Editor's Corner

 
Money, or at least the promise of it, changes everything. And when it comes to electronic health records, it seems, lots of money is forthcoming. The latest evidence of this comes from IDC-backed research firm Health Industry Insights, which predicts that IT spending for the EHR market in the U.S. will increase from $1.1 billion in 2005 to $4.8 billion in 2015, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent. It appears, however, providers aren't likely to lead this round of investment--something that should give IT executives pause.

According to HII's analysis, a combination of factors are driving the increase in health-IT spending, including a federal mandate to create EHRs for Americans by 2014 and and a new effort by the Commission for Healthcare Information Technology to certify in- and outpatient EHR technology. (For more information on the CCHIT's latest announcement, in which it named certified ambulatory EHR vendors, see the related news item below).

In its analysis, HII predicts that payors will invest in EHR technology well before providers do, given the insurers' considerable financial clout and large existing investment in digital health information.  And with evidence still unclear as to EHRs' benefits, it's easy to see why providers are holding on to tried and true paper records.  After all, given the high cost of implementing new technology, not to mention the immense challenges execs face in changing clinical behavior, you'd probably rather leave well enough alone.

Still, I would argue that providers can't afford to watch EHR development from the sidelines. First, while EHRs may not offer the short-term benefits vendors pitch, they're clearly going to be the standard at some point, and latecomers to this party are going to struggle to master the technology. Just as importantly, if managed-care companies are already pursuing digital health records, guess who's going to define the standards, data definitions, processes, technologies and information exchange requirements?  (Hint: Not you.) And is that good for your organization? - Michael

P.S.  We're beginning to schedule Webinars on key health IT topics for the next several months.  If you'd like to suggest a topic or speaker, please feel free to drop me a line.

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