Interoperable EMRs still top US priority

Coverage from HIMSS10

In the annual survey of chief information officers run by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, achiving a fully interoperable electronic medical record has emerged as the top priority.

Top business objectives unveiled by the survey at the HIMSS10 conference in Atlanta were to improve the quality of care and patient safety, closely followed by the need to sustain financial viability.

These are the same top three concerns as in 2009, but financial concerns rank lower this year than 12 months ago.

Some 72% of healthcare CIOs said they expected their IT operating budget to increase over the coming year. And 66% expect to increase IT staff, a big leap on last year.

Anticipated benefits of new clinical systems were identified as improving outcomes, reducing medical errors and improving patient safety – again, a close match to the results of the 2009 survey.

Asked about the main barriers they faced, respondents said money, lack of staffing resources and vendor inability to deliver product.

Security was also identified as a priority with one third saying internal breaches was the top concern, together with inadequate support and worries about data leakage.

One third of respondents identified “government issues” – including the ‘meaningful use criteria attached to federal funding for EMRs and healthcare reform – as the business issue having the most impact on their organisation.

Last year’s top response was financial considerations. Just 22% of respondents identified this as the top business issue facing them this year.

HIMSS said the survey also showed clinicians were being more involved by healthcare organisations. Some 95% of respondents said clinicians has some role in IT in their organisations. Three quarters say clinicians act as project champions.

A third of CIOs said that their organisation now has a chief medical information Officer (CMIO); a role that five years ago was also unknown. Almost 70% of CIOs said that their CMIO is a member of the executive team of their organisation

Steady progress was also identified in the planning and implementation of EMR. A quarter of organisations say they now have a fully operational EMR in one facility, while a fifth say they have now installed an EMR across their entire organisation. 

Only 5% of organisations said they had not begun to plan or implement an EMR yet.