Recently, Huron surveyed over 300 healthcare leaders to better understand the “strategic focus, outcomes, and potential roadblocks for digital, technology, and analytics investment.”
Healthcare leaders suggested they are facing a paradox–how to implement much needed technology to solve big problems when the biggest problem is the cost of the technology. The report shows that cost is the largest barrier to digital transformation today.
When asked about where they are on their digital journey, leaders again cited cost as a barrier. According to the report, “A full 61% agree that financial pressures are preventing investments in necessary technology — up 30% from last year.”
As these healthcare leaders look to address challenges while containing costs, they have seven key focus areas for digital investments:
- Core technology like EHRs
- Data protection and cybersecurity
- Data sharing, management and governance
- Digital apps and tools for healthcare workers
- Digital apps and tools for consumers
- Advanced facilities (i.e., smart floors and advanced robotics)
- Advanced analytics and automation with tools like AI chatbots and predictive analytics
The survey went on to ask what is driving investments in digital today, and “Cybersecurity surfaces again with 43% noting it as a strategic investment driver. Improving patient outcomes (37%) and cost reduction (36%) follow, indicating that organizations are anxious to find ways to cost-effectively revamp care models.”
When asked what investments are perceived to have the most value, tools and apps for both healthcare workers and consumers topped the list. This is interesting, because when we asked about the success of patient engagement tech in a 2022 survey of healthcare leaders, many said they believed the efforts were successful but were unable to point to metrics to support that assertion.
The piece we found most interesting though, was the question about why projects don’t succeed. As a vendor we have seen some of these challenges first hand.
- Lack of training
- Poor selection process
- Aversion to change
- Optimistic ROI or business case
- Lack of sufficient resources to drive the implementation
This piece got us thinking about doing a series of blog posts to talk about some of the ways to address these core challenges to success with technology investments. Watch for that coming in May!
The full Huron report on digital health investments is very interesting and worth a read.
