StatCom’s independent, nationwide study is based on responses from 440 U.S. healthcare executives. The 2009 National Survey on the Impact of Technology in Healthcare Reform was designed to determine how current economic conditions and the healthcare reform discussion are impacting hospitals’ operations, especially pertaining to patient flow processes and the use of hospital technology.
Ninety-three percent of healthcare executives responded they are relying on case management to manage length-of-stay (LOS) in their facilities, and 63 percent are also using process improvement efforts to improve LOS. In answer to the question “which solution has the most potential to improve patient throughput at your facility,” 68 percent of respondents indicated a patient flow and logistics solution.
Yet, in response to the question “what technologies are likely to get attention and budget approval in your hospital in 2010,” 71 percent of executive respondents indicated electronic medical records (EMR), and 53 percent indicated CPOE.
The good news is that, 31 percent responded that patient flow and logistic solutions would get attention and budget approval. The question is why more hospitals are not responding to their LOS issues with a patient flow and logistics solution.
According to a recent study conducted by Ashish K. Jha, MD, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Catherine DesRoches of Massachusetts General Hospital, a new federally funded U.S. effort to implement electronic medical records in physicians’ offices and hospitals throughout the nation is not likely to generate care improvements and quickly lower costs.
Until recently, measurements of how EMRs impact care and healthcare costs have focused on the results seen at high-performing healthcare providers like the Mayo Clinic, which have spent years refining their systems. Those hospitals currently adopting EMRs will see a negligible difference in care quality and cost. For instance, in terms of heart failure, hospitals with advanced EMRs met best-practice standards nearly 88 percent of the time, but those without EMRs met those same standards nearly 86 percent of the time.
“The findings from the 2009 National Survey on the Impact of Technology in Healthcare Reform and the recent information on the negligible impact of EMRs on generating care improvements and lowering costs demonstrate that despite increasing efforts to apply technology to help make hospitals more efficient, most healthcare facilities (62 percent) still rely on manual processes to reduce LOS and improve patient flow and throughput,” said Karl Straub, president of StatCom.
“While EMRs and CPOE can improve care documentation and reduce errors in the healthcare environment, the industry still has a long way to go in realizing the potential of integrated patient flow and logistics solutions in helping manage operational efficiency.”
Technology – Room for Improvement
When asked what kind of processes their facilities use to determine bed availability, 65 percent of healthcare executives responded their facilities don’t use any type of bed management software or technology, yet the majority (69 percent) expressed that they believe such technology would be most effective in improving efficiency and healthcare delivery.
According to the survey, manual processes, including phone calls, voice messages, and manual bed checks continue to be the predominant manner in which nurses track the location of their patients and bed assignment information. Today, bed availability is being determined by the following methods:
- Manual processes, including phone calls, pagers, e-mails and bed checks (62 percent)
- Midnight census (52 percent)
- Departmental reporting (48 percent)
- Bed huddles (42 percent)
While a majority of healthcare executives, 62 percent, stated capital projects are likely to be delayed at their facilities in 2010, 57 percent see their IT budgets increasing in the coming year.
“It is good news that, even in the midst of a challenging economic environment, most hospitals plan to increase IT budgets in 2010,” Straub said. “In an era where healthcare facilities are closely monitoring their expenditures, an increase in IT budgets, if focused on solutions that can deliver improved patient throughput and productivity will have a positive impact on the healthcare industry.”
State of Healthcare/Healthcare Reform
The survey also tapped into healthcare executives’ opinions regarding the overall state of the American healthcare system and beliefs on what, if any, impact healthcare reform legislation, will have on their facilities.
Nearly three fourths of survey respondents (74 percent) agree or strongly agree that the American healthcare system is in a “state of crisis.” Only four percent of healthcare executives strongly disagreed with that statement.
Amid this overwhelming concern for the current health of the U.S. healthcare systems, only 50 percent of the executives agree or strongly agree it is important for Congress to enact some kind of healthcare reform legislation.
When asked if they believe that it is important for Congress to enact some kind of healthcare reform legislation:
- 29 percent agree
- 21 percent strongly agree
- 19 percent disagree
- 18 percent strongly disagree
In spite of the above, nearly half of the respondents (45 percent) believe healthcare reform legislation will have a negative impact on care in their facilities. When asked if healthcare reform legislation passes, what did they think would happen to the quality of care, they responded:
- It will get worse (45 percent)
- It will stay about the same (30 percent)
- It will get better (12 percent)
Moreover, 61 percent of respondents believe that if healthcare reform with a public option passes, their hospitals’ profit margins will decrease.
“The U.S. healthcare system is certainly not immune to the economic challenges facing corporate America. In fact, in many ways they have been hit even harder,” said Ben Sawyer, executive vice president of StatCom. “In the coming months, we will likely see more movement from hospital executives to adopt technologies, such as Hospital Operating System, as a way to improve their bottom line and the overall patient experience.”
