We hear a lot about IT infrastructure as a valuable element of the growth plan for many healthcare systems as part of the overall goal of healthcare reform. It’s a vision that has been championed quite vigorously by healthcare leaders and none other than President Obama himself. However, a study just out seems to question just how essential refining a sound IT framework is when it comes to perhaps the most important goal of reform — saving money in the process.

The recently released study evaluated data on 4,000 hospitals in the U.S over a four-year period and found that the immense cost of installing and running hospital IT systems is greater than any expected cost savings. And much of the software being written for use in clinics is aimed at administrators, not doctors, nurses and lab workers.

No surprise there. Even CIOs of major health systems would have to admit that sharpening IT infrastructure is geared toward management as a first step in the overall journey toward quality care. Still, one has to wonder, if finding the most efficient way to generate insurance claims data versus mining for system-wide critical clinical data continues to be a greater priority for healthcare organizations. | LINK

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