Healthcare CIOs Say Top Investment Priorities Will Be Optimizing Electronic Health Records & Population Health: KPMG Survey

"Meaningful Use, HITECH and new payment models have encouraged healthcare providers to invest in EHRs, but some didn't mesh with how doctors and nurses work," said Ralph Fargnoli, Advisory managing director at KPMG and author of Beyond Implementation: Optimizing EHRs to Maximize Results.  "A majority of doctors are dissatisfied with EHRs. We need to make these systems secure, easier to use, and interoperable across the continuum of care to effectively treat patients and uncover where quality and efficiency can be improved."

The KPMG survey, which was conducted through January 2017, found CIOs plan the majority of capital investment over the next three years to be (figures rounded):

• EMR system optimization (38 percent)
• Accountable care/population health technology (21 percent)
• Consumer/clinical and operational analytics (16 percent)
• Virtual/telehealth technology enhancements (13 percent)
• Revenue cycle systems/replacement (7 percent)
• ERP systems / replacement (6 percent).

The investment priorities correlate with some of the biggest healthcare IT challenges that executives face. The survey found that improving clinical/business processes topped the list of challenges, closely followed improving operating efficiency and delivering business intelligence/analytics.

Spending Plans 
These spending plans are likely to remain the same among 63 percent of respondents for the next 12 months and for 44 percent during the next two years.  For the next 12 months, 18 percent of respondents expect higher spending. Respondents (36 percent) expect an increase in operating budgets during the next two years.

Cloud Priorities 
Approximately one quarter of all respondents said their organizations were implementing or investing in cloud computing infrastructure (servers, storage and data centers) and 18 percent said their investments were in enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.  Other key functions for the cloud among the respondents include electronic health records (10 percent), enterprise systems solutions (10 percent) and disaster recovery (8 percent).  The biggest challenges and concerns with cloud computing were regarding data loss/privacy, applications not being fully optimized with the cloud and integration with existing architecture.  

KPMG surveyed 112 members of CHIME about healthcare IT investment priorities.

KPMG Healthcare & Life Sciences 
The healthcare and life sciences professionals at KPMG LLP assist clients across the care delivery spectrum. Our teams work with clients to understand and mitigate risks by assessing their current state and performing gap analyses related to financial, operational, technical, compliance and cultural readiness for change. That change includes elements related to patient access and network information; alternative modes and models of care delivery, including telemedicine and mobile care; pricing considerations; defining and measuring value; and clinical/corporate governance. KPMG will be at HIMSS17 in Orlando, Feb. 19-23. Please click here to set up a meeting at HIMSS.     

About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,300 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

About KPMG LLP 
KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the independent U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's independent member firms have 189,000 professionals, including more than 9,000 partners, in 152 countries. 

SOURCE KPMG LLP

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