Seventy-one percent of hospitals surveyed said they expected budget allocations for IT to be smaller in 2009, according to a conducted by Healthcare Informatics Research Series.
The survey was commissioned by NCR, a global technology company.
Twenty-six percent of hospitals surveyed said they do not expect a change in budget allocations for IT in 2009, while 3% of hospitals predicted that their IT budgets would be larger in 2009.
The survey also found that 36% of hospitals surveyed are being more cautious about their IT spending because of the economy.
Meanwhile, 19% of hospitals surveyed said they have postponed some IT purchases, and 16% said they have postponed all non-essential IT projects. In addition, 14% of hospitals report a slow down in IT implementation.
Results are based on online interviews with 435 health care providers conducted from Nov. 25, 2008, to Dec. 4, 2008.
Source: Healthcare Informatics, "The Economy's Impact on Healthcare IT Spending" (.pdf)