Hospitals worldwide to increase IT spending

Forty-two percent of hospital chief information officers who responded to a recent international survey said they plan to increase their health IT spending this year. The survey, by U.K. market research firm Ovum, polled 152 CIOs across North America, Europe and Australia about their IT strategies.

Twenty-two percent of respondents said they plan significant increases in HIT spending, compared to just 14 percent who said the same in last year. Inversely, only 17 percent intend to cut their HIT investment this year, vs. 22 percent last year.

One reason for the stepped up technology spending, Ovum reports, is government incentives for health IT adoption in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. The Obama Administration is offering providers up to $27 billion for showing meaningful use of qualified electronic health records under the provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act.

Cutting costs and improving efficiency also are important, according to Ovum Senior Analyst Cornelia Wels-Maug, who authored the report. "Our research shows that telehealth and mobile health are receiving more attention than in previous years, a trend that will accelerate with consumers' urge to purchase tablet PCs and smartphones."

To learn more:
- read the InformationWeek article
- purchase the report from Ovum