Software investment in the healthcare industry is hitting historic highs in the U.S. thanks to a general shift in company leaders’ attitudes toward mounting problems such as clinician burnout and a possible recession on the horizon. A recent survey conducted by healthcare data enablement company Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO) took opinions from over 300 leading providers and found that an overwhelming majority of them have large-scale software investments plans on the books for this year.
The survey found that 94% of respondents are surely reacting to a negative margins trend spurred on by a myriad of operational challenges including the interminable COVID-19 pandemic, loss of pandemic financial support, staffing shortages, surging inflation rates, and overall rising costs that have hit the healthcare space hard lately. An even higher percentage of 98% reported that their organization “must” do something to improve the use of data in confronting a road ahead that promises to be filled with challenges.
The topline issue appears to be data quality, as 71% of respondents indicated that maintaining or improving clinical care quality was the balancing act that poses the highest risk to their organizations. Around 45% also brought up data-centric issues along the lines of fragmentation, management, and/or optimization. “This survey shined a light on how data integration can have a positive impact on patient care and day-to-day operations,” said Ann Barnes, the Chief Executive Officer of IMO. “It’s helpful to understand the most pressing needs as U.S. provider organizations are making bold changes to improve patient care and are adapting their strategies faster than ever before.”
