CDW: Healthcare sector to lead IT spending | Healthcare IT News

From Healthcare IT News

October 20, 2011 | Molly Merrill, Associate Editor

VERNON HILLS, ILL – In the midst of economic uncertainty, IT decision-makers in the healthcare industry report expected growth in overall IT budgets and hiring, according to the latest CDW IT Monitor.

While the latest wave of the CDW IT Monitor noted numerous fluctuations among sectors and industries surveyed, the comprehensive figures indicate that, on the whole, IT sentiment is holding steady. The Six Month Growth Outlook, which measures long-term anticipated investment, decreased one point from June, to 67, and was unchanged from one year ago.

[See also: Analysts forecast moderate growth for health IT]

“Despite ongoing economic uncertainties, the overall outlook remains relatively stable,” said Neal Campbell, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, CDW. “This shows that while IT decision-makers are evaluating and scrutinizing their investments, they are still spending, especially in areas such as software and security."

In the corporate sector, 22 percent of small business IT decision-makers predict budget increases in the next six months, gaining three percentage points from June. Additionally, small businesses anticipate more near term spending and are expecting to increase software investments by six percentage points and solutions investments by five percentage points over the next six months.

Leading the corporate sector, 66 percent of healthcare IT decision-makers anticipate budget increases in the next six months. Ninety-two percent expect to purchase hardware and software, while 66 percent foresee investments in solutions in the next six months. The healthcare industry also continues to see an uptick in hiring, up 24 percentage points since June.

[See also: Health IT No. 1 on list of top 10 'hot' careers]

Despite eight and 10 percentage point budget declines at the state and federal levels of government respectively, 29 percent of local government IT decision-makers foresee budget increases in the next six months, up seven percentage points from June. Local government is less bullish on long-term hardware and software spending, but expects to increase both one-month and six-month spending levels in IT solutions by four percentage points over June.

While six-month anticipated hardware spending dropped among medium and large-size businesses, 87 percent of medium and 90 percent of large-size businesses are still committed to hardware investments. On the software front, demand over the next six months slipped four percentage points for medium-size businesses to 84 percent, while investments at large-size businesses held steady at 91 percent.

Hardware and software investments over the next six months are expected to increase for state and federal government. According to the latest CDW IT Monitor, hardware investments at the state level will increase one percentage point to 84 percent and five percentage points at the federal level to 90 percent. The six-month outlook for software climbed five percentage points for government organizations at the state and federal levels, reaching 82 percent and 91 percent, respectively.

Investments in IT solutions remain a priority in both corporate and government; however, the weak budget outlooks did impact spending potential in the next six months. In the IT solutions category, security now tops the list of IT decision-makers' priorities. Fifty-nine percent of those IT decision-makers who are spending more on solutions this month will spend on security.

Certified Health IT Product List

From the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

The Certified HIT Product List (CHPL) provides the authoritative, comprehensive listing of Complete EHRs and EHR Modules that have been tested and certified under the Temporary Certification Program maintained by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). Each Complete EHR and EHR Module listed below has been certified by an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) and reported to ONC. Only the product versions that are included on the CHPL are certified under the ONC Temporary Certification Program. Please note that the CHPL is a “snapshot” of the current list of certified products. The CHPL is updated frequently as newly certified products are reported to ONC.

And now....THE LIST!!

No vendor is perfect on 'meaningful use,' report concludes

June 08, 2009 | Bernie Monegain, Editor

OREM, UT – Even as the healthcare IT industry awaits the official definition of "meaningful use" from the federal government, a new report from KLAS examines which electronic medical record products should fit that description.

The report, "Meaningful Use Leading to Improved Outcomes," assesses how well core clinical vendors are delivering solutions for CPOE, nursing automation, medication administration and other key areas.

Nine EMR vendors are profiled in the report: Cerner, CPSI, Eclipsys, Epic, GE, McKesson, Meditech, QuadraMed and Siemens.

"Since the introduction of the stimulus package and its provisions for health IT, much of the market rhetoric and industry debate has centered on the concept of meaningful use – what will it entail and how will it impact the receipt of stimulus dollars," said KLAS Founder and Chairman Kent Gale. "Whatever the final definition of the term, if improved patient outcomes are indeed the ultimate goal, then some form of clinician adoption will be critical."

"In particular, deep adoption among physicians is pivotal to the overarching success of an EMR implementation," Gale said. [Continue Reading]

Federal Work Group Calls for Multiple EHR Certifying Groups

From iHealthBeat

On Thursday, the Health IT Policy Committee's certification and adoption work group recommended that multiple organizations be allowed to provide "HHS certification" for electronic health record systems, Health Data Management reports.

To receive HHS certification, EHR systems must meet a minimum set of functional criteria and achieve the "meaningful use" objectives of the federal economic stimulus package. Under the stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs will receive Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.

The work group called for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to define HHS certification criteria and separate the process from the influence of certifying organizations.

Continue Reading