So far, so good when it comes to preparing to meet "meaningful use" requirements, say the majority of hospital CIOs in an informal poll. Many, however, also are worried that vendors are using the pumped-up demand for their products as an excuse to raise prices.

In the monthly online survey offered by HealthSystemCIO.com, 65 percent of CIOs indicated that they were cautiously optimistic that they were on track to qualify for Stage 1 Medicare and Medicaid bonus payments for meaningful use of health IT, while 8.6 percent said things were going great. Only about a quarter of those taking the survey said they were either struggling or "very concerned" with meeting the standards at current staffing and funding levels.

Also reflecting optimism, fewer than 9 percent of CIOs said they have had to turn off an application or piece of health IT functionality that they had implemented in the past 18 months.

But nearly seven in 10 respondents believe vendors and consultants have been raising prices "to take advantage of the government-created market demand." Some of the comments included: "Are you kidding? It is like Y2K all over again. They know they have us all over a barrel," and "It seems we now have less ability to negotiate," HealthSystemCIO.com reports. Additionally, some 39 percent believe the skill level of consultants assigned to their facilities is falling.

Many CIOs also don't much like EHR certification, as 56.5 percent said the primary effect of the program is to help vendors make more money by requiring unnecessary upgrades. "I think it's probably a necessary evil, but the way we're going about it is making things complicated," said one comment, reflecting mixed feelings about certification.

For more data and analysis:
- check out this HealthSystemCIO.com item

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