It's that time of year again. Time for the writers of Healthcare Informatics to bring you our Nine Tech Trends that, we think, will shape the healthcare IT landscape in 2007 and beyond.
You'll notice some recurring themes from last year as, of course, some trends maintain their momentum longer than others. A few, like electronic medical records, are undoubtedly here to stay. Back for another visit, in addition to EMRs, is disease management and personal health records, while newcomers to the group include the enterprise master patient index, telehealth and storage.
We've tried to provide you with an overview of what's happening in each trend area, with examples of what some movers and shakers in the field are up to. By limiting ourselves to nine trends, we can give an overview of the industry while still providing some depth in each area.
However, it goes without saying that some critical issues haven't made the list and, for that, we apologize. Feel free to check the masthead and drop an e-mail to one of the editors, should you take exception with any of our selections, or if you feel strongly that some deserving candidates were left off the list. As always, we do a better job of following the industry if we hear directly from it -- and that means you.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy. We hope you find reading about some of the most important trends in the industry as interesting as we did researching them.