Electronic Health Records (EHR) Market

Market Overview

The global electronic health records (EHR) market size was valued at USD 28.1 billion in 2022. It is estimated to reach USD 40.34 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period (2023–2031). The rising demand for centralization and streamlining of healthcare administration and government initiatives to encourage HCIT usage are factors stimulating electronic health records (EHR) market growth.

"Electronic health records" (EHR) describe digitized representations of patients' medical and health records. A comprehensive and centralized electronic database, an EHR system stores and manages patient health-related data, including medical history, diagnosis, prescriptions, test results, treatment plans, and other relevant data. It offers many benefits over conventional paper-based records and functions as a digital record-keeping solution for healthcare professionals. EHR systems allow medical staff to view, update, and share patient data in real-time, fostering effective and coordinated care in various healthcare settings. They help healthcare teams collaborate and communicate more effectively, which improves patient outcomes and safety. The fast and reliable information provided by EHRs, such as drug interactions and allergy alerts, aids in clinical decision-making as well.

In addition, EHRs provide advantages like increased data security, fewer medical errors, greater data accuracy, and faster operations. They can integrate with other healthcare systems and technologies to promote interoperability and data interchange for greater continuity of care. EHRs also aid in research, population health management, and healthcare analytics by compiling anonymized data for evaluation and understanding.

Market Dynamics

Global Electronic Health Records (EHR) Market Drivers

Government Initiatives to Encourage HCIT Usage

Due to encouraging government attempts to increase the adoption of HCIT-based solutions, such as EHRs, the industry is expanding quickly. For instance, Australia's My Health Record is the country's official digital health record portal. The Australian Digital Health Agency oversees its management. Unless they opt out, every Australian citizen has a My Health Record. Estonia, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, the UK, and the Netherlands are among the nations using shared prescription records and electronic prescribing to enhance drug management.

Additionally, the federal government provides significant incentives to doctors who agree to integrate EHRs into their practices. A typical doctor with at least 30% of their patients enrolled in Medicare is entitled to a total incentive of USD 44,000. National organizations that assist and transform the NHS and social care have been founded in the UK, including NHSX and NHS Digital. The World-Class Digital Service (WCDS), an app-based platform, has received funding from the Danish government. The portal allows users to access all citizens' publicly accessible data. The nation's Technology Investment Fund jointly funds it with regional organizations. The electronic health records (EHR) market is anticipated to be driven by such benevolent government efforts.

Rising Demand for Centralization and Streamlining of Healthcare Administration

The healthcare sector constantly evolves thanks to organizational restructuring, technological breakthroughs, and policy changes. Particularly affected by these changes are healthcare facilities. One of the major factors influencing the EHR market is operational centralization. A value-based paradigm, which seeks to improve patient happiness by streamlining operations, standardizing procedures, cutting costs, and improving care quality, motivates this centralization of health information management. Health information management departments typically function according to their procedures because of inherited standard operating procedures and the acquisition of other organizations.

As a result, they find it difficult to integrate and utilize information from many sources effectively. These problems may result in inconsistent processes and procedures, inadequate information, and unavoidable redundancy. Decentralization may also result in erroneous coding, poor information management, and data breaches. EHRs are essential in resolving these problems since they can centralize and streamline healthcare administration. The centralization and simplification of healthcare administration can boost financial performance, stimulate collaborations, expand accessibility, decrease errors and redundancies, and streamline procedures.

Global Electronic Health Records (EHR) Market Restraint

Reluctance To Adopt EHRS Among Physicians and Patients

EHR implementation is difficult for suppliers, organizations, and medical professionals. Costs of the EHR system, administrative, ethical, and legal concerns, as well as inadequate implementation caused by alert fatigue, in which a person is subjected to frequent alarms and subsequently desensitized to them, are the main obstacles to its implementation. Lack of financial and operational resources also prevents doctors and patients from using electronic health records. Lack of computer proficiency can also make doctors reluctant to use EHRs.

