| | May 20188By Dr. Luis Saldana, Chief Medical Information Officer, Texas Health ResourcesHeadquartered in Texas, Texas Health Resources is one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health systems in the U.S. comprising of over 5,500 physicians, 24 acute-care, transitional, rehabilitation & short-stay hospitals,20 outpatient facilities, and over 250 other community access points.AIN MY OPINIONs a world, we are caught up in an exciting period of rapid technolog-ical advances and innovations. And healthcare is similarly in a period of rapid innovation and technological advances. So how do these two trends merge or connect? Does every tech-nological advance or tool have appli-cation in healthcare? How do we decide what technologies will add value to our healthcare organization and to the patients we serve? This creates a need for staying knowledgeable about technology developments and trends outside of healthcare, as well as prudent decision making, along with alignment and execution on the part of healthcare organizations.Let's look at some of the current `critical' technologies in healthcare. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have been around now for de-cades, yet they continue to evolve and need ad-ditional optimization and interoperability. But why? In 2009, only 16 percent of hospitals were using an EHR. By 2013, this number had risen to around 80 percent, based on CMS meaning-ful use criteria. But with the rush to implement, came a lack of diligence to detail, related to workflow integration and interoperability. But it seems clear that these systems are becom-ing platforms for workflows, data analysis and delivery and clinical collaboration. While this might not be happening fast enough to meet the needs of all users, this is related to a continual expansion of scope, which is common in health-care technology execution. Even now, clinicians THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CURRENT HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY MARKET.
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