Guest post from Lorren Pettit, MS MBA, Vice President, HIS, HIMSS

“Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the forest that was left out by mistake.” - Winnie-the-Pooh

Having been raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, I was taught to appreciate our hometown’s native son, Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne’s son named his toy bear “Winnie” after a black bear at the London Zoo, a bear named in honor of the Canadian prairie city). Though Pooh "has no Brain", his occasional commonsensical clever statements offer great life lessons. One of those is to “Be Aware”. Pooh never rushed around the Hundred Acre Wood. He always moved from place to place slowly, methodically and conscientiously. And by doing so Pooh got everything done in due time. The lesson for today’s CIO working in healthcare’s “Hundred Acre Wood”, is clear. Providers need to be deliberate in their health IT efforts and constantly monitoring their progression.

So how are healthcare IT leaders doing in progressing through this Hundred Acre Wood? To answer this question HIMSS conducted a survey late last year to query the perceived value elite healthcare executives were realizing from their health IT investments. The information uncovered reveals positive patterns in the value of HIT.

The experiences of healthcare organizations

The varied value experiences cited by the respondents aligned nicely to the value categories of the HIMSS STEPS model. This model consists of five general categories: Satisfaction, Treatment/Clinical, Electronic Information/Data, Patient Engagement and Population Management, and Savings.

While experiences varied by organization, the most frequently cited benefits fell under the categories of treatment and cost savings. Responses to the survey suggest that the implementation of EHR largely impact clinical processes in a positive way.  

In terms of cost savings, respondents noted that that finances were seeing improvement in many critical areas. 

Respondents also provided insight into their growth since the beginning of their EHR solution implementation.  

While these findings are impressive, these findings are based on the experiences of individuals from provider organizations with advanced health IT capabilities. Arguably, these value experiences should be more positive. The implications are apparent. The HIT Value experience just doesn’t happen overnight; it needs to be methodically sought.  

So what are the implications of this study for your organization? No matter where your organization is in its walk through the HIT “Hundred Acre Wood”, it is essential you benchmark your progress in achieving value. To assist you in the effort, HIMSS offers a Value Score that measures your organization’s progress in gaining the most benefits from your health IT investments. In addition, Value Score identifies opportunities for improvement in accordance with five key categories through the Value STEPS value optimization framework.

Gain critical insights and start your journey toward realizing value from your investments. Download the full HIMSS Value of Health IT Survey Report.