We are in a Recession. Cut the IT Budget!

Hang on, not so fast.
Trustee Magazine (Published by Health Forum Inc., http://www.healthforum.com/) has a good article in the March 2009 issue that advises how Trustees should look at information technology expenditures in the current economic environment.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington D.C. based think-tank, recommends continued investment in information technology to help revive the economy and improve productivity. Continued investment will also create more jobs and lay a solid foundation for electronic health record improvements.

Electronic health records will continue to receive an enormous amount of attention in the next 5 years as the stimulus dollars come online for physicians and hospitals. We are getting closer to a tipping point in health care information technology and when that point is reached adoption will move so fast that vendors will not be able to keep up.

Our HIT world has changed dramatically in the last three years. Who could have imagined three years ago that Wal Mart, through Sam's Club, and eClinicalWorks would partner to sell physician office EMRs on Dell hardware. The market is changing under our feet faster than hospitals and strategies can adapt.
Hospitals cannot afford to cut information technology budgets. New technology used appropriately and implemented wisely is part of the solution that will help hospitals operate more effectively and efficiently.