Survey Finds Hospital Executives Concerned with Preparedness for Current Patient Volumes, Cyberattacks

FTI Consulting has conducted a survey of 200 hospital executives in order to highlight challenges facing their institutions including “employee morale, high costs, and cybersecurity threats.”

100% of hospital executives surveyed have digital / technology concerns, while 99% have clinical and financial concerns. Within those subsets, quality of care (47%), cybersecurity (42%), and data privacy (37%) are the three concerns most frequently cited.

One big issue is that nearly half (49%) of hospital executives “believe their hospitals are not fully prepared to deal with current patient volumes.” The greatest gaps exist in nursing and mental and behavioral health specialists. 69% of executives cited retention bonuses as “an effective tool for retaining staff.” Key takeaways include “engaging ‘at-risk’ employees” and conducting “employee engagement and retention surveys.”

Another part of the survey shows that digital technologies have improved patients’ experiences. Leaders report telehealth is used most often for primary care visits (47%) and behavioral health visits (41%). Most hospitals (82%) are also now using a so-called “digital front door,” or “the collection of technologies used by healthcare providers as an entry to care.”

When it comes to cybersecurity, half of respondents pointed to “data loss or compromise” as the biggest associated concern. 55% of respondents admitted they are “not very prepared” for a cyberattack.