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By Laton McCartney
California hospital operator Sutter Health was forced to make significant cuts to its IT staff in May, but it is far from alone in having to take a scalpel to its operations.
A recent survey by the American Hospital Association (AHA) "The Economic Crisis: The Toll on the Patients and Communities Hospitals Serve" underscores how deep and far reaching cutbacks have become. Based on responses from more that 1,000 non-federal hospitals, the survey indicates that since the beginning of 2008, eight of 10 hospitals have cut capital spending for facility upgrades, clinical technology and/or information technology.
"Hospitals are walking a tightrope, trying to balance the growing needs of their communities with today's economic challenges," AHA president and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said in releasing the survey.
Six percent of the respondents have stopped IT projects already in progress; 28% have scaled back on projects in progress, and 27% have decided not to move forward with planned projects.
Clinical technology spending was also impacted as 34% of hospitals said they have decided not to move forward with clinical technology plans; 32% said they are scaling back clinical technology projects; and 6% said they have canceled clinical technology projects that already were under way.
Additional AHA research indicates the benefits the respondents hoped to receive from these delayed technology efforts include: Automate Clinical Processes—82 percent; Increase Efficiency—76 percent; Replace or Update Existing IT—74 percent; Improve Quality/Patient Safety—68 percent; Improve Care Coordination—59 percent; Automate Administrative Processes—50 percent; Provide Decision Support Tools—47 percent; Increase Patient Engagement—42 percent; Improve Accessibility for Patient (e.g. Telemedicine)—28 percent.
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