Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are the central technology pillar for healthcare organizations. EHRs are vital to both clinical and administrative operations. Because of that, we wanted to dedicate an entire article to where EHRs are headed in 2023.
We connected with MEDITECH, Epic, eClinicalWorks, ModMed, NextGen Healthcare, athenahealth, and Elation Health. We asked them all the same 2 questions:
- What can customers expect from you in 2023?
- What is your prediction for the EHR market in 2023?
Here are their responses.
MEDITECH – Leah Farina, Vice President of Client Services and Carol Labadini, Vice President of Meditech-as-a-Service
In 2023 our MEDITECH users can expect more focus on EHR optimization. As organizations continue to deal with workforce challenges, they are looking to their technology partners to help ease the burden on staff. This means optimizing the EHR so that it fits more seamlessly into their daily routines and helping customers take advantage of underutilized technologies like surveillance-based toolkits as well as patient portals.
Users can also expect more functionality for specialty clinics, like infusion clinics, dialysis, and pain management in 2023. We are planning to enhance our cloud-native apps, such as our Expanse Now mobile physician app which allows clinicians to practice more efficiently and continue to invest in our Google Health Collaboration.
In 2023, we believe there will be continued focus on the social determinants of health by EHR vendors. The pandemic highlighted the social and economic disparities that impact our system. We also learned of the importance of mental health. These areas will continue to see investment and innovation in 2023.
Epic – Seth Hain, Senior Vice President of Research & Development
Epic is focusing on three main areas in 2023:
- Efficiency improvements for clinicians and administrators so that more time can be spent with patients. The goal is not only to reduce workloads, but to better balance the remaining workload across the organization.
- Technology to support deeper connections with patients through the best channel possible. That could be MyChart, but it could also be SMS. Personalizing the communication path is necessary for personalized care journeys which is what every patient and care provider wants.
- Data discovery through Cosmos to facilitate research, clinical trials, and other life science efforts. 176M patient records are already in Epic. Making it easier to leverage that data to improve care and treatments is a goal in 2023.
Imagine being able to recommend and connect a patient with a clinical trial based on their medical needs/history.
For 2023, I believe we will see continued rapid adoption of technology. COVID-19 showed us that we can implement new technology quickly in healthcare AND realize the benefits quickly as well. With the continued difficult economic climate, healthcare organizations will have to do more with less and technology can be a great way to achieve efficiencies. We will see more tech being adopted more quickly because we need those efficiencies in 2023.
eClinicalWorks – Sameer Bhat, Co-founder and Vice President of Sales
Customers can expect intelligent, cloud-based innovations in the coming year – everything ranging from new products, to faster system performance and easier navigation – all without an increase to EHR fees. Specific functional deliverables in 2023 include: chatbots, electronic patient signature capture, self-scheduling, virtual check-in, payment solution enhancements, and speech-to-text.
PRISMA provides access to patient data from external sources (other hospitals and other EHRs) without the need for custom interfaces. Value-based care is also a big focus in 2023. To-do lists can be created based on PRISMA search results, enabling a provider to plan required orders before the visit, thereby closing gaps in quality and care.
We’re going to see a lot of solutions focused on simplifying data. The healthcare industry has an incredible amount of data at its disposal, so the next step is distilling every bit of information into something digestible for providers at the point of care.
ModMed – Dr. Michael Rivers, Sr. Medical Director of Ophthalmology
In 2023, ModMed we will be focusing on the following deliverables for our customers:
- Interoperability/FHIR and better communication between systems and healthcare participants
- Patient Engagement improvements for both patients and practices
- Automation and intelligence of systems for better healthcare experiences for all involved
- Staffing shortage support
- Additional focus on running a business
- Regulatory topics like the Cures Act
Wearable medical devices and tools such as smartphone-based applications for medical exams are on the rise, and in turn, generating more patient data than ever before. In 2023, the market is likely going to experience a shift in focus on how to aggregate and analyze this increasing amount of data effectively. EHR providers are going to have to develop systems to take in that data and turn it into actionable insights for physicians and provider organizations.
NextGen Healthcare – David Sides, CEO and President
We will continue the journey to enhance physician and patient experience and usability, pivoting more aggressively towards providing actionable intelligence at the point of care. This will have a positive impact on ‘Quadruple Aim’ outcomes. We will improve clinical documentation and workflows, including offering a streamlined and sophisticated voice input option, clinical decision support, improved revenue cycle workflows and capabilities, and frictionless information exchange across the broader healthcare ecosystem.
Broadly, the EHR replacement market will continue to see elevated activity driven by competitive dynamics such as Cerner and Allscripts changing ownership. We should also see continued growth in scaled specialty practices and the need for EHRs to support enterprise needs. Integration (APIs), interoperability (ecosystem exchange), actionable insights at the point of care, physician experience and patient experience will be key differentiators in this replacement market. In addition, we think the market will consolidate around suppliers who deliver measurable outcomes as we intend to do.
athenahealth – Paul Brient, EVP & Chief Product Officer
Physicians want an EHR that works the way they do. To achieve that, we need to make EHRs more specialty-aware and tailor the experience to match how they work. That’s what we will continue to invest in 2023. We will continue to make improvements to workflow and UI design.
We will also be actively working to integrate value-based care into our EHR so that practices can be ready for the transition. We are putting a focus on patient engagement, which is key to a successful VBC program. This has traditionally been something that was handled outside of the EHR, but we believe that a certain percentage of patient engagement should be native to the EHR. That will make everyone’s lives easier.
In 2023, I foresee EHR vendors paying more attention to interoperability. I also see a lot of focus on the Cures Act. It is not a trivial thing to comply with. I think there are many vendors who will still be working to ensure their systems are aligned with that Act in 2023.
Elation Health – Kyna Fong, CEO and Co-Founder
In 2023, Elation will be focusing its roadmap on enabling value-based care for the primary care community. We know that legacy EHRs have been built around the fee-for-service coding and billing system. We also know this does not support the shift in payment models toward incentivizing value. Primary care practices are struggling to make the leap into alternative payment models without the right technology to support them. Elation wants to be the market leader in providing primary care teams the tools they need to improve outcomes, decrease unnecessary healthcare costs, and get credit for their work while providing the same exceptional user experience our customers have come to expect.
As the payment landscape continues to shift, new kinds of care delivery models and activities will multiply across the industry. We are already seeing this in prominent investor-backed primary care innovators and independent value-based practices.
However, just because we create a shiny new solution, that doesn’t mean physicians will use it if it doesn’t fit into their natural workflow or deliver massive and immediate benefit. We (the EHR industry) have some challenges ahead of us to decide what should be native to the EHR and what can be a bolt-on or integrated solution that will drive both adoption and outcomes for patients and the business.
What’s your prediction for EHRs in 2023?
Check out all of our 2023 Health IT Predictions.
