ANN ARBOR, MI – A recent survey shows CIOs are concerned about their ability to implement the standards recommended by the Health IT Standards Committee in time to meet currently established deadlines.
The survey, conducted by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), drew 176 responses, nearly 13 percent of CHIME’s 1,400 members who make up CIOs or top information executives of provider organizations.
With few exceptions, most respondents reported that their organizations are early in the process of implementing applications that are based on standards under consideration by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
This summer, the federal advisory standards committee set 20 standards for the electronic exchange of health information. Implementing applications that use those standards are expected to impact health organizations’ chances of qualifying for stimulus payments based on achieving the meaningful use of electronic health records.
Nearly two-thirds of all respondents said they were at least somewhat worried about their ability to implement standards-based applications and how that would affect meaningful use determinations for their organizations:
- 8.3 percent said they were not worried about achieving deadlines;
- 37.3 percent of respondents said they were either very concerned or worried about meeting deadlines for implementing standards;
- 27.8 percent said they were somewhat worried;
- 26.6 percent said they were a little worried.
"Early attempts at standardization were not rousing successes,” said David Muntz, senior vice president and CIO at Baylor Health Care System in Dallas. “It’s hard to believe that we will be able to adapt to new standards in time to qualify for the rewards from the stimulus. I’m hopeful we’ll be there before the penalties are levied.”
