Top Interoperability Posts of 2016...and some 2017 Healthcare IT Trends

One of my favorite things about ending a year is taking a look back at the highlights from the year, reflecting on accomplishments, and then quickly turning to look at the possibilities ahead for the new year.

So, here is what you all found interesting and "read-worthy" from our Interoperability & HIE blog posts in 2016.

The top 5 interoperability blog posts from 2016 were:

Healthcare CIOs Share Their Interoperability Challenges

Connecting to an HIE — The Good, the Bad, and What it Means to You

How to be the Superhero of Healthcare IT!

How Patient Identity Impacts all Future Healthcare IT Strategies

Now it's time to look ahead. So, what's in store for 2017? HealthcareIT News recently published a couple of articles about the outlook for 2017. The first was "27 Hot Technologies to Watch in 2017."  According to the article, they "consulted with HIMSS Analytics to spotlight technologies that have the greatest predicted buying activity for U.S. hospitals in the coming year."

Some of the technologies that topped the list included: 

• Nurse Communications
• Infection Surveillance
• Specimen Management
• Population Health
• Medical Necessity Checking

To read the full list and article, click here.

There are many exciting technologies on that list, and I can’t disagree with any of them. I was surprised that there wasn’t more of a Patient Privacy/Security presence. With the Office of Civil Rights stepping up enforcement of Privacy and Security rules, we should expect healthcare organizations to have some portion of their buying activity in this area too.

This point is validated by a second article published by HealthcareIT News, where they conducted their own survey to ask which technologies hospitals are planning to upgrade in 2017, and Security tops the list at 52%.

Here is a brief summary of the survey results:

• Security: 52%
• Analytics: 51%
• Patient Engagement: 44%
• Population Health: 44%
• EHRs: 31%
• Remote Patient Monitoring: 24%
• Revenue Cycle Management: 22%

One prediction I can make for certain in 2017 is that Healthcare IT will be a year of growth into new and unconventional technology frontiers that satisfy hospital business needs as they adopt new payment models.

Thanks to all who read our blog posts in 2016. We look forward to sharing more great content with you in 2017 as we work toward helping our customers achieve their interoperability goals.

Cheers to you, and to 2017!