HIT Market

According to the fall 2012 Economic Outlook from Charlotte-based Premier Healthcare Alliance, hospitals and health systems nationwide are projecting the growth of their capital expenditure budgets will drop below 2010 levels as they anticipate patient admission reduction.

Glen Tullman’s resignation as CEO of EHR vendor Allscripts (Chicago) was not a complete shock to Jason Hess, the executive vice president of research at the Orem, Utah-based KLAS, who notes the EHR vendor has seen an increasing amount of negative feedback from customers. Hess, in an exclusive interview with Healthcare Informatics, said customers are disappointed Allscripts hasn’t delivered on its expectations when it comes to integrating its ambulatory and inpatient EHR products.

More broadly, the shift towards a new population health-based focus, and towards authentic care management, is requiring not only bridges across the divide between care locations, but also intensive work to develop care delivery and management models healthcare system-wide. It goes without saying that this is difficult work; yet the leaders at many pioneering organizations are powering ahead, forging new paths without waiting for anyone to direct them to the new healthcare. And of course, they’re building new information systems and IT capabilities to support their innovations.

A new report from the Orem, Utah-based research company, KLAS, found that a growing number of community hospitals are questioning their electronic medical record (EMR) selection due to economic and performance challenges. Authors of the report, Community Hospital Market Share 2012: Small Hospitals, Big Change, found that approximately 200 hospitals with under 200 beds said they were changing or replacing their hospital health information system.

Kaiser Permanente recently announced it will be opening an IT campus in Colorado with 500 people being hired for operations by 2015. The IT office, which will be located in the Denver suburb of Greenwood Village, Colo., will increase Kaiser’s total IT presence in the state to about 700. Across the country, Kaiser says it employs 6,000 IT professionals.