The adoption of electronic health records (EHR) is set to bring a number of benefits for patients, healthcare professionals, and healthcare systems, as they have the potential to improve patient care by enabling timelier, safer, and more cost-effective decision-making, says GlobalData a leading data and analytics company.

Urte Jakimaviciute, Senior Director of Market Research at GlobalData, comments: “The increasing digitization of healthcare is enabling real-time access to patient data in a manner that was not previously possible. Tracking, storing, and leveraging patient data is critical to healthcare systems, as it offers an effective way to make it accessible to healthcare providers and patients to support their healthcare needs. It also allows for more personalized treatment approaches and lays a stronger background for value-based care.”

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Electronic Health Records – Physician Perspective’, reveals that more than 75% of surveyed physicians agreed that the implementation of EHRs can lead to better patient care.

The respondents based in the UK, Spain, and China were the most positive about the ability of EHRs to increase patient quality of care. According to the data obtained from the same survey, these three markets were also among the countries with the highest percentage of physicians using fully electronic patient records (as compared to a mix of both: electronic and paper or paper-only records).

Jakimaviciute concludes: “Implementation of EHR systems is a complex, time-consuming, and challenging process since it consists of various intricate factors related to human, technical, and organizational elements. In the markets like the UK, Spain and China, governments played an active role in trying to enforce, support, or incentivize the widespread deployment of EHRs, which may result in a higher implementation and satisfaction rates.

“The healthcare industry is lagging behind other sectors in adopting emerging technologies and digitalizing the delivery of services. It often needs government support and intervention is needed in order for innovation to happen. The implementation of EHRs is not an exception. Governments need to work on continuous support and initiatives designed to promote EHR use if they want this technology to bring improvements in patient treatment paradigms and achieve a nationwide uptake.”