Innovative Business Models & Next-Gen Technologies

The EMR is the starting place to improve healthcare quality and costs, not the solution. Even when EMRs are in place, the industry will still need to innovate to address the larger source of costs, which are chronic diseases and behavior such as eating and exercise. Examples include devices for monitoring and drug delivery. Without an EMR, applying those innovations becomes more difficult. Is there cause for optimism? One panelist responded,
“I’m optimistic. Open standards and EMRs are about information and knowledge. Regardless of the applications that win in the marketplace, and whether they’re running on a cell phone or a server in the hospital, the value of the data grows exponentially when it’s recorded in a format that both parties can exchange and understand. The vision of the EMR is that physicians and researchers can actually understand the health of the entire population.”