The Ambulatory EHR Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2021 to 2028 to reach $6.74 billion by 2028. An ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) is a software program designed for use in outpatient care settings and small practices. Health professionals can access a patient's complete medical history, which is stored in an electronic database. These reports consist of all documentation of operations or procedures that do not require hospitalization. Ambulatory medical records make it easier for healthcare professionals to monitor a patient's medical history and long-term care. Physicians use this ambulatory medical record solution to collect and analyze relevant information about each patient, resulting in a comprehensive database of their health records. This vast database helps physicians obtain a deeper understanding of their patients' health, making future diagnoses easier.
The key factors driving the growth of the global ambulatory EHR market are increasing government support for the adoption of EHR solutions, patients’ increasing preference for ambulatory care over in-patient care, and the growing need to reduce operating costs in the healthcare industry. Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies is a factor that gives significant growth opportunities for market players. However, data protection concerns, high implementation costs, and heavy infrastructure investment, as well as IT infrastructure constraints in low-income countries, are expected to impede this market's growth to a certain extent.
Integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Technologies is Providing Opportunity for Market Growth
Electronic health records (EHRs)/Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are a digital collection of all sources of patient data consolidated into a single database that includes medical histories, data related to treatments, diagnoses, prescriptions, allergies to medications or foods, immunization records, images generated laboratories, or test results. The primary aim of implementing EMR is to enhance patient care through improved treatment quality. The integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning into ambulatory EMR solutions is expected to help achieve this goal.
One of the most advantageous aspects of integrating EHR into healthcare processes is data availability. The easy accessibility of data in EHRs makes them ideal for many machine learning-powered data science operations. Artificial intelligence (AI) makes outpatient EHR solutions more flexible and intelligent. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can be implemented in various applications such as data mining, natural language processing, data analytics & visualization, predictive analytics, and regulatory compliance. AI is also being used in various fields to enhance clinical decisions by analyzing EHR. For instance, AI techniques have been widely used with EMR data in cardiology studies for the early detection of heart failure, to predict the onset of congestive heart failure, and to improve risk assessment in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The current AI capabilities of ambulatory EMR are limited, but rapid improvements are expected in the near future. Moreover, companies are already offering features such as data extraction from free text, diagnostic and/or predictive algorithms, clinical documentation & data entry, and clinical decision support to improve treatment quality.
Thus, AI and machine learning can enable the ambulatory medical record to adapt to users’ preferences in real time, improving clinical outcomes and clinicians’ quality of life.
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Patients’ Increasing Preference for Ambulatory Care Over In-Patient Care is Driving the Market
Many patients prefer outpatient care over in-patient care due to its convenience. The adoption of ambulatory EHR has increased drastically over the last decade due to outpatient treatments becoming the preferred option for most patients. An ambulatory surgical center allows patients to be discharged within 23 hours of care and thus reduces the risk of hospital-acquired infections. The costs in ambulatory settings are lower for both patients and payers due to the lower costs of staffing, space, and supplies. These factors have led to growth in ambulatory care centers, with patients increasingly preferring ambulatory care over in-patient care.
According to Definitive Healthcare’s platform for surgery centers, in 2019, there were more than 9,280 active ambulatory surgery centers in the U.S. Moreover, patients have increasingly opted for ambulatory care in the last few years. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), the number of outpatient visits in the U.S. has increased by more than 1% per year since 2013, while in-patient admissions decreased by approximately 1% per year over the same period. The shift towards ambulatory care is attributed to advances in clinical technology, the healthcare systems’ shifting towards value-based care, faster patient recovery, and shorter hospital stays in ambulatory care settings.
Key Findings of the Global Ambulatory EHR Market Study:
The Cloud/Web-based Deployment Mode Segment to Dominate the Market
Based on deployment mode, in 2020, the cloud/web-based deployment mode segment accounted for the largest share of the global ambulatory EHR market. The advantages that the cloud platform provides, such as flexibility, mobility, data security, and lower installation costs compared to on-premise deployment, are the major factors driving the growth of this segment. Cloud-based ambulatory EHRs support the digital transformation of outpatient care owing to their high adoption.
The All-in-one Ambulatory EHR Segment to Dominate the Market
Based on type, in 2020, the all-in-one ambulatory EHR segment accounted for the largest share of 66% of the global ambulatory EHR market. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed to factors such as ease of use, availability of all functionalities, and seamless software and hardware. All-in-one ambulatory EHRs have seamless user interfaces and offer the advantages of easy software and hardware updates/upgrades. Thus, owing to its ease of use for healthcare providers, the demand for the all-in-one ambulatory EHR is greater.
