5 Under-the-Radar Trends in the EHR Market

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Kalorama Information said the market for electronic medical records was $29.7 billion in 2017, and it is expected to rise to $39.7 billion by 2022. The healthcare market research firm reports on the industry each year, and includes revenues for EMR/EHR systems, CPOE systems, and directly related services such as installation, training, servicing, and consulting which are key profit areas for companies. It does not include PACS or hardware. The firm published its latest report, EMR 2018, this month.

One: Side Dishes Sell the Entree

End-users respond to the additional features that are compiled with an EMR system and view the record management aspect as generic. The benefit of component tools such as CPOE, e-prescribing, image archiving and decision support, have become clear to end-users, and they may prefer to have them as an integrated suite of applications. The availability of all these tools on an integrated platform greatly reduces compatibility issues that end-users face. Nearly 80% of EMR users used CPOE for pharmacy, radiology or lab orders according to HIMSS data.

Two: Digital Patient Engagement is Not Happening

Patient engagement has been traditionally done through face-to-face office visits. Digital patient engagement has been slow to progress with only a small portion of patients actually using the portal. Improving the patient engagement experience will take a combined effort of healthcare organizations employing engagement tools for patients across the care continuum and software providers tooling up the patient portal to meet the needs providing a broader engagement model that focuses on a collaborative patient health record

Three: Trump Wants Transparency, Interoperability

In 2016-2017, the ONC announced that the certified EHR process is getting an overhaul that would allow the agency more input. The ONC will be able to directly review all certified EHR and health IT and call for corrective action when necessary. Additionally, the ONC will be able to create its own certified test laboratories to examine the health technology. Essentially, this new rule will create an authorization and oversight paradigm. The recent statements from the Trump Administration at the HIMSS meeting indicated the adminstration is focused on interoperability, even at the point of fining for non-compliance.

Four: “Install it and Forget It” Vendors Need Not Apply

The industry is seeing a paradigm shift in customer expectations. Previously, customers wanted the basic EMR vendor. Now they want vendors to move from merely developing and deploying software packages and maintaining them to implementing a full range of technology solutions that help to solve real business problems.

Five: Money for Most Competitors is in Physician Practices

The large hosptial and healthcare system market is a race between the giants - Epic, Allscripts, Cerner, Change Healthcare, and a few others. But just as we reported in early 2017, the physician office remains the growth area for EMRs. Vendors are attempting to diversify and deliver an application service provider or a remotehosted model to be able to help especially larger practices reach out to smaller physicians and address their needs. The physicians’ market for EMR is expected to witness the maximum growth. As of 2017, the adoption of EMR in office-based physician practices was less than in hospitals growing significantly over that past two years. However, there are many office-based physician practices in the US that have not made the move into the IT industry.

Kalorama estimates that the physician and web-based side of the market will grow in excess of 8.5% between 2017 and 2022. This vast customer base presents a huge potential for vendors who want to target this segment. Market growth of EMRs has been slow but is expected to continue to advance as the promise of stimulus funds is realized and the threat of penalties in 2017 and beyond.

Kalorama’s complete report is available at: https://www.kaloramainformation.com/updates/EMR-Market.

About Kalorama Information

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased through Kalorama’s website and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.

We routinely assist the media with healthcare topics. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog on our company website: https://www.kaloramainformation.com/.

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