A new Bain & Company and KLAS Research report suggests that healthcare providers are “doubling down” on software, while revealing key adoption trends that could have a major impact within radiology.
Software Growth – Despite macroeconomic turbulence, the many provider organizations are actively increasing their software investments.
- During the last year, 45% of providers accelerated their software investments, while just 10% showed software spending.
- Looking towards 2023, over 95% of providers expect to make new software investments and one-third plan to invest more than usual.
- Software is now a top five strategic priority for nearly 80% of provider organizations and a top three priority for almost 40%.
Problems & Solutions – The major challenges facing healthcare providers also happen to be the primary software adoption drivers.
- Nearly 80% of providers who accelerated software investments last year cited labor shortages, wage inflation, or restructuring (M&A, change in leadership) as their top adoption catalysts.
- Going forward, providers are prioritizing solutions that improve staff productivity and efficiency, capture more patient revenue, and improve security.
From a radiology perspective, that likely means a (continued) focus on solutions that enhance staff productivity and efficiency, improve patient intake/flow, and drive hospital revenue.
Streamlining Tech Stacks – Accelerated software adoption and the proliferation of new software vendors has left providers overwhelmed by their tech stacks.
- Over 50% of providers are struggling with the flood of offerings, and 24% believe that their existing tech stack keeps them too busy to stay current on new solutions.
- Providers also cite poor cross-solution interoperability as their top tech stack pain point.
- As a result, 72% of providers will first attempt to add software from existing vendors before considering new companies, and 63% are looking to reduce the number of third-party solutions in their tech stacks.
In radiology, this trend likely favors the leading informatics players, while fortifying the value propositions of AI platform/marketplace vendors, unified imaging IT vendors, and extremely well-integrated point solutions.
The Takeaway
Even if Bain is targeting a broad healthcare audience, it’s clear that the macro trends highlighted in this report are having a similar impact within radiology, giving imaging teams and their vendors a solid framework to guide the next phases of their software adoption.
