Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What does your health IT budget look like this year? Is it trending up or down over previous years?
Ken Lawonn: Our IT budget for 2019 is running at around 3.5 percent of operating expense, which is consistent with previous years.
We are definitely spending more than last year with additional [full-time equivalent] staff and new systems being implemented as well as investments in areas such as analytics, security and digital.
Q: How are you allocating the budget? What difference is there this year compared to previous years?
KL: Overall, the budget is allocated similar to previous years with staffing and benefits being about 50 percent of costs. We are seeing an increase in software as a service as more systems are moving to cloud or application service provider models.
This year, more spending is going toward software as a service, analytics, information security and mobile development. There is a slight reduction as a percentage in supplies and maintenance compared to previous years.
Q: What projects are you most excited about for 2019?
KL: I am most excited for the following projects:
• Completing our move to a new colocation data center, which has allowed us to improve our infrastructure and security environment
• Implementing a logical data warehouse infrastructure, data virtualization, big data capabilities, and predictive analytics in our enterprise analytics area
• Implementing a new oncology system to support our physician orders and infusion centers
• Implementing a mobile message and alerting system for our nurses and physicians
• Beginning the implementation of an enhanced identity and access management program
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To participate in future Becker’s Q&As, contact Jackie Drees at jdrees@beckershealthcare.com.
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