Healthcare IT investments reduce operating costs

More than 60% of U.S. hospitals have made significant enough investments in information technology to begin seeing reductions in operating costs, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The report covers nearly 2000 U.S. hospitals. It was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Prof. Lorin Hitt of the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania. The researchers concluded that IT investment must reach a tipping point before cost-reducing performance improvements occur and that six in 10 hospitals are at or nearing that point.

When hospitals move into high adopter categories, strong evidence suggests IT investments lead to cost reduction as the organization gains skills in leveraging the technology. To fully realize the value from IT investments, organizations must also redesign clinical and business processes.