6 EHR Trends to Watch in 2024
Written by: Auren Weinberg M.D., M.B.A. and Cheryl Reifsnyder, PHD
Electronic health records (EHRs) have come a long way since they were first introduced in the 1960s. They’ve progressed from expensive systems used only by large hospitals and government organizations to electronic medical record systems used by approximately 90% of practices in the country. Today’s EHRs empower providers to deliver better patient care by making patient records accessible when and where needed, aiding in clinical decision making, and improving patient safety by reducing or even eliminating medical errors.
EHRs also help encourage increased patient participation in their healthcare, promoting healthier lifestyles and broader use of preventive care. At the same time, EHRs help improve practice efficiencies and lower healthcare costs by promoting preventive medicine, improving care coordination, and reducing waste and redundancies.
As 2024 approaches, a flood of technological advances promises to further transform EHRs—advances covering areas such as:
- Artificial intelligence
- The increasingly popular wearable devices for tracking health and activity metrics
- Increasing insights generated from real-time data and analytics
As a result, EHRs are poised to become the hub of medical practices’ clinical and operational activity. In this article, we explore some of the top trends to watch in 2024, so you can be prepared to take advantage of the coming changes!
Standardization
Standardization of EHR data structure has long been a priority for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and 2024 will continue to see EHR improvements in this arena.
Storing data in a structured format facilitates the capture and transfer of patient information and makes it easier to use EHRs in ways that aid patient care. CMS and the ONC have established data structure standards that EHRs must meet to qualify for the Medicare Promoting Interoperability program. For the 2023 calendar year EHR reporting period, practices wishing to qualify for incentive programs and avoid downward payment adjustments are required to use Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) that has been updated to meet the 2015 Edition Cures Update criteria.
The ONC also encourages implementation of standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) into EHRs. APIs enable 2 software applications to interact without needing to know the internal design and operation of the other. APIs integrated with EHR technology improve communications between IT systems and applications that create or store medical information. API integration can make it easier and safer, for example, for patients to use smartphone applications to access their electronic health information.
Interoperability
Interoperability has become a central theme in health IT, driven by the need for seamless data exchange between healthcare providers (HCPs), healthcare facilities, and medical systems; by the need for seamless communications between patients and providers; and by the need to facilitate patient access to their healthcare data. This trend will continue in 2024.
Medicare’s legacy quality reporting programs have been consolidated and streamlined into the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Practices earn payment adjustments based on each year’s final MIPS scores. Promoting Interoperability—which replaces Meaningful Use—is one of the 4 performance categories used to calculate practices’ MIPS scores.
The 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program Final Rule also requires health IT certified through the ONC Certification Program to include standardized APIs for services for patients and populations. Increased API use will support increased healthcare interoperability. With its increased focus on interoperability, the ONC seeks to minimize the “special effort” required for HCPs, patients, and other authorized individuals to access and utilize electronic health information.
As a result of this interoperability focus, the coming year will see EHR vendors continuing to modify systems to comply with evolving interoperability requirements.
Telehealth
The pandemic drastically increased the global demand for telehealth, and its growth is predicted to continue in 2024. Rising healthcare costs—caused by the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and an aging population—are also expected to drive telehealth’s continued growth. The global telehealth market is projected to increase from $142.96 billion in 2023 to $504.24 billion in 2030—a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.7% during the forecast period.
Telehealth benefits practices by being less expensive to provide than in-person care. Telehealth also decreases “outpatient department” wait times and provides easier patient access, which is especially important for patients in remote locations.
Increasingly, telehealth platforms will be seamlessly integrated into EHR systems, thereby facilitating the process of providing remote patient care and improving associated workflows. HCPs will be able to exchange data with patients more easily; patients will benefit from improved access to care and greater convenience for follow-up and routine appointments.
Wearables
Wearable devices such as smart watches, Fitbits, and other activity trackers—also known as “wearables”—have grown increasingly popular with consumers in recent years. The wearable technology market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 28.6% to reach $428.92 billion by 2030. As the popularity of wearables increases, practices can expect to see greater options for EHRs to integrate with these devices.
Wearables’ increased popularity has helped patients become more aware of their health and activity metrics. Wearables often push data to users’ mobile phones, including information on day-to-day activities, medication routines, sleep cycles, health conditions, and more. They can provide detailed insights using months of collected data.
As EHRs integrate with more and more wearables to capture and monitor patient-generated health data, HCPs will gain greater access to real-time patient information—information they can use to track patient progress, update treatment plans, and provide more individualized patient care. Ultimately, these data can enable HCPs to transform preventive care and the management of chronic conditions.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Advances in technology will continue as a driving force behind healthcare trends in 2024, particularly in the areas of integrating AI, ML, and NLP into EHR operations. Some practices already use AI to help physicians diagnose patients and identify health trends. For 2024, more EHRs will incorporate these technologies to help provide clinicians with clinical decision support. Also expect to see an increased use of AI-powered voice recognition and Virtual Scribe to help relieve HCPs from the growing documentation burden.
AI can enhance treatment efficiency by predicting patient needs and optimizing resource allocation. Integrating AI and NLP can also enhance efficiency by delivering voice recognition technology that enables HCPs to dictate clinical notes directly into the system, saving time and reducing the errors associated with manual data entry. AI can analyze vast amounts of patient data to identify patterns and predict disease progression. AI-assisted clinical decision support can assist with complex decision-making, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and recommend treatment plans, while ML can help clinicians personalize patient care, tailoring treatment options based on patients’ individual health data.
Real-time data and analytics
EHR systems are vast repositories of healthcare data. In 2024, these data will continue to be harnessed for research and in-practice analysis. Data will be used to identify trends, assess treatment outcomes, and improve healthcare protocols. Data analytics tools will enable pattern identification for purposes such as predicting disease outbreaks and evaluating the effectiveness of treatments.
Big data analytics can empower informed decision-making, resulting in:
- Development of improved healthcare strategies
- Improved quality of care
- Personalized patient care plans
- Improved efficiency and resource allocation
These benefits lead to reduced diagnostic costs and patients who are more engaged in their healthcare decisions—and, most importantly, improved patient outcomes.
Navigating 2024
Providers and patients need to adapt, innovate, and collaborate to successfully navigate the ever-changing healthcare landscape. Veradigm EHR has solutions designed to support your practice’s evolving needs, both now and in the future. Contact us today to learn more or to speak with a Veradigm representative about how the Veradigm EHR can help prepare your practice for 2024!