Survey: Health IT on the rise in hospitals

A new survey of 1,500 community hospitals conducted by the American Hospital Association has found that, despite barriers such as cost and integration, implementation of health IT is on the rise in hospitals. Nearly half of all surveyed hospitals reported moderate or high use of health IT in 2006, compared to a response of 37 percent in 2005. Large, urban and teaching hospitals are at the forefront of this movement. In addition:

• 69 percent of responding hospitals have either fully or partially implemented EHRs.
• Computerized physician order-entry (CPOE) is gaining ground, particularly in hospitals with EHRs.
• Spending on health IT systems is high and growing.

The survey found that barriers still remain for its adoption, particularly the high costs involved in installing and maintaining IT systems. Other complications include the lack of trained staff to implement technology and problems with interoperability among systems. 

For more on the survey:
- check out this AHA press release