What Oracle’s rumored Cerner acquisition would mean for the EHR market: The reported $30 billion acquisition would put Oracle back on the map in healthcare cloud, and shake up the market dynamics between Epic and Cerner. More on this below.

They want to check their EHRs for recent lab results or a list of prescriptions. Most respondents in our survey said “very valuable” when selecting their top choice among the elements on the Pre-Visit Checklist below. By combining those with the “extremely valuable” selections, more definitive directions emerge.

Efficient treatment of these patients requires robust technology, such as internally developed electronic health records (EHRs) and data analytics to identify gaps and plan interventions. Investors are continuously backing companies that deploy innovative solutions to control costs and improve outcomes for patients.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009 offered financial incentives for providers to implement EHRs. In 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act included a mandate that EHRs allow data sharing using application programming interfaces (APIs), which are commonly used in many industries and services.

The Infamous EHR. Healthcare professionals acknowledge EHRs as an important tool in patient care. Some 80% of clinicians agreed that their current EHR system supports better patient outcomes, according to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s May 2021 survey.

Oracle’s acquisition of Cerner could help the EHR company broaden its AI voice tech to attract new health system clients over the next few years. When Oracle scooped up Cerner in a $30 billion deal last December, their press release noted that AI voice tech is a key component of their expansion strategy.

Aledade provides its partners with technology like data analytics and an EHR interface. It profits when the primary care practices demonstrate cost savings to insurers. Aledade claims a 1% increase in savings rate attained by Aledade’s physician can generate $100 million in revenues.

Patients’ data will be stored on a dedicated EHR platform, which can be accessed by CVS care team providers and outside physicians. The bigger picture: This is yet another move that beefs up CVS’ hybrid care delivery strategy as the retail giant evolves into a healthcare giant. By intertwining its retail, insurance, and pharmacy divisions, CVS wants more consumers using its healthcare services.

For example, clinicians are already using data from Withings devices in their EHR workflows. Meanwhile, clinicians are mainstream consumer wearables, clinicians are hesitant to mainstream wearable data to inform their decision-making. Trendspotting: We’ve entered the stage of digital health transformation where if you’re a digital health company, RPM is more of a need-to-have.

Microsoft Teams added stronger virtual visit tech, EHR integration, secure messaging, and care coordination capabilities to Teladoc’s virtual care solution. To add, Northwell’s partnership could help it step into the growing D2C healthcare market.

Most physicians are burdened with heavy admin work within their EHRs, so it’s highly valuable to have a new digital health platform that’s already integrated within their EHR system.

Meanwhile, Meditech trails behind both of these players with only a 16% slice in the EHR market.

In September 2021, Walmart tapped Epic to connect its healthcare services (including virtual care) with Epic’s EHR platform. And in October, it partnered with health benefits company Transcarent to make its retail clinics, telehealth services, and prescription benefits available to Transcarent members. What’s next?

Physicians are spending more time in their EHRs and less time on patient care. AI admin tech like DeepScribe’s automate paperwork. This cuts back hours for permanent staff and alleviates admin work for doctors. A prediction we got right: Last year, we predicted we’d see a rise in funding for AI admin startups.

Our doctors love it, and it saves time because I don’t need to give them lessons on Epic’s [EHR system].

To this end, the new Interwell Health will have to ensure its physicians are using the same EHR system and are pulling in data from patients’ primary care doctors as well—or risk poor health outcomes.

But there are areas for improvement: Namely interoperability and EHR integration. For one, improved interoperability will be key to providing both patients and providers with a streamlined user experience.

Physicians spend much of their days working in EHR systems, so if app data can be integrated into these platforms, technology and workflow barriers could be removed.

And vendors with interoperability solutions should have a sizable market to tap into, considering the growth that EHR system spending will see in the coming years: We estimate that the US will spend $15.99 billion on EHR and EMR systems in 2022, up 11.7% from $14.32 billion in 2020.

It’s HIPAA-compliant, can integrate easily with EHR systems, and is a leading telehealth option for providers. 34% of US physicians and healthcare practitioners said they were using Zoom to access telehealth, per The COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition.

Nuance hooks deeper into the EHR space—but its AI voice tech alone won’t necessarily be enough to address the broad scope of clinicians’ administrative woes.