This IDC study focuses on decision making and budgeting by acute care providers in Canada. Resource allocation and priority setting are at the heart of efficient budgeting processes. Finance and administrative executives wield more power than other executives in many of Canada's acute care institutions when it comes to decisions about IT and telecommunications. IT budgets and related decisions are important in today's sophisticated healthcare environment. However, although the financial picture has improved over the past few years, financial constraints are still the norm and cost controls still a priority.

According to Jan Duffy, research director, Health Industry Insights "As this study shows, the CIO is not always the final decision maker, nor the biggest influencer when it comes to IT investments. A vendor is ill advised to limit its contact points to those with which it is most familiar. It is time to expand those horizons and learn to sell to the real buyer. Because the biggest influencer in acute care appears to be the financial/administrative executive, this will mean demonstrating measurable value — the requirement for justification will increase and the need for a solid business case will never be more important. "