CHICAGO - Improving quality of care and patient (customer) satisfaction have remained at the hub of the evolving healthcare delivery system...and according to the 360 healthcare IT professionals who responded to the 18th Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey...they are also the top business issues impacting healthcare in the next two years. Results of the survey were released today, April 10, during a webinar presentation for media.

"As the survey results demonstrate, improving quality and patient safety continue to be primary health industry goals," said HIMSS Board Chair George (Buddy) Hickman.

"Our survey respondents reinforce the view that health information technology adoption is foundational to achievement of such quality, patient safety and necessary clinical process improvements."

The survey's patient-centric focus is further demonstrated by participant responses regarding their current/future top IT priorities and the healthcare IT applications organizations will focus on in the future.

* Organizations' top IT priorities: Implementing technology to reduce medical errors/promote patient safety was identified most frequently as both the current priority and as the top priority in the next two years.
* Business issues impacting healthcare in the next two years: Quality of care and patient satisfaction were identified as the top business issues that respondents indicated will impact healthcare in the course of the next two years.
* Future healthcare applications: Nine of the top 10 healthcare applications identified as being important for the future were clinical systems. Topping the list were electronic medical records (EMRs), computerized practitioner order entry (CPOE), and clinical information systems.

Other key survey results include:
Financial support: Financial support for IT continues to be an issue for healthcare IT executives. Twenty percent of respondents cited lack of adequate financial support as the most significant barrier to successfully implementing IT at their organization.

Security concerns: Healthcare IT professionals identified an internal breach of security as their primary concern regarding the security of data at their organization. When asked if they had experienced a security breach, 18 percent of respondents indicated that their organization has experienced a security breach in the past six months. Respondents were most likely to identify that they would adopt multiple measures to facilitate data security at their organization in the next two years.

Technology adoption: Bar coding technology, high-speed networks and Intranets were the top technologies that survey respondents intend to implement in the next two years.

Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs): Approximately one-quarter of respondents reported that their organization participates in a RHIO.
IT budgets: Nearly three-quarters of respondents reported that their IT operating budget will increase in the next year. Many respondents attribute this to an overall growth in the number of systems and technologies.

IT governance: There appears to be a strong level of integration between IT strategies and overall organizational strategies. Additionally, more than 80 percent of CIOs reported that they sit on their organization's executive team.
IT staffing: Nearly two-thirds of respondents indicate that the number of IT full-time employees (FTEs) in their organization will increase in the next 12 months. The change however, will be modest. Just over one-third of respondents indicated that their staff would increase by less than 10 percent. The greatest demand for staffing is predicted to be in the area of clinical informatics.
Vendor satisfaction: In general, respondents were satisfied with the overall IT products/services they receive from suppliers, application vendors and consulting firms-60 percent of respondents indicated that they were satisfied.
"HIMSS continues to track and respond to the pertinent issues related to the adoption of health IT," said HIMSS CEO/President H. Stephen Lieber, CAE. "It is not surprising, but still encouraging, that the survey results reinforce quality in patient care and a reduction in medical errors as vital to the improvement of healthcare delivery."

Data collection for the survey took place from December 20, 2006 to March 1, 2007, resulting in 360 useable responses representing 306 unique healthcare organizations and almost 700 hospitals throughout the United States. Visit http://www.himss.org/ASP/researchHome.asp on the HIMSS Web site to read the complete 18th Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey report.

Data from a complementary survey, focusing on the perspectives of healthcare organization CEOs, will be available on the HIMSS Web site this summer.

About HIMSS
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, and other locations across the United States and Europe, HIMSS represents more than 20,000 individual members and over 300 corporate members that collectively represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care. Visit www.himss.org for more information.