Credit Suisse https://www.credit-suisse.com surveyed C-Level Executives, (primarily CIOs and CDOs) at hospitals and health systems (combined representing 357 hospitals) on various topics/areas related to capital spending, EHR/RCM platforms, telehealth trends and recent M&A/partnerships etc.
The note on Healthcare Technology Bi-Annual CIO Survey CapEx Funding Stable, Views on Telehealth Trends, Recent M&As/Partnerships plus Companion Slides are now available.
The respondents to the survey see their CapEx spend up 1.2% on a weighted average basis, for the current fiscal year (vs expectations of spend being up 1.8% indicated in Credit Suisse’s June 2021 survey).
Respondents see healthcare technology spend represent 19% of CapEx on a weighted average basis (vs expectations of ~20% indicated in the June 2021 survey). Electronic Health Records (EHRs), unsurprisingly, represents the largest component (29%) of the healthcare IT budget.
Around 93% of respondents intend to either maintain (69%) or deepen (24%) the relationship with their current EHR vendor. Likewise, around 80% of respondents indicated that they intend to either maintain (62%) or deepen (18%) the relationship with their current RCM vendor.
On a weighted average basis, roughly 19% of visits are currently virtual (vs 16% in June 2021). Respondents expect virtual visits as a percentage of ambulatory visits, to rise to 25% long term. Results from the survey also suggests that the majority of hospitals that leveraged video conferencing platforms (e.g. Zoom, Teams, FaceTime, WhatsApp, etc.) during COVID plan to continue to rely on those platforms for now.
Separately, more than half of survey respondents noted that they are selectively expanding or investing in virtual care while they wait for reimbursement clarity on telehealth. Around 29% are maintaining the status quo pending further clarity.
A little over two-thirds of survey respondents leverage more than one telehealth vendor or videoconferencing tool for their virtual care offerings. Zoom, followed by Amwell/Avizia, was cited by more respondents.
With respect to telehealth partnerships, around half of respondents are planning on maintaining the status quo, with 43% deepening their current telehealth vendor relationships, and only 7% to issue an RFP to explore options on some of their telehealth capabilities in the coming year.
The survey respondents were most negative on the pending UNH/Optum acquisition of CHANG (41% negative, 43% neutral, and only 16% positive), followed by Oracle’s pending acquisition of CERN (34% negative, 29% neutral, and 37% positive), and were most positive on TDOC’s integration with Microsoft Teams (68% positive, 31% neutral, and only <1% negative) and Amwell’s launch of their Converge platform (50% positive, 45% neutral, and 5% negative).
For more information on the Bi-Annual CIO Survey, ask questions, provide feedback, or news, email Jailendra Singh at jailendra.singh@credit-suisse.com or call 212-325-8121.