In 2003, when Crittenton started implementing the Millennium electronic medical record from Cerner, the hospital ran 28 applications. Next year, it will have more than 90 being managed for it by CareTech Solutions, an outsourcer to which the hospital sent its entire IT department in 2003.

"With what we've invested in IT, the board expects us to receive every dollar of the stimulus available to us," says Sottile, who oversees IT. Will the $5 million to $6 million Crittenton estimates it will receive in 2011 cover its IT investment? "Oh no. No, no, no," he says. However, he declines to say how much has been spent.

Some CIOs frankly doubt there's any direct monetary savings from automating any part of health care. Digitizing radiology, for example, may save money on film. But Sottile points out that the money is absorbed by the costs to set up high-bandwidth networks to carry X-rays and CT scans around the hospital campus as well as store them in sophisticated archiving systems to allow quick retrieval of old images.

"Seeing financial ROI, that would be like putting Jello on the wall," adds Saunders, the Virtua COO. A more attainable goal, healthcare CIOs agree, is realizing lower costs down the line as automation and data analysis shine a light on more efficient ways to care for patients, and as the hospital begins to move patients more quickly through the system and provide higher-quality care. Faster turnover in the beds, with fewer patients returning with complications, yields savings overall.

Follow the Data, Find the Payoff