Menachemi Nir, Burkhardt Jeffrey, Shewchuk Richard, Burke Darrell, Brooks Robert G
Center on Patient Safety, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, USA.
J Healthc Manag. 2006 Jan-Feb;51(1):40-58; discussion 58-9.
This empirical study examined the relationship between information technology (IT) utilization and hospital financial performance. Using primary and secondary data, we specified and tested a series of regression models that examined this relationship in Florida hospitals. In addition, we employed performance group analysis for a select group of operational performance indicators. Findings suggested a significant and positive relationship between increased levels of IT use and various measures of financial performance, even after controlling for case-mix acuity and bed size. Regardless of the analysis or method employed, the results indicated that IT adoption is consistently related to improved financial outcomes both overall and operationally. This relationship was present when examining IT collectively and for clinical IT, administrative IT, and strategic IT as individual measures. Lastly, although higher IT use was associated with a higher level of revenues, income, or cash flow, higher use was also associated with ratios based on higher expenses. This probably reflects the relatively high acquisition costs associated with obtaining and maintaining sophisticated IT systems. Given that a true return on investment is so difficult to obtain for many individual hospitalwide IT systems, our data can serve as a proxy for hospital leaders and policymakers who want to understand the potential financial effects of investing in IT in the acute care setting.
这项实证研究考察了信息技术（IT）应用与医院财务绩效之间的关系。我们使用一手和二手数据，设定并测试了一系列回归模型，以检验佛罗里达州各医院的这种关系。此外，我们还对一组选定的运营绩效指标进行了绩效组分析。研究结果表明，即使在控制了病例组合严重程度和床位规模之后，IT使用水平的提高与各种财务绩效指标之间仍存在显著的正相关关系。无论采用何种分析方法，结果都表明，IT的采用在总体和运营方面都与改善财务结果始终相关。在将IT作为一个整体以及将临床IT、行政IT和战略IT作为单独指标进行考察时，这种关系都存在。最后，虽然较高的IT使用水平与较高的收入、收益或现金流相关，但较高的使用水平也与基于较高支出的比率相关。这可能反映了获取和维护复杂IT系统所涉及的相对较高的购置成本。鉴于许多医院范围内的单个IT系统很难获得真正的投资回报，我们的数据可以为希望了解在急症护理环境中投资IT的潜在财务影响的医院领导人和政策制定者提供一个参考。
