Survey: Health IT spending a high priority at not-for-profit hospitals

In other news, Partners HealthCare hopes to replace its patchwork approach to electronic health records with a single commercial system.

Modern Healthcare: IT Top Financial Priority At Not-For-Profit Hospitals: Survey
Capital spending, particularly on information technology, is expected to remain stable or even increase over the next five years at not-for-profit hospitals, according to a Fitch Ratings survey. The survey found that not-for-profit hospitals ranked spending on IT as their top priority-;as a way to manage costs, increase quality of care and adapt to new reimbursement methods like bundling and pay-for-performance (Kutscher, 5/17).

The Boston Globe: Partners HealthCare In Talks To Unify Electronic Medical Records
Partners HealthCare is in negotiations to replace its patchwork of electronic health records systems, built in-house by pioneers in the industry, with a single commercial system created by Wisconsin developer Epic Systems Corp. Expected to cost at least $600 million over 10 years, the Epic system would give each patient a single up-to-date record accessible by all Partners providers, at a time when doctors and hospitals are under pressure to keep closer tabs on the sickest people they care for and to better track their own performance over time (Conaboy, 5/18).

And, in California, the Institute for Population Health Improvement takes on the Cal eConnect effort -

California Healthline: Cal eConnect 'Not Able To Move Fast Enough'
Cal eConnect, an important part of the state's ambitious health information exchange effort, is no longer the same independent entity it was when it was born two years ago. The organization's efforts to make electronic health records ubiquitous in California will continue, officials said, but under a different organizational umbrella. At a meeting last week, the 22-member board rescinded its cooperative grant agreement with the state. On Wednesday, state officials announced that Cal eConnect will now be part of the Institute for Population Health Improvement at UC-Davis. Officials said the same work will continue in a new administrative structure (Gorn, 5/18).