BB&T Executive EditoR

ORLANDO — Surveys are a tree-counting exercise that sometimes may suggest something indirectly about the forest.

That was the case this year with the annual leadership survey rolled outat the annual conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS; Chicago), a poll of top hospital HIT staffers intended to indicate the major IT trends in this sector. This year's survey also suggested — at least to HIMSS — something bigger.

HIMSS representatives pitched the survey as highlighting the use of HIT to improve patient safety, but one of the survey items indicated less interest in that area for 2008 than in 2007 (See Table 1, "Top Business Issues Facing Healthcare."). Additionally, that part of the survey indicated less interest in other "top" issues.

Respondents rated Improving Quality of Care in 2008 as listed by 56% of respondents, putting it at the top of this list, but significantly less than 69% of respondents who put it as the Top Business Issues concern in 2007.

Additionally, as shown, of the eight of these Top Business Issues, four others showed less interest in 2008 than in 2007 — and one other was a new item (Creating New Revenue Sourc-es), thus with no comparison to 2007.

Reporters asked presenters why the seeming reduction of interest in these areas.

The answer was two-fold: one, the addition of survey items that may have diluted the list; and, two, an indication of the "maturation" of HIT — as described by John Wade, MD, chairman of HIMSS.

He and the other presenters encouraged the view that the apparent "lessening" of concern for improving quality care — and also markedly, for Patient (Customer) Satisfaction, the other big drop from 2008 to 2007 — indicated that hospitals were in the process of putting patient safety systems into place and that they had "moved on" to other issues.

This explanation was offered in several ways by the panel, which emphasized that the Quality of Care item still remained No. 1 on this list.

Another data set from the survey suggests another very large concern for HIT .

Various presenter at the HIMSS meeting emphasized the need for guaranteed, assured security of HIT systems. The survey appeared to indicate why.

A full 24% of respondents said their systems had experienced a "Security Breach" in the previous 12 months and 16% reported a "Security Breach" in the past six months.