As 2021 is coming to an end, it’s time to wind up and make plans for the upcoming year. The good news is the market will keep growing and reach $11,908.9 billion. It means higher competition between healthcare organizations and more money invested in the latest technology.
Generally, the healthcare trends dominating the market this year will remain strong in the next one. Hence, it’s worth talking about them over and over. If you still haven’t joined the current technological trends in healthcare, do it now. These healthcare trends will make your IT systems more efficient.
2021’s Digital healthcare industry trends
Recent interoperability regulations, patient-centered care, and, of course, the pandemic have made healthcare organizations rethink their software capabilities. The power of healthcare IT systems has turned out to be essential for market success. Such changes in healthcare regulations and approaches have resulted in the following healthcare technology trends.
#1. Value-based care
Even though the transition to value-based care is far from finished, healthcare organizations gradually adapt their approaches. They abandon the fee-for-service model and start to measure the success of treatment based on results, not the number of checkups or tests completed. It becomes more reasonable to prevent health issues than to deal with protracted symptoms. Healthcare organizations connect EHRs with third-party health apps to predict what may happen with a person and know how to best deal with it.
The transformation towards patient-centered care is a time-consuming process that may take years. Hence, providers design new care models and adopt software that collects patient health data for useful insights right now.
#2. Operational analytics
Clinicians have been complaining about burnout for a long time. The pandemic has made things even worse. The limited hospital capacity and understaffed facilities have resulted in increased workload and financial losses. It has started a wave of healthcare trends focused on optimization through operational analytics tools and data usability. Such software analyses massive patient health data collected by an organization and turns it into actionable reports. Data-driven recommendations enable health systems to make quick decisions and streamline the work of multiple departments.
#3. Cybersecurity
Modern healthcare and technology go hand in hand. As healthcare organizations become more digital, problems related to data sharing also grow. It means that cybersecurity is and will remain one of the leading trends in healthcare. Over 93% of healthcare organizations have recorded a data breach in the past three years. To reduce these disturbing rates, care providers must ensure healthcare regulatory compliance, hire cybersecurity consultants, and educate staff about possible risks.
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#4. Strong network strategies
The mental health crisis has shown the importance of consumer-centric healthcare when all teams share the same data. That’s why, in 2021, healthcare organizations are moving to a community mindset and turning disparate health apps into a single system. They unite physicians, social workers, payers, and researchers in one network to facilitate cooperation.
This trend is particularly noticeable when it comes to vaccination, for example. Without the joint work of multiple teams, it would be impossible to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine so quickly. The same approach translates to other health initiatives that require quick discovery and deployment of innovative therapies.
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#5. Interoperability in healthcare
Interoperability is one of the most powerful healthcare industry trends that gains traction for several reasons. First, recent ONC and CMS regulations require healthcare organizations to implement API-based data sharing in the systems they use. A range of standards defines how to connect multiple applications with EHRs and what data to share. Most of them will come into force in 2022, which means 2021 is the year to prepare.
Besides, healthcare interoperability is essential to optimize the work of providers. Healthcare interoperability facilitates healthcare IT innovations since the implementation of new solutions becomes easier. Thanks to smooth data sharing, efficiency grows, unnecessary diagnostic testing decreases, and the overall communication between referring doctors improves.
#6. Tailored patient experience and mobility
Apart from quality care, healthcare services also need to ensure patient engagement and retention. US healthcare is a competitive field where providers must guarantee a decent patient experience at every touchpoint. It makes healthcare organizations leverage electronic health records with advanced capabilities. They connect electronic health records with CRMs to automatically send patients personalized messages across channels. Existing and potential customers receive critical notifications, sales and marketing offers through SMS, emails, apps, and robust patient portals. It increases customer satisfaction and makes people more likely to return to a specific provider.
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With the spread of 5G technology, healthcare mobility also emerges as one of the key healthcare trends. In 2021, it saved $600 million. In 2022, the savings are expected to reach $1.4 billion. That’s why many healthcare and technology providers have already started to prepare their remote patient monitoring and telehealth systems for 5G.
#7. Enhanced clinical efficiency
This year, many healthcare organizations invested in workflow optimization through EHR interoperability. By connecting their EHR systems with third-party health apps, they supply healthcare teams with more quality data collected in one place. It gives a 360-degree view of every patient and helps to deliver better care.
Final thoughts
EHR interoperability, consumer-centric healthcare, cybersecurity, and other 2021’s healthcare trends show that market leaders opt for efficiency. Hence, in the upcoming years, the need for workflow optimization as well as interoperability will only grow.
If you need any assistance with healthcare software integration or development, contact Binariks. We have completed multiple projects of different complexity for healthcare organizations worldwide.