Health systems are already saving millions of dollars by consolidating their IT application portfolios, with some just getting started on the process, executives told Becker’s.
Amid healthcare’s digital transformation, organizations adopted numerous point solutions. But now they’re reevaluating whether they’re all necessary and if they can be handled by larger enterprise platforms like their EHRs. A recent survey of College of Healthcare Information Management Executives members found that 76% of CIOs call application rationalization “critical,” but only 1 in 5 has a program in place.
Emplify Health, an 11-hospital system headquartered in Green Bay and La Crosse, Wis., has cut $3 million in costs (as well as another $1.3 million in “soft” savings like redirecting staff and hardware to other objectives) by eliminating more than 30 applications over the past two years, said Praveen Chopra, chief digital and information officer of Emplify Health.
The reductions were made possible by the 2022 merger of Gundersen and Bellin health systems that created Emplify Health. And the organization isn’t done.
“With the financial headwinds currently facing healthcare, we are well-positioned to elevate this program to the next level,” Mr. Chopra said.
Renton, Wash.-based Providence has also saved “millions” of dollars over the past 12-18 months by reducing its IT application portfolio by more than a third, starting with clinical safety and revenue integrity solutions. And the benefits have gone beyond just money.
“It’s really translated into faster onboarding, fewer support tickets coming to our team, and a more consistent caregiver experience,” Adar Palis, senior vice president of clinical and revenue cycle applications and technology at the 51-hospital system, told Becker’s for a January story. “We want to lower the cognitive burden of our caregivers by eliminating having to have duplicate tools.”
Charlottesville, Va.-based UVA Health recently began scaling back its IT applications — a project it’s calling “Smart Subtraction” — so the four-hospital system doesn’t have dollar savings to report just yet.
“What we do have is the most important ingredient for long‑term success: growing buy‑in from health system leadership and executive partners,” said UVA Health CIO Sonney Sapra. “Without that, no rationalization effort can survive its first difficult decision.”
Mr. Sapra doesn’t expect it to be a short-term program either, but rather an ongoing operational philosophy.
“That’s probably why so many CIOs hesitate to start. It requires real rigor, organizational alignment, and the willingness to make tough decisions, especially when multiple applications do the same thing or when existing contracts lack strong exit clauses,” he said.
Besides monetary savings, Mr. Sapra expects less redundancy, increased security and improved user experience.
San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare is in the analysis phase, understanding which applications can be replaced or consolidated into its core, enterprise platforms and where true differentiation is needed, said Terri Couts, RN, senior vice president and chief information and digital officer of the seven-hospital system.
That also includes looking at the price tag to migrate or retire applications, change management considerations and downstream operational impacts.
“Once we start to execute against that roadmap, we expect to achieve meaningful savings over time through reduced licensing, support, infrastructure, and integration costs, while also lowering long‑term technical debt,” she said.
Ms. Couts called application rationalization a “multiyear journey and a core part of our digital and IT strategy” and “not simply a cost exercise.”
“We are already seeing progress through putting together clearer architectural standards, governance to help with fewer net‑new applications, and increased discipline in how we evaluate and adopt technology going forward,” she said.
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