EHRs can seem complicated to physicians since they demand a high concentration level, good typing technique, and familiarity with the application's user interface. The absence of technical assistance and supplier training is another significant barrier to adopting EHRs. The adoption of EHRs is significantly hampered by uncertainty concerning RoI. This is due to physicians' perceptions that their businesses will face significant financial risks and that it may take a long time to realize a return on investment.

Global Electronic Health Records (EHR) Market Opportunities

Increasing Use of Cloud-Based EHRS

Compared to web-based EHRs, cloud-based EHRs offer several advantages that make them attractive for electronic health records (EHR) market penetration due to their lucrative prospects. These benefits include enhanced accessibility and collaboration, easy scalability, cost savings, and reduced requirements for IT sources. Easy deployment is also one of the perks. Electronic health records stored in the cloud may improve data security. Additionally, they can overcome the obstacles of data interchange and interoperability in the future, which is anticipated to lead to an increase in the utilization of these systems. Electronic health records stored in the cloud can cut beginning expenses even further.

EHRs face data storage challenges because healthcare systems acquire and store significant data daily. A single piece of research can generate one hundred gigabytes worth of data anywhere in the neighborhood. Therefore, these facilities demand storage options that are both cost-effective and extensible, all of which can be given by cloud-based electronic health records (EHRs). They use several hardware and software to provide services over the Internet.

Regional Analysis

Based on region, the global electronic health records (EHR) market share is bifurcated into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

North America Dominates the Global Market

North America is the most significant global electronic health records (EHR) market shareholder and is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 2.1% over the forecast period. Throughout the projected period, North America is anticipated to continue to hold the dominant position. The two most important factors contributing to its expansion are the availability of infrastructure with a high level of digital literacy and policies encouraging the implementation of electronic health records. In addition, expanding support for the adoption of healthcare information technology (HCIT) by payers and providers of healthcare is anticipated to enhance the electronic health records (EHR) market growth.

Additionally, the market is being driven by government measures favorable to managing population health. There has been a ninefold increase in the number of hospitals in North America that have implemented even the most fundamental information management systems. Patients can now apply for prescriptions online, arrange appointments with doctors and physicians, and various other services thanks to most of the region's healthcare providers' successful development of electronic health records (EHRs) for patients.

Europe is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of 6.8% over the forecast period. During the period covered by this estimate, the Electronic Health Record (EHR) market in Europe is anticipated to be driven by the existence of developed economies such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy. As a result of the European Commission's Digital Single Market Strategy, consumers and businesses across Europe now have access to a wider range of services and goods that can be purchased online. This creates the necessary conditions for the expansion of digital networks and the provision of associated services, which in turn is anticipated to maximize the growth potential of the European economy. This region is making steady progress toward the general implementation of e-health systems, thanks to the government's support and the concentrated efforts of strategic actors. On the other hand, the majority of the nations in this region face a substantial challenge in the form of a considerable barrier in the form of legal compliance requirements for data protection combined with data security difficulties.

In the Asia Pacific, the strain on healthcare organizations is rising due to the prevalence of chronic diseases and a fast-aging population. Additionally, the region's healthcare system is becoming more digital due to the rising demand for high standards and services. Despite resource and financial constraints, healthcare institutions provide patients with high-quality medical care. The adoption of smart technologies, like EHRs, which can benefit from integration and interoperability, is being driven by such incentives. Investments in R&D, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI), which will result in technologically cutting-edge healthcare solutions, can also be credited with this region's market expansion. The market is also driven by expanding the healthcare infrastructure in Asia Pacific nations like China, India, and Indonesia.

Brazil and Mexico are two key contributors to the expansion of the Latin American EHR market. One of the main drivers of market expansion during the predicted period is the rapid economic growth in these nations. The growing adoption of cloud-based services in healthcare organizations has also stimulated the market in the region. For instance, 46% of healthcare organizations in Latin America have used cloud-based services in hospitals, according to a report by Ever is. In addition, the industry is anticipated to be driven by the region's vast population and supportive reform measures.

The Middle East and Africa's EHR market is underdeveloped. EHR acceptance and use in Saudi Arabia are still in their infancy, according to the results of a survey there. Implemented EHRs are used for fundamental tasks like ordering entry and opening prospects for new market participants. The Israeli government began a national program to use big data to unite the nation's pool of anonymized healthcare data into a massive, integrated system. In the African healthcare IT industry, several startups have appeared.

