Hospital executives concerned that healthcare reform with a
public option would negatively impact quality of care; plan to
accommodate increased patient demand through improved productivity
and efficiency
ATLANTA - January 12, 2009 - Seventy-four
percent of U.S. healthcare executives polled believe the U.S. healthcare system is in crisis and
they are concerned healthcare reform legislation may negatively
impact the quality of care and hospitals' profit margins, according
to the findings of the 2009 National Survey on the Impact of
Technology in Healthcare Reform.
Eighty-six percent of healthcare executives say improving
productivity and efficiency was their primary strategy to
accommodate future patient demand on the healthcare system. The
survey also showed that 69 percent of executives plan to invest in
improving their technology during 2010.
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. Results of the
study can be downloaded at www.StatCom.com.
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% indicated CPOE.
The good news is that, 31% 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
a Hospital Operating System, as a way to improve their bottom line
and the overall patient experience."
About the Survey
The 2009 National Survey on the Impact of Technology in Healthcare
Reform was conducted in November 2009. Of the 440 U.S. healthcare
executives who completed the survey, more than half (54 percent)
were CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CNOs, CMOs or CIOs and 18 percent held roles
as directors. The survey was sponsored by StatCom. To download the
complete survey results, go to www.statcom.com. Camera-ready charts
and graphs of key findings from the 2009 National Survey on the
Impact of Technology in Healthcare Reform are available. Send
request to thyatt@statcom.com.
About StatCom
Through process re-engineering and enabling software, StatCom's
Hospital Operating SystemTM helps hospitals transform
their operations to deliver efficient patient throughput, reduced
ALOS, and improved physician, patient and staff satisfaction. The
key objective is to achieve operational efficiency across all
hospital departments simultaneously. Actions across the hospital
are prioritized, allowing patients to flow at their best possible
rate with respect to service, quality, safety and resource
consumption. StatCom is a subsidiary of Jackson Healthcare® (www.jacksonhealthcare.com),
a group of companies focused on providing the healthcare industry
with innovative people resources and IT solutions. For more
information, visit www.statcom.com, or contact
StatCom at 800.930.0870 or at info@statcom.com.