Despite the large upfront investment in electronic health records, providers are increasingly dissatisfied with them, according to Premier Inc.'s spring 2014 Economic Outlook C-suite survey.

The survey revealed that 41 percent of the C-suite respondents are dissatisfied or indifferent to their current EHR systems. It also revealed that about half, 49 percent, of them are planning to invest the greatest amount of money in health information technology, including EHRs, advanced data analytics and telecommunications in the next year.

Furthermore, spending on HIT is predicted to reach $26.1 billion a year by 2017, which will be between 25 to 35 percent of a hospital's capital budget, according to the survey report.
"What we are hearing increasingly from health care leaders is dissatisfaction with their existing EHR systems, often citing cost and difficulty of use," Michael J. Alkire, chief operating officer of Premier, said in a statement. "Providers need a solution that integrates clinical, financial and operational data across their hospitals and health systems; the majority of EHR systems cannot do that."

Another area that the respondents are planning on making large capital investments in is clinical equipment, including surgical, imaging, and lab equipment.

"Hospitals are making necessary investments in infrastructure to meet the demands of this new generation of health care," Alkire said in a statement. "These investments are targeting HIT to provide more connected and efficient patient care, and modern clinical equipment that can deliver improved outcomes."

The survey also indicated that labor is the biggest driver of health care costs, which was cited by 42 percent of the respondents. In the improving supply chain performance category, product standardization was cited by 42 percent of respondents. Three of four providers in the provider shortages category are experiencing physician or nurse shortages, with 42 percent experiencing shortages in more than one practice.

Additionally, 69 percent of the respondents said that reimbursement cuts are the biggest issue impacting them this year. One of four executives reported provider consolidation, which is twice as many as in 2012. Also, the amount of executives mentioning uncompensated care increased for the first time in two years.

The survey included 127 C-suite executives — mainly CEOs but also chief financial officers and chief operating officers, from 112 hospitals and health systems of all different sizes and types in 32 states.

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