Should Hospitals Have Web Dev Labs?

I just read this post on Wired, Could Hospitals Be an Engine of Economic Development?, and my first thought was why don’t hospitals have tech labs? Not an IT team but an experimental lab filled with developers that work to create apps, software, websites and connected systems that make it simpler for doctors, nurses and clinicians as well as patients and visitors to do what they need to do?

What type of Lab exactly? I envision something like what the Sunlight Foundation does. They cultivate a set of APIs that are used both internally and externally for the development of apps and services around government transparency. The same can be done, with privacy ensured of course, within hospitals, allowing for the creative development of apps and software that benefit the hospital and the surrounding community.

The drawbacks are bureaucratic red tape, HIPAA and cost (developers are expensive). Aside from these obstacles I can still see this being a boon to productivity and efficiency, saving lives and dollars in the process.