Jon Pruitt, vice president of procurement at Provista
Given the ongoing trepidation around health care reform, it's no surprise that cost-cutting is still at the top-of-mind for most providers.
A survey by Provista found that nearly 70 percent of organizations surveyed are actively reducing costs in reaction to changes brought on by the Affordable Care Act.
This includes the majority of cancer center survey respondents, 71 percent of which are cutting costs.
The survey sought to gain a better understanding of how ambulatory surgical centers (ACS), cancer centers, home health agencies and physician practices are preparing for health care reform and how it's impacting their purchasing decisions.
"I think the intent was to get a current perspective with recent pending health care reform — how does it look like you're going to be impacted?" Jon Pruitt, vice president of procurement solutions at Provista, told DOTmed News.
Researchers were interested to see that though the economy continues to steadily recover, there doesn't seem to be a corresponding uptick in investments in capital equipment or new technology.
"It seems like folks are still guarded and being more strategic on when and where to spend limited resources," said Pruitt, who speculated that this might be the "new normal" going forward, though it's hard to know for sure, he cautioned.
Indeed, providers across the board are less likely to make expenditures in the capital arena, keeping their current imaging systems for a year or two longer instead of investing in new machines.
The underlying cause behind this caution is simple: providers are still unsure what the impact of health reform will be on their bottom line, meaning they're still building a surplus to guard against a more drastic change.
