by
Barbara Kram, Editor | January 28, 2009
* 43 percent of hospitals planned to expand and improve their emergency or urgent care departments.
* 65 percent intended that their projects increase their ability to provide inpatient medical and surgical care.
* 13 percent of hospitals reported they postponed projects related to inpatient behavioral health, at a time when behavioral health care needs are more important than ever.
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The vast majority of hospitals that have postponed projects have delayed updating their facilities, while more than 6 out of 10 hospitals have put clinical and information technology projects on hold. These projects could have benefited patients, families and communities by improving quality of care, efficiency and coordination of care.
Hospitals with postponed projects reported facility upgrades and investment in clinical and IT projects would bring benefits to their communities:
* More than 8 out of 10 hospitals said they have delayed projects to update or replace aging clinical equipment or use IT to automate clinical processes.
* More than six out of 10 hospitals reported that facility upgrades, and clinical and information technology projects would have increased patient care efficiency and improved quality of care.
* Nearly 60 percent of hospitals said the IT projects that are put on hold would have improved care coordination.
* About half of hospitals are trying to meeting growing demand for existing services through either facilities projects or purchases of clinical equipment.
The survey, Report on the Capital Crisis: Impact on Hospitals, provides data from 639 hospitals collected from late December 2008 to January 6, 2009.
For a copy of the report, go the AHA website at:
http://www.aha.org/aha/content/2009/pdf/090122capitalcrisisreport.pdf
About AHA
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.
Source: AHA
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