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Ponemon Institute Study Finds that Outdated Communication Technologies Cost U.S. Hospitals More than $8.3 Billion AnnuallyLEXINGTON, Mass. & TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. --(Business Wire)-- A new study released today by the Ponemon Institute finds that the use of pagers and other outdated communication technologies decreases clinician productivity and increases patient discharge times, collectively costing U.S. hospitals more than $8.3 billion annually. Sponsored by Imprivata®, a leading global provider of healthcare IT security solutions, the survey of 577 healthcare professionals reveals that doctors, nurses and other caregivers waste more than 45 minutes per day as a result of inefficient communication systems, costing the average U.S. hospital nearly $1 million annually. In addition, similar communications deficiencies increase patient discharge times, costing the average hospital more than $550,000 per year in lost revenue. The Ponemon Institute estimates that these findings translate into an industry-wide loss of more than $8.3 billion annually. "Our research uncovered several sobering realities about the negative impacts of antiquated communication technologies and security policies on a hospital's bottom line as well as on doctor productivity," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute (News - Alert). "For instance, doctors say they spend only about 45 percent of their time actually interfacing with patients, in large part because they must deal with inefficient communications technologies such as pagers. Outmoded technologies also contribute significantly to increased patient discharge times, which average about 101 minutes. This time could be cut significantly through the use of smartphones and secure text messaging, but these technologies remain, for the most part, unused in hospitals because of the restrictive nature of security policies and challenging regulatory compliance requirements." Titled "The Economic & Productivity Impact of IT Security on Healthcare," the Ponemon report aims to determine the industry-wide economic impact and productivity inefficiencies created by the transition from paper-based to electronic medical records. While the implementation of new technologies is designed to improve efficiency and enhance patient care, it also has the potential to introduce risk, so IT departments must ensure that these new systems meet security and regulatory compliance requirements to keep private information protected. As highlighted by the key findings of this report, striking this balance has proven to be a challenge for the healthcare industry:
Imprivata will host a webinar featuring Dr. Larry Ponemon to discuss the findings and implications of the "Economic & Productivity Impact of IT Security Regulations on Patient Care" study on Thursday, June 30 at 12 p.m. EDT. To register for the webinar or download the full report, please visit: www.imprivata.com/Ponemon-Economic-Impact-Study. About the Ponemon Institute The Ponemon Institute is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors, and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a variety of industries. About Imprivata Imprivata, the leader in healthcare IT security, enables secure access and collaboration for two million healthcare users worldwide. As the #1 independent provider of single sign-on and access management solutions for healthcare and other regulated industries, Imprivata OneSign® Single Sign-On is exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and recognized by Gartner and KLAS. Imprivata Cortext™ is the leading free HIPAA compliant text messaging solution for healthcare. Headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, Imprivata serves 1,300 hospitals in partnership with over 200 EMR and technology infrastructure vendors around the world. For more information, please visit www.imprivata.com. Connect with Imprivata: Twitter (News - Alert) https://twitter.com/Imprivata Facebook (News - Alert) www.facebook.com/Imprivata LinkedIn (News - Alert) www.linkedin.com/company/imprivata Imprivata's corporate blog http://www.imprivata.com/blog All Imprivata products are trademarks of Imprivata, Inc. in the USA and other countries. All other product or company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130507005538/en/ |