Healthcare providers are planning to invest in health IT which is focused on EHR software optimization to enhance interoperability, according to the 2022 Healthcare Provider IT Report from Bain and Company and KLAS Research.
Health IT investments
Provider organizations regardless of their size are recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic and taking stock of the software solutions that will be required in the long run and defining how and where to invest.
In the short term, the demand for health IT is being propelled by clinician shortages and increases in wages which can improve efficiency and productivity levels and even mitigate labor requirements.
Issues with existing software technology
The top pain points highlighted by clinicians include a lack of cross-solution interoperability which cannot support seamless data exchange and little or no electronic health records integration with current tech stacks.
The 21st Century Cures Act has promised to find solutions to the above-mentioned issues but no changes have been experienced which is making healthcare providers unconvinced if the regulation will bring a shift to address interoperability and integration challenges.
How providers are responding to interoperability challenges?
- Around 71% of providers seek out their EMR software vendors for new and updated solutions before going to other companies.
- Around 72% of clinicians plan to look to their current vendors offering proven solutions before considering software offerings from other health IT vendors.
While provider tech stacks have become more sophisticated, Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Software and EHR solutions remain important software solutions for most providers.
Investments in the telehealth platform
The research suggests that many providers are interested to take a second look at the new and upgraded offering from their EHR software vendor in areas like telehealth. Telehealth and virtual care options remain a top priority of provider organizations. To improve cross-solution interoperability providers are looking into EHR optimizations in telehealth offerings.
Big national health systems see telehealth as a key to effective care delivery and are looking to add advanced telehealth capabilities to enhance care access and improve health outcome levels.
