Survey: Digital, AI Top Priorities in 2019, but EHRs Will Dominate IT Spend

Jan. 22, 2019
Digital, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) are top spending priorities for healthcare executives in 2019, but EHR systems will dominate technology spending budgets, according to a recent technology-focused healthcare survey.

Digital, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) are top spending priorities for healthcare executives in 2019, but electronic health record (EHR) systems will dominate technology spending budgets, according to a recent technology-focused healthcare survey.

Damo Consulting, a Chicago-based healthcare growth and digital transformation advisory firm, surveyed technology and service provider executives and healthcare enterprise executives about how the demand environment for healthcare IT is changing and will impact the industry in the coming year. Damo Consulting’s third annual Healthcare IT Demand Survey also analyzes the challenges for healthcare organizations and the perceived impact of macro-level changes.

The report indicates technology vendors will continue to struggle with long sales cycles as they aggressively market digital and AI. For the second year in a row, the rise of non-traditional players such as Amazon and Google will have a strong impact on the competitive environment among technology vendors while EHR vendors grow in dominance.

Among the key findings from the survey, IT budgets are expected to grow by 20 percent or more, with healthcare executives indicating they are more upbeat about IT spend growth than vendors. All the healthcare executives who participated in the survey said digital transformation initiatives are gaining momentum in their enterprises.

However, the majority (75 percent) agree that rapid change in the healthcare IT landscape makes technology decisions harder and only 58 percent believe there are plenty of viable and ready-to-deploy solutions available today in emerging technologies such as AI and digital health solutions. Seventy-one percent agree that federal government policies have provided a boost to healthcare IT spend this past year.

Top IT priorities for healthcare enterprise executives in 2019 are digital, advanced analytics and AI. Of the survey respondents, 79 percent said accelerating digital health initiatives was a top priority and 58 percent cited investing in advanced analytics and AI capabilities as top priorities. However, modernizing IT infrastructure (25 percent) and optimizing EHRs (21 percent) are also significant priorities.

Technology vendors also see AI, advanced analytics and digital transformation as top areas of focus for next year, as those areas were cited by 75 percent and 70 percent of technology and service provider executives, respectively. Thirty-three percent of those respondents cited EHR optimization and 25 percent cited cybersecurity and ransomware. Thirteen percent cited M&A integration as a top area of focus in 2019.

However, EHR systems will dominate technology spending budgets, even as the focus turns to digital analytics, the survey found. Technology and service provider executives who participated in the survey identified EHR system optimization and cybersecurity as significant drivers of technology spend in 2019. Sixty percent of respondents said enterprise digital transformation and advanced analytics and AI would drive technology spend this year, but 38 percent also cited EHR optimization and cybersecurity/ransomware. One executive survey respondent said, “For best of breed solutions, (the challenge is) attracting enough mindshare and budget vs. EHR spends.”

When asked what digital transformation means, close to half of healthcare executives cited reimaging patient and caregiver experiences, while one quarter cited analytics and AI and 17 percent cited automation. As one executive said, “The biggest challenge for healthcare in 2019 will be navigating tightening margins and limited incentives to invest in care design.”

Healthcare executives are divided on whether digital is primarily an IT-led initiative, and are also divided on whether technology-led innovation is dependent on the startup ecosystem.

The CIO remains the most important buyer for technology vendors, however IT budgets are now sitting with multiple stakeholders, the survey found, as respondents also cited the CFO, the CTO, the CMIO and the chief digital officer.

“Digital and AI are emerging as critical areas for technology spend among healthcare enterprises in 2019. However, healthcare executives are realistic around their technology needs vs. their need to improve care delivery. They find the currently available digital health solutions in the market are not very mature,” Paddy Padmanabhan, CEO of Damo Consulting, said in a statement. “However, they are also more upbeat about the overall IT spend growth than their technology vendors.”

Looking at the technology market, healthcare executives perceive a lack of maturity in technology solution choices for digital initiatives, as well as a lack of internal capabilities for managing digital transformation. In the survey report, one executive said, “HIT architecture needs to substantially change from large monolithic code sets to an API-driven environment with multiple competing apps.”

A majority of healthcare enterprise executives view data silos and lack of interoperability as the biggest challenges to digital transformation. And, 63 percent believe the fee-for-service reimbursement model will remain the dominant payment model for the foreseeable future.

In addition, cybersecurity issues will continue to be a challenge for the healthcare sector in 2019, but not the biggest driver of technology spending or the top area of focus for health systems in the coming year, according to the survey.

Healthcare executives continue to be confused by the buzz around AI and digital and struggle to make sense of the changing landscape of who is playing what role and the blurred lines of capabilities and competition, according to the survey report. When asked who their primary choice is when looking for potential partners to help with digital transformation, 46 percent of healthcare executives cited their own internal IT and innovation teams, 17 percent cited their EHR vendor and 8 percent cited boutique consulting firms. A quarter of respondents cited “other.”

For technology vendors, the biggest challenge is long cycles, along with product/service differentiation and brand visibility.

The rise of non-traditional players, such as Amazon, Apple, and Google, will have a strong impact on the competitive healthcare technology environment, the survey responses indicated. At the same time, deeply entrenched EHR vendors such as Epic and Cerner will grow in dominance.

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