IT interoperability problems were cited as the top technology frustration among 600 non-hospital healthcare providers recently surveyed by Updox.
IT interoperability problems were cited as the top technology frustration among 600 non-hospital healthcare providers recently surveyed by Updox.
Other technology frustrations named by respondents were service downtime or interruptions, number of different logins, poor design of systems, and lack of features.
Close to 60 percent of respondents said they use four or more IT products to manage daily business functions, such as ensuring patients arrive to their appointment, completing forms prior to arrival, improving communication between staff, increasing business revenue, and implementing more effective patient engagement strategies.
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Forty-three percent of respondents said they plan to consolidate the number of IT vendors they use, if they can find a partner to unify solutions without disrupting workflow.
Expenses and staff frustration are pushing providers to change technology at their business. Twenty percent said they were likely to reduce the number of IT programs within the next 12 months, primarily due to cost, followed by staff complaints, and frustration with existing technology.
REHM SAYS VENDORS ARE TO BLAME FOR IT INTEROPERABILITY PROBLEMS
In March, LifePoint Health Chief Medical Informatics Officer Christopher Rehm testified before Congress on the hurdles to IT interoperability. He put the blame squarely on the vendors for developing and selling proprietary IT products and services that do not interoperate.
To address interoperability hurdles, vendors have developed products that “glue together” proprietary technology.
“But it is up to the providers to bear the burden and cost of implementing and integrating all of these separate pieces, and it doesn’t stop once we have bought them,” Rehm said.
“Many vendors release products that meet minimum viability standards for ONC [Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology] certified technology, but their service contracts do not include the cost of maintaining and updating them to remain compliant with new regulations,” Rehm noted.
The providers should periodically upgrade their IT products to bring them into compliance with new or updated regulations that encourage interoperability, he concluded.
Date: August 19, 2019
Source: HITInfrastructure