Physicians under the age of 40 are more likely to believe the industry will reach a fully connected technology environment soon, while those older than 40 think that move is at least five years away, according to a survey by MedData Point.
Of the 171 physicians responding to the survey, 61 percent older than 40 feel a connected environment won't happen until 2020 or later. Sixty-seven percent under the age of 40 said it would happen in the next one to five years.
Other findings the report uncovered include the following:
- Two-thirds say costs is the biggest barrier to connected health, with 100 percent of dermatologists listing it as the No. 1 issue
- Forty percent say they are closest to adopting patient portals, with 51 percent of large practices but only 27 percent of small practices saying they will adopt patient portals soon. Patients increasingly look for healthcare providers that offer digital services.
- Only 29 percent say they are close to adopting interoperable electronic health records. However, interoperability is healthcare's biggest goal currently, and glimmers of hope are on the horizon, writes FierceHealthIT Senior Editor Dan Bowman.
Barriers created by high costs may be shrinking. The confidence of health IT leaders is growing regarding their ability to meet business demands, according to a new survey by Hanover, Maryland-based TEKsystems, a provider of IT staffing solutions. In its survey of CIOs and other health IT execs, 51 percent of respondents said they expect their organization's healthcare IT budget to increase in 2015, down from 68 percent who said so a year ago.
To learn more:
- here's the survey infographic