Meaningful Use Spurs RIS Upgrade Plans
Gino Johnson, CapSite senior vice president and general manager, notes that “Almost three-quarters of respondents are now aware that meaningful use incentives apply. We were not expecting it to be that high.” He says efforts among RIS vendors to raise MU awareness among radiologists have been successful. “That group was a little behind; there was so much focus on EHRs that RIS and PACS were in the periphery,” he says.Shift in RIS Purchase PlansA shift in trends around the purchasing of EHR solutions brought about by meaningful use criteria has resulted in a shift in how hospitals plan to make their next RIS purchase. When asked to describe their most recent RIS purchase, 53 percent of respondents said it was as part of a broader enterprise EHR system purchase; the remainder was about evenly divided between those who purchased a standalone RIS, and those who purchased a RIS in combination with a PACS solution.When questioned about their RIS preferences, only 4 percent indicated they preferred a standalone system. Most indicated that they prefer to purchase RIS as part of an EHR clinical system. The survey puts hard numbers behind a trend that has been underway for several years, Johnson says.