Segmental Analysis

The global electronic health records (EHR) market is bifurcated into product, type, end-use, and business models.

Based on the product, the global EHR market is bifurcated into client-server- and web-based EHR. 

The web-based EHR segment dominates the global market and is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period. Due to its popularity among doctors and smaller-scale healthcare providers, the web-based EHR category is anticipated to hold the greatest market share over the projection period. This is so web-based EHRs can be utilized and deployed without internal servers and provide substantial customizations and improvements based on the customer's needs. Due to their modest hardware requirements and lower installation costs, these EHRs are practical for usage in pharmacies, small laboratories, and clinics.

Additionally, they fully encrypt data, which protects data. Throughout the projection period, these variables are anticipated to support market expansion. Low hardware infrastructure requirements significantly reduce installation costs. Web-based EHRs also have the advantage of requiring little upkeep. Web-based EHRs with a subscription model offer integrated operability that is practical for small- to medium-sized medical professionals.

Based on type, the global electronic health records market is segmented into acute, ambulatory, and post-acute. 

The acute segment dominates the global market and is predicted to exhibit a CAGR of 2.9% during the forecast period. Government actions boosting the implementation of EHRs in small-scale hospitals are projected to cause the acute EHR category to hold the biggest market share. For instance, the Medicare Incentive Payment System (IPPS) applies to acute care hospitals in the United States that are part of the IPPS. Urgent care EHRs produce patient data that can provide complete clinical specifics. The ICU, emergency room, inpatient unit, and operating room can all use these specifics.

Urgent care EHRs are also frequently used for various clinical healthcare tasks, including urgent care, emergency medicine, prehospital emergency, critical care, trauma treatment, acute-care surgery, and short-term inpatient stabilizations. Cerner Corporation, Agfa Health, Asseco, CompuGroup Medical, DXC Technology, Tieto, Deadlus, Nexus, Engineering Ingegneria, Systematic, Epic Corporation, Telekom Health, and Main care Solutions are a few of the leading firms in the acute EHR market.

Based on end-use, the global EHR market is bifurcated into hospitals use EHR and ambulatory use EHR. 

The hospitals using the EHR segment have the highest market share and are predicted to exhibit a CAGR of 3.3% over the forecast period. Hospitals are anticipated to hold the biggest market share because hospitals produce a significant amount of medical data daily, and EHRs can assist in conveniently managing this data. They also assist large hospitals save money and time, another factor that drives the demand for these products. In addition, it is anticipated that a high acceptance rate of EHRs in smaller and medium-sized institutions, thanks to factors such as ease of implementation, will drive the industry.

In addition, the installation cost in EHRs is lower in hospitals than in ambulatory care centers, which is another factor projected to enhance this sector. Additionally, the existence of hospitals and patients' preference for hospitals over ambulatory care centers is anticipated to contribute positively to the expansion of the hospital category.

Based on business models, the global electronic health records market is divided into license software, technology resale, subscriptions, professional services, and others. 

The professional services segment is the most significant contributor to the market and is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 4.6% over the forecast period. When it comes to incorporating information technology into their respective operations, healthcare systems can gain from the assistance of professional consulting services. This is a possibility. These services most frequently take the shape of project management, technical and application knowledge, clinical process optimization, regulatory assistance, and the training of end users when it comes to creating and deploying electronic health record systems (EHRs). The category emerged victorious due to its successful acquisition of the largest piece of the market, equal to 31.2% of the total market share.

Recent Developments

• November 2022- Care Arc, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Kansas, launched an Epic EHR implementation through a partnership with Health Choice Network (HCN) to improve the patient experience.
• November 2022- Anuman acquired Neu Trace. The acquisition positions Anuman as a global AI medical software development provider for cardiac electrophysiology. It is a combined development to integrate a patient’s entire electronic medical record (EMR) with corresponding electrocardiograms (ECG) taken from the body surface and cardiac electrograms (EGM) from within the heart.