SOURCE: Kalorama Information
December 30, 2008 15:31 ET
Online Access of Patient Health Records Adds New Dimension to EMR
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - December 30, 2008) - As EMR adoption makes big gains in healthcare,
a new trend is emerging in the form of internet-based Personal Health
Records (PHR), which will vastly influence the healthcare industry.
Patients can obtain information, such as laboratory results, radiology
reports, medication lists, and culture test results with the click of a
mouse. A new report from Kalorama Information, "U.S. Markets for EMR
(Electronic Medical Records) Technology," notes this trend and examines how
the focus of ownership of medical records is shifting from one that is
distributed among various healthcare providers to one that is shared and
controlled by both the patient and the provider.
Patients' and physicians' interest in viewing records online has increased,
since giving patients online access to their own charts is expected to
enhance the doctor-patient relationship and reduce healthcare costs.
"The driver for EMR sales has always been hospital-side, as in 'this can
reduce your costs,'" said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama
Information. "That's still true, but with PHRs, the driver is also on the
consumer side, as in 'this can make your organization seem friendly and
modern to healthcare consumers.'"
UnitedHealth Group, in an effort to compete with Google Health and
Microsoft's HealthVault, just announced its new www.myoptumhealth.com on
December 1, which allows patients to create and manage their own digital
health records. If patients need to refill a prescription or view the
latest test result, they can access it from their PCs, instead of making
the usual phone call.
These sites provide patients access to information that is otherwise
complex to obtain, and the online charts are combined with other services,
such as appointment and referral requests, resulting in more productive
office visits.
As of 2007, there were 787,000 office-based physicians and 5,708 hospitals
in the US. Total EMR implementation costs are estimated between $68 billion
and $255 billion. Kalorama Information forecasts the EMR market to grow by
14.1% annually through 2012 from $9.5 billion in 2007.
Kalorama Information's new report "U.S. Markets for EMR (Electronic Medical
Records) Technology," discusses developments in EMR use in healthcare,
trends driving the market, regulatory issues, a comparison of EMR vendor
offerings, types of systems being requested by hospitals and physicians,
and the costs of installing an EMR system. A market overview, market
estimates and forecasts through 2012 are included, as well as profiles of
leading companies. For further information visit:
http://www.kaloramainformation.com/redirect.asp?progid=64763&productid=1636276.
About Kalorama Information
Kalorama Information supplies the latest in independent market research in
the life sciences, as well as a full range of custom research services. We
routinely assist the media with healthcare topics.