People are #1 healthcare IT priority, says HIMSS study

Topping the list of key trends in healthcare IT is the recruiting and retaining of high-quality staff; so says a new survey from The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and

IBM Global Healthcare Industry. According to the survey, computer-based patient records are a distant goal; the lack of a standardized vocabulary, inadequate IT infrastructure, and resistance from administration are cited as the roadblocks to implementation. Voice recognition technology is listed as the number one emerging healthcare IT technology, while sophisticated Internet applications are largely absent from healthcare organization's agenda. The survey polled 1,754 senior executives and managers from healthcare provider organizations.