Electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic medical records (EMRs) are essential tools for healthcare providers in the corrections and public health industries. EHRs and EMRs help to streamline workflows, improve patient care, and comply with regulatory requirements. However, EHR and EMR systems are constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of the healthcare industry, and you’ll need to keep a careful eye on advancements in this space to make sure you’re using your electronic health record software to maximize its capabilities and create efficiencies throughout your agency.
Fusion’s engineering experts has been hard at work analyzing the EHR competitive landscape and expects to see the following cutting-edge EHR trends gain popularity through 2024 and beyond.
Increased Patient Engagement Tools in EHRs
Patient engagement is a critical aspect of healthcare delivery, and EHRs are increasingly being used to engage patients in their own care. This includes features such as secure messaging, online appointment scheduling, and access to personal health information.
“The rise of mobile device access for individuals in correctional facilities opens up some really significant and exciting opportunities for healthcare delivery,” says Bryan LeBlanc, Chief Information Officer at Fusion Health. “Vital signs, medication adherence, and other important patient demographics could be readily captured and monitored through these devices.”
In 2024, we can expect to see even more innovative ways for EHRs to engage patients, LeBlanc says. He sees immense potential in harnessing the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) to remotely collect health data, further enhancing healthcare access and insights within correctional settings.
“Correctional agencies are movement-restricted communities where access to traditional healthcare can be limited,” says LeBlanc. “The IoT holds immense potential to track key indicators remotely. This could be a game-changer for proactive care and improved well-being for inmates.”
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) in EHRs and EMRs
Increasingly, EHRs are adding AI functionalities that provide personalized recommendations and support to clinicians using the system. AI-powered chatbots can help patients manage their health by providing them with personalized recommendations based on their medical history and lifestyle choices. These chatbots can also help patients schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, and answer common health-related questions.
In the healthcare field, similar to how AI meeting assistants can improve the efficiency of financial advisors, AI-powered tools are emerging to help doctors capture and summarize important details from patient interactions. This can be achieved through automatic transcription and translation of doctor-patient conversations, allowing doctors to focus more on providing care and making informed decisions. This technology can potentially lead to improved patient outcomes and reduced administrative burden for doctors.
“While some providers might hesitate about AI directly making healthcare decisions, using AI for transcription provides a valuable middle ground,” says LeBlanc. “It streamlines information gathering, empowering providers to make well-informed choices while maintaining ultimate control over patient care. This technology can potentially lead to improved patient outcomes and reduced administrative burden for doctors.”
Centralized Access Via EHR Integrations
In order to provide a complete view of patient health and streamline care coordination, EHRs need to be able to integrate with other healthcare systems such as laboratory information systems, pharmacy systems, and imaging systems.
Healthcare data integration is rapidly evolving to meet providers’ increasing demand for centralized information access. “This is driving a proliferation of integration endpoints,” LeBlanc notes. “Health information exchanges, health information service providers, laboratory systems, pharmacy automation, and patient-generated data from wearable devices are all being integrated. By consolidating data from these diverse sources into central electronic health records, healthcare providers gain a comprehensive view of patient health. This holistic perspective ultimately enables more informed clinical decision-making and improved healthcare outcomes.”
Self-Service Business Intelligence Tools in EHRs
One exciting trend within the evolution of EHRs is the rise of self-service business intelligence (BI). By empowering healthcare providers and staff with intuitive BI tools that let them easily analyze and visualize data without needing specialized data science expertise, EHRs allows users to explore data on their own which, paired with rich dashboard visualizations, can unlock insights that would have otherwise remained hidden. Providers can quickly spot trends, identify potential issues, and make informed decisions based on real-time EHR data instead of relying solely on data scientists or vendors to generate reports and identify these insights.
A few other tidbits we pulled during our research:
- EHR vendors are following Fusion Health’s lead by increasingly focusing on developing solutions tailored, from the ground up, to the needs of different types of healthcare organizations, such as correctional facilities, hospitals, clinics, and physician practices.
- There is a growing trend towards cloud-based EHR systems, which offer a number of advantages over on-premise systems – such as lower upfront costs, easier scalability, and easier access from anywhere, to name just a few.
“The future of EHRs is incredibly bright,” LeBlanc says. “By embracing these advancements in AI, seamless interoperability, and patient-centric tools, we have the power to transform healthcare delivery. This will foster a multidisciplinary approach that improves efficiency, drives proactive care models, and creates opportunities for more personalized and accessible care for everyone.”
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