Hospitals and health systems are facing a major hurdle in 2025: retaining and budgeting for qualified IT resources, an April 2 survey from Stoltenberg Consulting, a healthcare information technology consulting firm, found.
Stoltenberg Consulting surveyed 45 healthcare CIOs — all members of CHIME — to identify the top health IT trends influencing purchasing decisions in 2025. Here’s what the survey found:
- Thirty-nine percent of respondents cited retaining and budgeting for qualified IT resources as their top operational IT challenge.
- Sixty-two percent of CIOs identified “getting the most out of existing IT purchases” as their leading financial goal.
- Fifty percent of CIOs ranked “clinician end-user education and knowledge transfer, including workflow optimization” as their top priority for improving IT support amid ongoing workforce challenges.
- On the end-user side, 35% said “onboarding and lack of continuous technology training” was their biggest IT-related frustration.
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning continued to gain momentum, securing 46% of CIO votes — up from 32% in the previous survey.
- Cybersecurity, privacy and risk management measures emerged as the top IT investment area, accounting for 23% of total budget priorities.
