IT Budgeting for the Health Center of the Future

With the Affordable Care Act, Community Health Centers became early adopters of Electronic Health Record technology. However, over the years many CHCs have struggled to adopt and optimize the latest tools and technologies available in the industry. With growing pressures from healthcare reform and alternative payment models, health centers need to be aware of the bottom line and ensure they are budgeting for IT appropriately. This session will review what resources, human and technological, are necessary to build the health center of the future and how best to budget for them. Additionally, we'll focus on challenges such as retaining quality resources and how economies of scale can be leveraged by partnering with outside organizations.

• Develop a forward-thinking IT budget.
• Identify what resources should be in-house vs partners.
• Plan IT needs 3-5 years from now.