Hospital executives and patients agree that healthcare needs a revamp, and they're looking to information technology to make that happen, according to a recent survey. But when it comes to their technology desires and concerns there are some differences.

The survey was conducted by Dell in the fall of 2010, polling 150 hospital executives and 309 hospital patients on issues facing the healthcare industry.

Hospital executives' concerns
As hospitals and other caregivers increase their use of EMRs and other clinical systems, the Dell survey found that:

• Eighty-five percent of hospital executives said they are somewhat or very concerned about “being able to afford the initial and continued technology investment.”
• Seventy-nine percent of hospital executives have concerns about “training clinicians and hospital staff in order to achieve process improvements and time-savings."
• Seventy-eight percent of hospital executives said they were somewhat or very concerned about “maximizing their ARRA incentives payments” and “having the ability to effectively exchange information through an HIE.

Hospital executives' opinions on technology use
The Dell survey also asked hospital executives whether they agreed with how new technology “could be used to enhance patient involvement in healthcare processes.”

• Fifty percent said they strongly agreed that new technology should “enable physicians to increase their patient contact and involvement.” 
• Forty-eight percent agreed with “creating technology tools that can measure and share the quality of care your organization is providing patients."
• Forty-four percent agreed with using technology to ”ensure information security and adhering to state and federal privacy laws.”

What patients want
When Dell asked patients about “new capabilities or tools” they agreed should be implemented to improve their experience:

• Eighty-one percent of patient said they somewhat or strongly agreed that they should have “electronic access to information about a hospital (medical expertise, physician experience, insurance acceptance, etc.) to help determine which hospital to visit.”
• Seventy-six percent agreed that they should have access to “electronic prescription processes."
• Seventy-four percent agreed that it should be “possible for EHRs to share between their physician, hospital, rehab center, laboratory etc.”

But only 32 percent of hospital executives strongly agreed with “enabling their patients to conduct more business with the hospital over the Internet and through its website,” and 33 percent agreed with “creating patient information portals.”

[See also: Americans want docs to be online.]

Technology Patients Use
But when it comes to technology use by patients the Dell survey found:

• Nine percent of patients said they “often share information electronically with their physician or hospital.” [See also: PwC: Hospitals need to get patients on EMR bandwagon.]
• Thirty percent of patient “often use online resources like WebMD to learn about health issues,” and
• Twenty percent said they “often use a home health and wellness monitoring device such as a blood pressure tester, glucose monitor, or other device."

Thirty-six percent of hospital executives said they “strongly agreed with expanding their use of home health monitoring systems for managing chronic diseases.”

Patient worries
Although patients seem to be embracing technology use by their hospitals, they are also worried what it means for the safety of their health data, according to Dell’s survey.

• Sixty-nine percent of patients said they were somewhat or very concerned about their “health data being safely and securely stored.”
• Sixty-six percent said they were worried about their “health data being transmitted over the Internet."
• Sixty percent were worried about their “hospitals and providers adhering to privacy laws (such as HIPAA)."

Although not their top concern, 66 percent of hospitals said they were somewhat or very concerned about “ensuring a secure network for sharing protected health information” and 62 percent were worried about adhering to HIPPA. 
 
Click here to read the Dell Executive and Patient Survey.