For National Health IT Week 2018, HIMSS Analytics brought new studies exploring a few critical tendencies, looking intently at hooked up software infrastructure and rising technology alike. “What we see as a long way as a country of the marketplace is acceleration past the EMR,” said Blain Newton, executive VP of HIMSS Analytics. “We see it appear in a few one-of-a-kind methods.” Those put up-EHR technologies and developments encompass blockchain, cloud computing, safety, precision medication, supply chain, telehealth, and, of direction, network infrastructure.

Electronic health records.

EHRs are a vital piece of the health IT infrastructure. The market segment is very mature with immediate general adoption, according to HIMSS Analytics statistics – however, the most straightforward 2 percent of hospitals have an available supplier agency EHR. Instead, the standard system has 15 carriers throughout its affiliates, making the subsequent problem complicated. “We see migration beyond the EMR as a basis as well as retrofitting how we create scale and cozy infrastructure,” Newton said.

Interoperability.

With mega-mergers along with Dignity and CHI and CVS Health and Aetna – in addition to Amazon’s partnership with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway – good-sized demanding situations are bobbing up amid the chaos of EHR vendors. “Creating a secure environment where interoperability can show up is not a venture of desire,” stated Newton. “It’s very technical.”

Telehealth.

Whereas the U.S. Has passed a 50 percent adoption rate for telehealth competencies, the common sanatorium has upwards of 5 unique products set up, which means it has yet to reach agency-stage deployments widely. The wonder HIMSS Analytics observed in its facts is that the highest adoption stages for telemedicine equipment are among non-earnings hospitals with a hundred beds or fewer.

“For an era that the ROI is not yet entirely clear, you see nonprofits with a ubiquitous lead in adoption, presumably to attain out to rural populations,” stated Newton. “Either way, it is an unexpected view; we idea it might be huge hospitals.” When asked whether they plan to spend money on telehealth within the subsequent years, 27 percent stated sure, 18 percent noted no, and fifty-five percentage said they were not sure.

Precision medicine.

Compared to EHRs’ close to-ubiquity and telehealth on the upward thrust, precision remedy adoption today are confined. The pinnacle three reasons are a lack of funds, technology, and the scientific know-how vital to undertake such programs. That said, 45 percent of respondents to HIMSS Analytics research said they plan to amplify precision medicinal drug paintings, while 23 percent do now not, and 32 percent are uncertain.

Security.

This should come as no surprise, but Newton said that “healthcare is truly a goal” for nefarious assaults as 29 percent of breaches final 12 months hit health care, a better rate than every other industry. “Twelve percent of hospitals do now not have basic IT safety structures,” Newton said. “That’s a bit horrifying due to the fact whether you’re the Mayo Clinic or a rural provider in South Dakota, you are a target.” Protecting health statistics is one of the reasons more excellent hospitals are seeking to the cloud. But it’s not the handiest one.

Cloud computing.

Sixty-5 percent of hospitals presently use cloud offerings in some potential, and Newton stated that it is predicted the general public of EMRs might be cloud-primarily based by using 2020. Among the motives healthcare businesses pass to the cloud: 37 percent stated it’s for disaster healing, even as 25 percent said the cloud lowers cutting-edge IT upkeep expenses, every other 25 percent answered that it would sue to a loss of on-website IT group of workers or know-how and thirteen percentage do so to satisfy the want for a scalable usually-on app or service. “There’s a widespread component just searching at baseline IT fees, no matter the motivator, the cloud is coming, on-premise is an issue of the past,” he stated. “It has simply shifted wholesale here because of efficiencies and levels of service. I could expect this to retain growing.”

Blockchain.

Blockchain is still inside the hype level, to be specific. However, it additionally appears that a few early days form of sports are taking place with 50 percent of fitness organizations both investigating or building an enterprise case around Blockchain and doing so with plans to run a proof of concept inside the next 24 months. But payers, pharma, and tech providers are shifting faster than healthcare companies, which can be placed again to permit the others to figure it out first. Non-companies, in reality, are two times as likely as providers to conduct a proof of idea or pilot inside the following years.

Patient-generated fitness records.

This turned into some other unexpected locating. “Organization stated there as a minimum fairly prepared for consumer-generated information,” said Newton. While extra than eighty percent of sufferers are already expecting to peer statistics of their file, in truth, sixty-seven percent of hospitals are trying to make investments. Just do not assume it to occur fast. “When we communicate to CIOs, they flat out said that is a trouble of statistics governance,” he explained. “We do not consider we’ve got good enough governance in an area to manage purchaser-generated facts.”

Supply chain.

Acknowledging that a higher call for supply chain in this context is probably utilization management and aid stewardship, Newton defined it as “considered one of the biggest matters we see occurring.” Four of the top 10 predictive technology are supply chain control-related and hospitals must proactively put money into scientific infrastructure for equipment that alert clinicians to hazard or permit traceability that helps decide which products or people are most secure and maximum fee-powerful, as well as the era to enable getting to know structures. “I see this as becoming something giant over the subsequent 18 months or so and turning into a lot of extra organization targeted as folks appearance to force down costs and improve care,” he brought. “We see this as a powerful new functionality that companies are seeking to cross after.”

What all of it manner

Broadly talking, the state of the HIT today is a digitized device now in the area and a renewed investment in infrastructure to harness that and drive emerging traits together with predictive analytics, affected person engagement, and population fitness on the road to fee-based care. Some of it is being executed on the EHR foundation simultaneously as different paintings are extra approximately retrofitting older technology to create a secure infrastructure scale that, therefore. “People are searching up and pronouncing the infrastructure we installed location 10 years ago is not strong sufficient these days,” Newton stated. “It’s a mixture of genuine innovation and securing matters constructed to support a tech stack from a few years in the past.”