Healthcare survey results

Results from Healthland’s recent customer survey focused on the economy and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Respondents of the Healthland survey reported several financial implications related to the United State’s economic downturn including:

82 percent facing greater uncollectable balances for private pay patients
77 percent deferring capital expenditures
74 percent stating an increase in allocation for bad debts
59 percent experiencing decreased clinic volumes
39 percent dealing with staff reductions
35 percent challenged with increased hiring freezes
30 percent seeing decreased emergency room volumes

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, $19.2 billion has been allocated to fund health information technology projects – $17.2 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHR) systems starting in 2011, with the remaining $2 billion used to help organizations get a “jump start” on healthcare IT adoption. However, the ARRA remains confusing and ambiguous to many small community and rural hospitals. In fact, the Healthland survey reports:

44 percent of participants still need to figure out how to get IT funding under the ARRA
37 percent believe funding is coming, but they will never see it
28 percent say they have no idea how to qualify for ARRA funding

According to a recent survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine, only nine percent of U.S. hospitals have electronic health records. Healthland’s data and experience in the market reveal that the number is even lower for small hospitals, estimated to be closer to three to five percent.