Reimagining electronic health and medical records

The term “electronic medical record” is starting to sound outdated. In its place: the electronic health or patient record that brings together clinical data from different settings and combines them into one comprehensive view of the patient. This long sought-after ideal of health data — one patient, one record — is becoming more attainable for healthcare providers thanks to advances in cloud computing, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).

The EHR promises a seamless experience as patients move between different care settings, including the community, primary care clinics, hospitals, and anywhere else they may receive care. But the potential goes much further.

Think of how a hospital could draw from the information in EHRs to predict intensive care demand and vary staffing levels accordingly. Imagine an EHR that could be actively populating a patient record during a consultation with the clinician not having to look at a computer screen. Picture a world where the care we receive is based not only on clinical data but information about our health risks based on genetic or environmental data.

Electronic health records are not just electronic medical records with more data. To fulfill the full promise of digitally empowered healthcare that is integrated into everyday ways of working, the EHR should operate in a fundamentally different way from their predecessors. Electronic health records should be designed as data platforms with interoperability at their core. Only then can the large amounts of data these systems hold be able to power insight-informed decision making in healthcare and ultimately better care for patients.

Our seventh edition of Healthcare Foresight features the following articles:

• The value of using strategic planning, program governance and change management when implementing an EHR system, and practical advice on avoiding common pitfalls in implementation projects.
   

• How regional EHRs are an opportunity to reimagine the continuum of care, with an overview of the work Italy is doing to roll out EHRs widely within its regions to connect different layers of health providers, and key learnings for other jurisdictions considering similar undertakings.
   

• Why separating data from functionality in electronic medical record systems could accelerate innovation in digital health.
   

• A conversation with Oracle Health chairman David Feinberg on the evolution of EHRs, supporting integrated care delivery, the need for interoperability, leveraging data and technology system investments to help improve organizational productivity and reduce costs.

We hope you find these articles insightful and inspiring. In our data-rich world, robust systems are required to store and organize all of the information that will power the vital decisions that we make in healthcare. Electronic health records may have their roots in the 1970s, but we believe these digital storehouses of information have never been more critical to the operation of our health systems as they are today. In our view, they are as essential as light, heat and power.

At KPMG, we assist healthcare organizations and healthcare systems around the world to navigate the complexities related to the sustainable deployment of EHR systems, working with EHR vendors to help deliver successful implementations. KPMG professionals are experienced at every stage of the EHR life cycle and can tailor advice to the unique needs of each healthcare organization.

Dr. Jaz Dhaliwal and Kelan Daly
Healthcare Foresight guest editors