A new report by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and GE Healthcare Financial Services identifies strategies to help hospitals maximize technology investments in order to prevent financial risks.
The report Today's Technology Spending Trends: Strategies for the Healthcare Executive is the second installment of the Financing the Future III series and focuses on the state of healthcare technology spending today, near and long-term trends, barriers to IT adoption, and views regarding funding for IT initiatives.
Optimizing technology resources is a better route than looking to policymakers, capital leaders and payers for the money to invest in IT, the report says.
"Hospitals need to get out of the mentality that if they are going to share info in the 21st century, than someone else had to pay the bill," said Derek van Amerongen, MD, vice president and chief medical officer of Humana Health Plans of Ohio.
When it comes to making an investment in IT many organizations are looking beyond "hard dollars" the report finds. Information technology has become a tool that hospitals today, need to have in order to compete in the healthcare industry, it says.
According to the report hospitals must leverage technology that already exists to fund technology for the future.
"Today's healthcare executive cannot wait for policy changes, significant infusion of government funds, or other external sources of support to pursue investments like electronic health records," said Richard L. Clarke, president and CEO of HFMA. "If they hesitate, they may be putting themselves at financial risk."