VERNON HILLS, IL – Healthcare providers looking to invest in new clinical applications had better make sure their infrastructure is up to the task, according to a new survey of healthcare IT professionals.

According to CDW Healthcare, a subsidiary of the Vernon Hills, Ill.-based CDW Corporation, two-thirds of the more than 500 information technology and clinical healthcare professionals surveyed described clinical applications as “critical” to patient care, while only half feel the same about infrastructure.

However, 70 percent of those who took a balanced approach to their investments – putting at least 40 percent into infrastructure – reported “outstanding” performance from their clinical applications. Only 29 percent who focused on clinical applications at the expense of infrastructure reported the same results.

“The passage of the federal stimulus package has revitalized the dialogue surrounding extensive applications such as electronic health records and other point-of-care solutions,” said Bob Rossi, vice president of healthcare sales for CDW Healthcare. “While these solutions can assist caregivers in improving clinical outcomes, an inadequate supporting infrastructure can decrease applications’ ability to operate reliably both within and among healthcare organizations. Providers should recognize that the ability of clinicians to achieve critical benefits – such as improved patient safety, increased patient satisfaction and reduced operating costs – is greatly enhanced with infrastructure and easy-to-adopt client technologies that span from the data center to the patient bedside.”

According to the survey, providers who care about the infrastructure as much as they do about the clinical applications report reduced operating costs more frequently and increased patient satisfaction.

Healthcare providers aren’t necessarily convinced of the balanced approach. According to the survey, when implementing clinical applications, providers cite product features such as clinical capability (59 percent) and cost (50 percent) for more frequently than interoperability (30 percent) and ease of caregiver adoption (26 percent). And yet, once those applications have been deployed, the primary challenges reported include excessive helpdesk calls and prolonged user training (46 percent), significant lag times during clinical use (28 percent), lack of interoperability (28 percent) and unreliable performance (21 percent).

“With the pressure mounting to generate quality improvements and return on investment, the cost and capability of clinical applications are obviously important concerns for any healthcare provider,” Rossi added.  “However, the interoperability of applications as well as the ease with which those technologies are adopted by caregivers are the factors that truly drive long-term business and clinical value.  Until providers devote sufficient resources to resolving these issues, they will continue to suffer from sub-optimal application performance, frustrated clinicians and an IT staff besieged with helpdesk calls.”