NEW YORK – The city of New York is positioned to become the nation's capital of healthcare information technology, according a new report released by the Center for an Urban Future.

The report, said to be the first comprehensive analysis of the health information sector in New York City, is based on extensive data analysis and nearly two dozen interviews with executives of local health IT companies, doctors, academics, government health officials and an assortment of local and national industry experts.

According to the report, New York is home to 65 hospitals, 1,300 outpatient clinics and more than 30,000 doctors – more than any other city in the country – and less than 4 percent have fully operational electronic health record systems in place. The city has an estimated 80 health IT companies and is among the top four regions that receive venture capital investments in the industry.

"Health IT is definitely going to grow," said Jeffrey Krauss, a managing member of Psilos Group Managers, LLC, a New York-based venture capital firm specializing in health IT, in the report. "New York City has a huge healthcare infrastructure and plenty of technology companies, so why shouldn't that growth occur here? It's not like health IT companies need lab space, which can be expensive in New York. They can write software out of their apartments."

New York also boasts a more developed local health IT infrastructure than most other regions, according to the report. For example, the city's Department of Health initiated the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), which helps independent primary care practices, community clinics and hospitals overcome key barriers to EHR adoption.

Farzad Mostashari, an assistant commissioner at the city's Health Department who runs the agency's PCIP program, said in the report that he anticipates a significant spike in the number of doctors across the five boroughs converting to electronic medical records in the coming months. He estimates that his program could more than triple its size once federal stimulus money starts to come in.

The report says that in order for New York to "become a major hub" in the field, economic development officials will need to put health IT on the agenda, help local firms overcome existing obstacles and develop a strategy to ensure that a major share of the industry's future growth occurs in the five boroughs.

Some obstacles that the city must overcome before that can occur include:

• Lack of health IT companies in the city with the size or experience to compete for the most lucrative projects;
• Lack of trained personnel to take the jobs that will become available in city hospitals and doctors' offices; and
• Lack of attention and support from local economic development officials.