Top 10 innovation priorities for health systems in response to COVID-19, says report

By Jackie Drees for Becker’s Hospital Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed telehealth and remote work capabilities to the forefront of health systems’ agendas, according to KLAS Research.

For its Top of Mind for Top Health Systems 2021: Digital health priorities in the era of COVID-19 report, KLAS Research partnered with Pittsburgh-based Center for Connected Medicine to survey health system CIOs, chief medical information officers and other executives about their digital health initiatives and priorities during the pandemic.

Here’s what the respondents said when asked what effects COVID-19 had on their innovation priorities:

• Shift to telehealth/virtual care: 49 percent
• Slowdown of non-COVID-19 priorities: 40 percent
• Focus on COVID-19: 26 percent
• Focus on workflow improvement for remote work: 17 percent
• Focus on revenue cycle: 10 percent
• Focus on staff: 6 percent
• Focus on improved supply chain visibility: 6 percent
• Change in communication technology: 6 percent
• Focus on patient access and care: 5 percent
• Increased use of AI/robots: 2 percent
• No change in priorities: 7 percent