Chief Information Officers (CIOs) look to optimize EHRs, but confront budget realities

Several chief information officers at healthcare agencies plan to heavily invest in optimizing their electronic health record (EHR) systems during the next 3 years, but most will be attempting to do that within the constraints of their existing budgets.

That is because these executives say they won’t see expansion of current IT budgets, in accordance to research and consulting firm KPMG.

KPMG in the month of January surveyed 112 CIO members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, finding that the IT experts are searching for solutions to physician dissatisfaction with the EHRs they have in place, claims Ralph Fargnoli, managing director at KPMG.

With the Trump Administration in place, it still is not clear what will happen with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That makes it even more imperative for Chief Information Officers “to continue down the path to get the best efficiencies in IT spend and utilize data to support accountable care and payment changes,” in accordance to Fargnoli.

Survey respondents demonstrated technology investments would target EHR optimization (38%), cloud computing (25%), accountable care/population health (21%), and consumer/clinical/operational analytics (16%), virtual/telehealth enhancements (13%), revenue cycle optimization/replacement (7%) and enterprise resource planning system optimization/replacement (6%).

Some 36% of responding CIOs expect an increase in operating budgets during the next 2 years.

In general, Chief Information Officers are expecting to achieve savings from optimization efforts and then reinvest those funds, specifically in telehealth and analytics, because executive leadership is telling them, “We cannot give you any more money,” Fargnoli claims.

Areas being considered to control or decrease IT operating expense involve centralization and standardization of IT services and systems, eradicating redundant apps and their infrastructures, terminating or turning around underperforming IT projects, adopting cloud services, lowering labor spend or eliminating contractors, outsourcing low value services, and renegotiating outsourcing contracts or insourcing.

The requirement for greater interoperability, although, could take a bite out of few of the savings, Fargnoli adds. “Interoperability has an effect on costs; if you require more integration steps and are building code that impacts the budget. Interoperability plays immensely on IT budgets if you need analytics but do not have free flow access to data.”

In the end, Fargnoli states, optimization should concentrate not just on technology but on change management, with one key query to consider: “How does an information system impact sufferers and clinicians and support quality outcomes and patient care?”