Report: Increased Adoption of Predictive Analytics, Telemedicine Technologies Driving Global EHR Market
Healthcare delivery organizations are increasingly implementing predictive analytics technology and integrating telemedicine technologies with information systems and these emerging trends are driving the global electronic health record (EHR) market, according to a Technavio market research report.
According to the report from London-based market research firm Technavio, the global EHR market is expected to exceed $28 billion by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 5 percent.
There 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, Amit Sharma, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on IT professional services sector, said in a statement.
As outlined in the report, the top three emerging trends driving the global EHR market are increased adoption of predictive analytics, proliferation of health and fitness devices and applications and the integration of telemedicine technologies and EHRs.
Healthcare organizations generate massive amounts 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,” according to a press release about the report.
The report notes that predictive analytics technology integrated with an 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, as an example.
And, the report cites the University of Colorado Health (UCHealth) as an example, as that hospital has implemented predictive analytics integrated in EHR systems to increase the efficiency of operation rooms.
And, with the proliferation of health and fitness devices and applications, an increasing number of clinicians are accessing their patients’ health data, such as heart rate, glucose level and cholesterol level, through the use of EHRs and mHealth applications. The report notes that leading companies such as Apple, Samsung, and Google have developed several health and fitness applications and devices. Apple’s cloud-based HealthKit platform stores an individual’s health information such as blood pressure, heart rate, and weight with the help of a third-party application provider, Nike. To date, Apple has partnered with the Mayo Clinic as well as other hospitals to access patient’s health information, the report authors note.
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, and the integration of EHR with telemedicine will automate the diagnosis process of telemedicine centers, according to the report.
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 Sharma.
