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Upgrading Health IT Infrastructure Top Challenge for Healthcare

Upgrading health IT infrastructure was cited as among the top challenges facing healthcare executives in 2019.

health it infrastructure

Source: Getty Images

By Fred Donovan

- Upgrading health IT infrastructure was cited as among the top challenges facing healthcare executives in 2019.

On behalf of SAP, Porter Research polled 100 healthcare CEOs, CFOs, and CIOs from acute care hospitals and integrated delivery networks with more than 300 beds about the top challenges facing health systems this year.

Asked to identify their top health system challenge, 62 percent of respondents identified declining reimbursement, 53 percent cited patient experience, 48 percent said maintaining and upgrading IT infrastructure, 46 percent said cybersecurity, a similar percentage cited difficulty finding and retaining qualified staff, 42 percent said compliance with government mandates, 34 percent cited implementing alternative payment models, 31 percent cited consolidation across health systems, provider groups, and payers, 27 percent said digital patient engagement, 20 percent said increasing drug costs, 17 percent cited price transparency, and 16 percent named the opioid crisis.