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By Ken Congdon, editor in chief, Healthcare Technology Online

Once considered a laggard, the healthcare industry is now one of the biggest hotbeds for technology adoption and innovation. Much of this adoption is being driven by mandates and incentives issued by the federal government, while the promise of improved patient safety or operational efficiency is driving the implementation of other IT solutions. In this "high-tech" era of healthcare, it seems that a new technology concept or solution is being touted as "the next big thing" every other day. Now, more than ever, it is important to get a true read on what technology solutions are being implemented and used by today's healthcare providers, and which are still just promising concepts rather than reality. To gain this insight, Healthcare Technology Online (HTO) went straight to the source. We surveyed 200 healthcare providers from our readership to gain a full understanding of their top IT initiatives for 2012. Much of what our research revealed was expected, but other results will be surprising to many industry pundits. In any case, the trends indicated by our readers provide an accurate landscape of the healthcare IT industry and can serve as a road map for IT education and motivation going forward.