Report: Local and state health IT spending to reach $10 billion

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

According to a recent report from INPUT, a market research firm, spending on state and local health IT systems will rise by 19 percent and reach a total of $9.9 billion during the next five years. The nearly $10 billion in spending in 2015 will be a significant jump from the $8.3 billion spent currently, Federal Computer Week reports.

With the mandate from President Barack Obama prompting for healthcare organizations to install electronic health record systems, spending on this sector is expected to rise to $2 billion by 2015, up from $1.1 billion today.

Spending for local and state health IT will also be aided by economic stimulus funds allocated to help certain organizations modernize their technology systems. These funds were created by 2009's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In fact, $2.5 billion of these funds will go toward community-based healthcare centers for such modernization, as well as instituting electronic records and increasing the workforce.

The use of EHRs is expected to cut down on the amount of time doctors and healthcare workers spend on paperwork and increase the time spent with patients. Also, having electronic records should make for easier transfers of patient information among different healthcare organizations.