EHRs May Save Healthcare $78 Billion Over Next Five Years

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Over the next five years, the healthcare industry could cut costs by more than $78 billion through electronic health records savings.

A Juniper Research report estimates cost savings for healthcare industry based on electronic health record (EHR) adoption and use over the next five years. According to the report, EHRs could save more than $78 billion industry-wide.

Experts examined how digital infrastructure will influence the success of new healthcare models (such as ACOs). Data from 12 vendors produced six case studies to calculate market changes between 2014 and 2019.

“EHRs are crucial as the supporting infrastructure for a wide range of digital healthcare and mHealth projects. New ACO (Accountable Care Organization) initiatives, where healthcare providers are remunerated according to the measured ‘wellness’ of a patient population, are resulting in a re-think in how healthcare needs should be addressed, supporting the evolution of digital healthcare,” notes a press release.

According to Healthcare IT News, the digital healthcare sector will grow due in part to less stringent regulations on digital healthcare companies, as well as the popularity of Apple's HealthKit and Samsung's SAMI – Samsung Architecture for Multimodal Interactions.

iHealth Beat reports the research also warns digital health’s gains are being offset by both a lack of randomized, controlled mobile health trials and the global healthcare industry's diverse nature. “Advanced EHRs will provide the ‘glue' to bring together the devices, stakeholders and medical records in the future connected healthcare environment,” wrote Anthony Cox, Juniper associate analyst and author of the new report.