According to an August CHIME survey, 28 percent of CIOs expect to qualify for stimulus funding in the first six months of fiscal year 2011, which begins on October 1, 2010. An additional 62 percent said they expect to qualify between April 1, 2011, and September 30, 2012 - the end of Stage 1 of the incentive program.
A lot of surveys are being conducted to determine where the industry will be when the 2011 stage 1 stimulus funds get awarded. The bottom line is that the surveys are a snapshot of what may happen, but until we're closer to the deadline, survey results are speculative at best.
Two of the key elements in fully understanding these survey results are who and how many took the survey.
Approximately 1,400 CIOs and other senior healthcare IT leaders are members of the professional association, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The August survey was taken by 152 members, or 11 percent. You can't force people to take surveys and the average survey response rate is anywhere from 20 percent to 30 percent. Still, it would have been insightful to get greater participation and a deeper read of healthcare CIOs.
The patchwork of surveys being published will help provide a partial view of industry progress with meaningful use of EHRs. Obviously, there are some early adopters who are quite confident they will qualify for the stimulus funds in stage 1. It's the rest of the industry we are hoping will reach meaningful use, regardless of whether it is stage 1, 2 or 3.
These snapshot surveys should be an ongoing exercise. HHS and the regional extension centers should be paying particular attention to the problem areas are so they can proactively reach out and help address whatever barriers exist.
Don't get me wrong. Various associations and other entities should gather whatever data they can on their members' ability to qualify for the stimulus funds. Perhaps more healthcare systems and physician offices will participate in these surveys going forward so we can troubleshoot in a timely fashion.
Photo by akeg courtesy of Creative Commons license.
