Technavio’s latest report on the global electronic health records (EHR) market provides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2016-2020. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.
Amit Sharma, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on IT professional services sector, says, “The global EHR market is expected to exceed USD 28 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of more than 5%. The is greater adoption of EHR in developed economies as compared to developing economies owing to IT budget constraints in developing countries. The adoption of EHR systems in the European healthcare IT market is increasing at an exponential rate so as to increase the quality of patient care.”
The top three emerging trends driving the global EHR market according to Technavio ICT research analysts are:
Increased adoption of predictive analytics
Proliferation of health and fitness device and application
Integration of telemedicine and EHR is on the rise
Increased adoption of predictive analytics
Big data and analytics is no more a buzzword in the healthcare industry as a range of analytical tools and statistical modeling are being used in hospitals to get structured and meaningful insights about clinical and non-clinical operations. Healthcare organizations generate massive amount of clinical data such as patient health data and non-clinical data such as administrative and financial data. The ever increasing volume, variety, and velocity of clinical and non-clinical data have compelled healthcare organizations to implement statistical tools, data science, and mining technology.
Predictive analytics technology integrated with EHR has become one of the emerging research areas in medical technology. Medical teams working on quality improvement programs of population health management can use the predictive modeling technology integrated with cloud-based EHR solutions to monitor the spread of influenza on a real-time basis.
Hospital chains in the US, such as University of Colorado Health (UCHealth), have implemented predictive analytics integrated in their EHR systems to increase the efficiency of operation rooms.
Proliferation of health and fitness device and application.
The healthcare industry is perceiving significant growth in healthcare applications that can be accessed on mobile or tablet devices. With the help of these applications, individuals can record their health and fitness-related information that can be accessed from anywhere. Clinicians can access their patients’ health data such as heart rate, glucose level, and cholesterol level through the use of EHR and mHealth applications. E-prescriptions are prepared based on information gathered, wherein patient’s health information is regularly updated. Clinicians use tablet devices to access a patient’s health record and mobile phones are commonly used to search for information.
Leading companies such as Apple, Samsung, and Google have developed several health and fitness applications and devices. Apple has developed a cloud-based platform called HealthKit that stores an individual’s health information such as blood pressure, heart rate, and weight with the help of a third-party application provider, Nike. Apple also partnered with Mayo Clinic and other hospitals to access patient’s health information.
Integration of telemedicine and EHR is on the rise
Telemedicine-based technologies are the framework to perform remote monitoring. This includes the use of hardware, software, and telecom networks to share health-related data such as blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and heart rates, that are detected by medical sensors and medical devices. Through the use of technology, physicians can detect patients’ conditions and collect the required data remotely.
The integration of healthcare information systems such as EHR, picture archiving and communication system (PACS), radiology information system (RIS), cardiac informatics, and other healthcare information systems need a common platform. Integration of EHR with telemedicine will automate the diagnosis process of telemedicine centers. The medical history of patients can be easily retrieved within telehealth care centers that will increase the speed of the diagnostic process.
For instance, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), US, has integrated its telehealth systems provided by Vidyo and Epic EHR systems. “The major challenge for vendors in the market will be to integrate EHR, telemedicine, and other IT systems of hospitals seamlessly and to make devices interoperable,” says Amit.
This article originally appeared here.