer60

Image Credit: Peer60


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Security, healthcare IT, patient engagement, healthcare spending, analytics Patient engagement and population health were among the highest rated issues of importance in a recent survey of hospital decision makers about their faci...