Study: Hospitals Seeing Capital Expenditure Thaw

After a period of capital budget cuts and freezes, hospitals are seeing a thaw in capital expenditures, according to a survey published in the Charlotte, N.C-based Premier healthcare alliance’s September 2010 Economic Outlook analysis.

Sixty-nine percent of healthcare representatives responding to the survey indicated that capital budgets for 2010 remained flat or increased compared to 2009. Overall, 42 percent of respondents suggested an increase in spending versus 32 percent suggesting a decrease. For those whose budgets decreased or remained unchanged from last year, approximately 66 percent scaled back projects already in process specific to new construction/renovations and the acquisition of clinical and information technology.

When asked about the top areas in which they are trying to reduce costs in the next 12 months, commodity pricing (27 percent), physician preference utilization (25 percent), and pharmaceutical utilization (19 percent) were cited most often.