The Dell Executive & Patient Survey

For both hospital executives and the patients they serve, the future of the healthcare system is clouded with uncertainty. The two groups agree the economy is the biggest issue facing the country and the impact of healthcare reform is likely to be mixed at best. They also agree changes need to be made and informa­tion technology (IT) will play a key role in making those changes. Dell conducted a survey in the fall of 2010 among 150 hospital executives and 309 recent hospital patients to explore their attitudes toward various issues facing the future of the healthcare industry.

The hospital exec­utives were asked how their institutions were gearing up to cope with changes contained in both the 2010 Health­care Reform act and the 2009 Stimulus Act. Patients were asked what changes they expect the Affordable Care Act would have on their healthcare and how their own involvement would change. They were also asked to rate their recent experi­ences with their healthcare providers and improvements they would like to see.