The Large Practices Segment to Dominate the Market
Based on practice size, in 2020, the large practices segment accounted for the largest share of the global ambulatory EHR market. Large practices’ ability to deal with the productivity/maintenance/handling issues that may arise due to adopting new EHR solutions and their financial capacity to choose between a wide range of solutions drive the growth of this segment. There has been a trend of large ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) acquiring smaller ambulatory surgical centers. For instance, in November 2021, Tenet Healthcare Corporation (U.S.) and its ambulatory care subsidiary acquired SurgCenter’s (U.S.) ambulatory surgical center business. The deal value was approximately USD 1.2 billion.
The Practice Management Segment to Dominate the Market
Based on application, in 2020, the practice management segment accounted for the largest share of the global ambulatory EHR market. The advanced features offered by this program to capture patient data, schedule appointments, and perform billing tasks are the factors driving the growth of this segment. Additionally, practice management software affects almost every aspect of clinical workflows and manages patient encounters from start to finish, increasing its adoption by end users.
Hospital-owned Ambulatory Centers Segment to Dominate the Market
Based on end user, in 2020, the hospital-owned ambulatory centers segment accounted for the largest share of the global ambulatory EHR market. The large share of this segment is attributed to hospital-owned ambulatory centers’ growing need to organize unstructured health data and the higher adoption of EHR solutions among hospital-owned ambulatory centers compared to independent ambulatory centers.
U.S.: The Largest Country Market
In 2020, the U.S. accounted for the largest share of 48%of the global ambulatory EHR market. The largest share of the U.S. is primarily attributed to government support to promote the adoption of EHR solutions and patients’ increasing preference for ambulatory treatments over in-patient care. With changes in care and payment models, healthcare providers in the U.S. are working to identify ways to grow while consistently delivering high-quality care. This evolution in outpatient care has also led to a higher volume of care being provided in the clinic, with outpatient revenue now totaling 95% of inpatient revenue in the country.
Key Players
The report includes a competitive landscape based on an extensive assessment of the product portfolio offerings, deployment mode, type, practice size, applications, end user, geographic presence, and key strategic developments adopted by leading market players in the industry over the past four years (2018-2021). The key players profiled in the global ambulatory EHR market are Epic Systems Corporation (U.S.), Cerner Corporation (U.S.), Medical Information Technology, Inc. (U.S.), Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (U.S.), athenahealth, Inc. (U.S.), NextGen Healthcare, Inc (U.S.), eClinicalWorks (U.S.), Greenway Health, LLC (U.S.), CureMD Healthcare (US), and AdvancedMD, Inc. (U.S.). Major companies in the ambulatory EHR market have implemented various strategies over the years to expand their product offerings and global footprints and augment their market shares.
The key strategies followed by most companies in the ambulatory EHR market were new product launches, acquisitions, agreements, partnerships, and collaborations. Agreements, partnerships, and collaborations were the most preferred growth strategies adopted by leading players and accounted for a share of 60%-63% of the total strategic developments between 2018 and 2021. The leading players that adopted these strategies were Cerner Corporation (U.S.), Epic Systems Corporation (U.S.), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (U.S.), and Greenway Health, LLC (U.S.).
Scope of the Report:
Ambulatory EHR Market, by Deployment Mode
- Cloud/Web-based Ambulatory EHR
- On-premise Ambulatory EHR
Ambulatory EHR Market, by Type
- All-in-one Ambulatory EHR
- Modular Ambulatory EHR
Ambulatory EHR Market, by Practice Size
- Large Practices
- Small-to-medium-sized Practices
- Solo Practices
Ambulatory EHR Market, by Application
- Practice Management
- Patient Portals
- Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE)
- Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
- Population Health Management
- Referral Management
- Other Applications
Ambulatory EHR Market, by End User
- Hospital-owned Ambulatory Centres
- Independent Ambulatory Centres
Ambulatory EHR Market, by Geography
- North America
- Europe
- Germany
- France
- U.K.
- Italy
- Spain
- Rest of Europe (RoE)
- Asia Pacific
- China
- Japan
- India
- Rest of APAC (RoAPAC)
- Latin America
- Middle East & Africa
Key questions answered in the report: