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Five Health IT Predictions for 2015: Focus on Interoperability & Consumer Empowerment

Steve Jourdan - Dec 16, 2015 12:18:00 PM

The healthcare technology space will continue to shift in 2016, with significant attention being placed on improving interoperability and increasing consumer power, according to Damo Consulting, Inc., CEO Paddy Padmanabhan, in his article, Five Healthcare Technology Predictions for 2016, published this week on CIO.com.

1) Focus on Interoperability
Despite more than $28 billion being spent on healthcare technology, such as Electronic Medical Records, these technologies don’t necessarily integrate with one another, which creates a major roadblock to the sharing of health information.More than two thirds (69%) of hospital systems polled reported that interoperability will be a major focus in the coming year.

CIO.com predicts that 2016 will see a big push toward interoperability, with a major emphasis on streamlining health data and improving the efficiency of communication between providers.

2) Emphasis on Consumerism
The rise in funding for digital health start-ups indicates that consumers want healthcare delivered to them in a useful and meaningful way. This is a major departure from the way healthcare works today.

A report by McKinsey published this month suggests that consumers are bringing the same expectations to healthcare as they would in other industries, particularly technology-based industries. We can expect to see healthcare providers implementing and deploying digital technologies that provide better communication and more real-time interaction.

3) Growth of Big Data & Analytics
According to consulting firm Deloitte’s 2015 Health System Analytics survey, while analytics is seen as a key to unlock value, the adoption and investment don’t necessary add up; most organizations lack a clear strategy, a solid data governance approach, and effective budgeting models. Lack of interoperability and persistent data silos contribute to this problem. Expect to see more progress toward effective healthcare data management in 2016, though it’s still in its infancy. 

4) Start-Ups & Regulatory Agencies
The healthcare start-up marketplace has been booming in recent years, but in 2016 we should expect to start to see some of those fall by the wayside. The FDA has announced it will start going after mobile medical apps that claim to provide “scientifically proven” benefits. Expect to see the mobile healthcare app space shaken up a bit as regulatory agencies get more involved.

5) Emergence of Non-CIO Executives
As healthcare technology becomes increasing intertwined with everyday business practices, expect to see a new type of executive emerge to lead the deployments of agile, consumer-facing, cloud-based, scalable and dynamic IT applications. Big data analytics programs are already run today by Chief Analytics Officers (CAO), who have a direct relationship with executive leadership in healthcare enterprises. In order to stay relevant, healthcare CIOs will need to learn how to effectively navigate this new landscape, where IT decisions increasingly impact other aspects of hospital management and the delivery of care.

CIO.com serves Chief Information Officers (CIOs), other IT leaders, as well as the ecosystem that surrounds and interacts with them, CIO Executive Programs, CIO Strategic Marketing Services and CIO magazine are produced by CXO Media, an award-winning business unit of IDG Enterprise. For more information, visit CIO.com.

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