Beacon Partners announces results of ARRA Preparedness and Sustainability study

As the first deadline of July 2011 approaches for healthcare organizations to achieve Meaningful Use in order to obtain maximum ARRA incentive dollars, Beacon Partners today announced the results of their "ARRA Preparedness and Sustainability" study. Beacon Partners recently contacted healthcare executives nationwide to determine the status of how well these organizations are faring in their journey.

“The results of this study provide a good glimpse as to how well healthcare organizations are preparing for the long-term sustainability of their investments after the ARRA incentive dollars are gone.”

"Right now there is a lot of emphasis on getting as much ARRA incentive money as possible. Healthcare organizations are under a lot of pressure as such, but what about down the road when that money is no longer a factor?" said Ralph P. Fargnoli, Jr., president and CEO of Beacon Partners. "The results of this study provide a good glimpse as to how well healthcare organizations are preparing for the long-term sustainability of their investments after the ARRA incentive dollars are gone."

Among the findings of Beacon Partners "ARRA Preparedness and Sustainability" study, it was found that:

• 45% of respondents have not applied for any federal or local grants, which is a viable way in which to ignite the process of initiating Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) to attain Meaningful Use.
• In a step towards sustaining their overall IT investment, the majority of healthcare organizations have built IT expenditures into their financial plans for the coming years to help support patient care, clinical quality and safety as part of their annual spending, tactical planning and strategic multi-year plans.
• Most healthcare organizations (over 80%) will either maintain or increase their IT investments if they are awarded the Meaningful Use incentive payments.
• Only 15% of respondents have operational HIEs. Nearly 60% of the respondents have HIE plans in development and another 20+% are in the pre-planning stages.
• More than 40% of respondents have plans to enhance their physician and patient portals, which are crucial to the development of a sound and secure infrastructure at any healthcare organization.
• In their efforts to achieve Meaningful Use, "quality reporting" is the biggest concern amongst 73% of respondents.