The economy is forcing hospitals to consider delaying or scaling back their IT projects, according to a survey of America’s “most wired” hospitals and health systems.

The Most Wired Survey, conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, the journal of the American Hospital Association, found that even with incentives being made available to implement IT, hospitals  still have a long way to go.

Officials at the hospitals surveyed said they are torn between building on their IT successes while also being aware of their budgets.

“The economic slowdown is forcing hospitals to look closely at IT spending,” said Alden Solovy, executive editor of Hospitals & Health Networks. “Most Wired hospitals are doing their best to stay the course.”

“Hospitals clearly recognize that in spite of smaller budgets they still need to invest in IT and position themselves for the future,” said Sunny Sanyal, president of McKesson Provider Technologies. “We’re seeing hospitals reprioritize. For example, instead of continuing with plans to build a new data center extension, a hospital now may choose to redirect funds to other technologies.”

The survey revealed an overall increase in both provider order entry of medications and electronic bedside matching at the time medications are administered. Thirty-eight percent of the hospitals and health systems surveyed (6.8 percent of the sample) have effectively deployed information technology at both ends of the medication administration process. This compares with 23 percent of hospitals and health systems in 2008 (4.1 percent of the sample).

At the typical hospital responding to the survey, 26 percent of medications are entered electronically by physicians, compared with 19 percent in 2008. The typical respondent has 40 percent of medications matched at the bedside, compared with 30 percent in 2008.

“As the health reform debate continues, it’s clear that IT will play an even more important role in the health system of tomorrow,” says Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association.  “Most Wired hospitals help illustrate IT in action – improving efficiency, quality and safety of care while helping to control costs.”