Boards and finance committees are putting hold stamps on non‑essential IT as buyers shift to fast‑ROI RCM and cybersecurity

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS / ACCESS Newswire / October 31, 2025 / Black Book Research today released results of a flash survey of 107 U.S. healthcare IT vendor business development executives, revealing that the shutdown is slowing decision cycles and shifting buyer priorities to projects with faster cash impact. 71% of respondents say at least one in‑flight procurement has been paused, and 63% report sales cycles have lengthened-most commonly by 30-60 days, with 12% citing 90+ day extensions.

Key findings

RFPs delayed: 68% say new RFPs are being held or pushed out.

"Must‑have" over "nice‑to‑have": 58% see buyers prioritizing ROI under 12 months; 28% under 6 months.

Category shifts: 52% see increased demand for revenue cycle/denials prevention and patient access, 39% for cybersecurity/compliance, while 41% report deferrals of platform upgrades/data initiatives (e.g., data lakes, TEFCA onboarding, enterprise analytics).

Commercial terms: 44% report requests for extended payment terms (60-120 days) or financing; 36% see a shift from capex to opex pricing (subscription, consumption, risk‑share).

Pipeline risk: 41% have revised near‑term revenue expectations downward (most commonly 5-15%); 22% report outright cancellations of select projects.

Governance & Capital Controls
Hospital boards of trustees and finance committees are directing formal holds on discretionary IT until cash visibility improves. In an ad-hoc provider poll, 60% of CIOs report pause directives on platform upgrades, enterprise analytics/data lake expansions, TEFCA onboarding, and non‑revenue‑critical cutovers, while revenue‑protecting modules: denials prevention, eligibility and prior auth automation, patient access, and cybersecurity, continue, often re‑sequenced to deliver near‑term cash impact.

"The shutdown's cash uncertainty has moved many decisions into board finance committees," said Doug Brown of Black Book Research. "Boards are literally putting hold stamps on non‑essential IT platform upgrades, data lake builds, big‑bang cutovers, while green‑lighting revenue cycle and cybersecurity modules that protect cash now."

Vendors also report adapting go‑to‑market plays to the environment:

47% are offering proofs of value/pilots with staged commitments.

33% are re‑sequencing implementations to deliver cash‑impact modules first (e.g., eligibility, prior‑auth automation, denials prevention).

27% have paused non‑essential launches or reduced field marketing to focus on late‑stage deals and customer expansions.

Methodology
Black Book Research conducted an online flash survey of 107 U.S. healthcare IT and services vendor business development leaders serving hospitals/health systems, physician groups, payers, public health, and related markets. Fieldwork occurred the last week of October 2025. Results are unweighted. At n=107, the maximum margin of error is ±9.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Totals may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

About Black Book Research
Black Book Research is an independent healthcare market research firm known for comprehensive, crowd‑sourced customer experience and satisfaction studies covering healthcare technology, services, and outsourcing partners. Black Book's insights inform purchasing decisions without vendor influence, subscriptions or commissions across providers, payers, and life sciences organizations. For more information, visit www.blackbookmarketresearch.com.

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SOURCE: Black Book Research