Report shows PA hospitals national leaders in health IT adoption, investment

Despite high barriers, Pennsylvania's hospitals have established a leadership position in the adoption of health information technology (IT) as compared to their peers nationwide.

These and other findings are in Improving Patient Care: Pennsylvania Hospitals' Use of Information Technology, a new report (PDF attached) issued today by The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP).

The report is based on a survey conducted in late 2006 by the American Hospital Association to gauge the extent of health IT use by hospitals and better understand the barriers to adoption.

Key findings of the survey:

• Pennsylvania hospitals use more health IT functions at a moderate or high level than hospitals nationwide (63% vs. 46%).
• Pennsylvania hospitals use computerized order entry at a higher level than hospitals nationwide (83% vs. 72% for lab, 81% vs. 70% for radiology, 70% vs. 61% for pharmacy).
• Pennsylvania hospitals use electronic results review at a higher level than hospitals nationwide (77% vs. 62% for consult reports, 88% vs. 78% for lab, 86% vs. 77% for radiology reports, 73% vs. 64% for radiology images).
• More Pennsylvania hospitals have partially or fully implemented electronic health records than hospitals nationwide (82% vs. 68%)
• Pennsylvania hospitals spend more per bed—capital spending and operating costs—on IT than hospitals nationwide.
• Pennsylvania hospitals are ahead of national averages in the use of bar-coding, electronic decision-support, RFID technology, and sharing of clinical data.
• Larger hospitals, teaching hospitals, urban hospitals, and hospitals with positive financial margins have implemented more health information technology.

"We are proud that Pennsylvania's hospitals have again shown themselves to be leaders and innovators in providing high quality, technologically advanced care to the patients who depend on us," said HAP President and CEO Carolyn F. Scanlan. "Continued adoption of IT by hospitals will improve quality, reduce errors, and—in the long-term—reduce health care costs."

"However, achieving these benefits still presents serious challenges for Pennsylvania hospitals," Scanlan said. "In Pennsylvania and nationwide, greater than four out of five hospitals cite initial and ongoing costs as the greatest barriers to health IT adoption."

Scanlan said that as policymakers debate a multitude of health care reform proposals—including those prescribing health IT solutions—they need to consider several critical points:

"First, hospitals are not interchangeable, and one size does not fit all in a state with a diverse health care delivery system. A mandated, single health IT system would jeopardize the progress that has been made to date. Second, the speed of clinical innovation and technology is expected to provide more improvements in the next 25 years than occurred during the previous 100 years. Codifying current clinical science and technology through legislation could limit innovation and quality improvement. Third, the costs to implement health IT are significant. Lawmakers need to advance financial support and incentives through grant and loan programs to help hospitals acquire critical health information technology."

Improving Patient Care: Pennsylvania Hospitals' Use of Information Technology also features a health IT case study from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that demonstrates the benefits of health IT to patients and providers. The report also profiles the Pennsylvania eHealth Initiative, which encourages the development and use of electronic medical records and health information exchanges; PAeHI has grown from 40 founding stakeholders to more than 230 participants representing 160 health care organizations.

HAP is a statewide membership services organization that advocates for nearly 250 Pennsylvania acute and specialty care, primary care, subacute care, long-term care, home health, and hospice providers, as well as the patients and communities they serve. Additional information about HAP is available online at www.haponline.org.