Implementation of the ambitious EHR incentive program and a general spike in health care IT spending has led to a surge in demand for EMR systems in the US. A report by global research and consulting firm, MarketsandMarkets, underscores this trend and predicts that the US EMR market will grow at an impressive CAGR of 18.1% during the forecast period 2010-2015.

According to the report - US Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Market, 2010-2015 (Market Share, Winning Strategies and Adoption Trends), the EMR market is estimated to grow from $2,177 million in 2009 to $6,054 million in 2015.

The market is booming as most health facilities in the US are moving towards adopting some form of Electronic Health Record system to rein in operational costs and improve practice efficiency. Adoption of a robust EMR system is also a core requirement under the EHR incentive program, which has also increased the demand for these systems.

EMR vendors are now seeking physician inputs to improve the usability of EMR systems even more and sustain the demand. Their focus is to ensure that EMR systems make patient information available in the format and manner desired by the providers.

Electronic Medical Records not only help practices store patient records electronically but are becoming an indispensable tool in delivering modern EHR and practice management solutions. This is why even the success of the EHR incentive program hinges on the effective implementation of EMR systems in hospitals and other care facilities.

Modern EMR systems convert patients’ paper records into electronic format, and make them accessible to providers anytime and anywhere, making the process of health care delivery faster, efficient and effective. Also, as EMRs capture detailed demographic and clinical patient data, they serve as an important information resource for researchers and government health agencies. This data can be used for studies conducted to understand which sections of the population are more vulnerable to certain diseases and devise disease prevention strategies.