The global electronic health records market size was valued at USD 26.8 billion in 2020 and it is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7% from 2021 to 2028. Government initiatives to encourage healthcare IT usage is the key driver of this market. For instance, My Health Record is a national digital health record platform in Australia. Every Australian citizen has a "My Health Record" unless they have chosen that they don't want it. The agency claims that by the end of 2022, all healthcare providers in the country will be able to contribute to and use healthcare information available on the platform. Moreover, the introduction of technologically advanced healthcare services is also expected to drive market growth.

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a lot of pressure on healthcare organizations since the beginning of 2020. The pandemic has adversely affected the revenues of major market players due to the decline in new business bookings as certain client purchasing decisions and projects are delayed to focus on treating patients, procuring necessary medical supplies, and managing their organizations through this crisis. Moreover, companies, such as Allscripts, experienced delays in deals with upfront software revenue and professional services implementations across their outpatient and inpatient base.

New expansion activities, product approvals, product launches, partnerships, and acquisitions have positively impacted the market in recent years. Furthermore, there has been a significant increase in the demand for electronic health records due to the growing digitalization, which, in turn, is fueling the market growth. Rising demand for centralization and streamlining of healthcare administration is also anticipated to drive market growth. Centralization of health information management is driven by a value-based model, which aims at streamlining operations, standardizing processes, reducing costs, and improving the quality of care that results in patient satisfaction.

In addition, the increasing number of mergers & acquisitions by market players is also boosting the market growth. For instance, in January 2021, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions announced a strategic partnership with the U.S Orthopedic Alliance (USOA). This partnership was aimed at introducing an efficient infrastructure designed to assist orthopedic practices scale with agility, improve electronic health records (EHR) implementation timelines, provide evidence-based guidelines to support evolving clinical protocols, and create community-wide connectivity with value-based care analytics.

The web-based EHR segment led the market in 2020 and accounted for more than 54% share of the global revenue. This large market share is attributed to the popularity of web-based EHRs among the physicians and healthcare providers, which operate on a smaller scale as these systems can be installed without the requirement of in-house servers and can also offer extensive customizations & improvements, as per need.

The client server-based product segment is anticipated to show significant growth over the forecast period. Client-server-based EHRs provide a safer alternative for users as it offers in-house data storage, hence preventing data theft. These can also be customized as per customer requirements and also are a favorable option in the case of multi-physician facilities. Furthermore, they do not require a stable internet connection unlike the web-based systems, which further drives the segment growth.

The acute type segment held the largest market share of over 47% in 2020. The growth can be attributed to the government initiatives for the adoption of EHRs in small-scale facilities. For instance, acute care hospitals in the U.S., which are covered under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) are eligible for the Medicare incentive payment system.

Ambulatory EHRs are meant for use in outpatient care facilities and small practices. Government support for the adoption of ambulatory EHRs, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, is expected to boost the market growth. Easy usage as compared to the inpatient systems is expected to drive the segment growth. These EHRs deal with a single practice and its patient, instead of a complex web of hospital departments.

Post-acute EHRs are mainly used for providing rehabilitation services, which patients receive after a stay in an acute care hospital. Post-acute care facilities consist of inpatient rehabilitation centers & hospitals, home health agencies, and long-term care hospitals. Rising spending on post-acute care facilities is anticipated to boost the segment growth.

The professional services segment dominated the market with over 30.0% share in 2020. The rising demand for professional services in the form of project management, clinical process optimization, technical & application expertise, regulatory consulting, and training & education of the workforce of clients for assisting the design & implementation of systems will drive the segment.

This segment was amongst the most affected business models during the Covid-19 pandemic, due to decreased utilization of third-party resources associated with professional services. The licensed software segment is majorly involved in the development and licensing of intellectual property. The intellectual property consists of architectures, executable & referential knowledge, application software, and data & algorithms. This segment was also largely impacted by the pandemic.

The hospital segment held the largest market share of more than 61% in 2020 and will retain the dominance during the forecast period. The growth can be attributed to the large amount of medical data generated in hospitals. Furthermore, the cost of installation is less in hospitals as compared to ambulatory care centers, which also boosts the market growth.

However, the ambulatory end-use segment is estimated to register the fastest CAGR from 2021 to 2028. Ambulatory care centers provide convenience to the patients as well as healthcare providers. Thus, the rising popularity and number of ambulatory care centers across the globe are expected to drive the segment growth. In this segment, large-scale ambulatory care centers witness high adoption of EHRs as compared to the small-scale ones.

North America accounted for the highest revenue share of over 45% in 2020. The region will remain dominant even during the forecast years due to the policies that support HER adoption and the availability of well-established infrastructure with high digital literacy. In May 2020, the federal government proposed the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2020-2025 that mandates the meaningful usage of EHR by healthcare providers.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing regional market during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to the ever-increasing demand for quality standards & services, which is boosting the digitalization of healthcare in the region. The Ministry of Health in China has defined an action plan for usage of services related to e-health across the country encompassing broad areas of medical services, insurance plans, and with a large focus on the adoption of electronic record systems to allow data sharing across the national healthcare system.

The market leaders are involved in new product launches, collaborations, expansions, and acquisitions to sustain the competition. Established organizations, as well as small players, are investing in mergers & acquisitions to gain a competitive edge. For instance, in April 2021, Cerner Corp. acquired Kantar Health, for approximately USD 375 million. This acquisition combined Cerner's collection of real-world data & technology and Kantar's life sciences expertise and accelerated innovation in life sciences research and improved worldwide patient outcomes. In March 2020, CureMD Healthcare launched a practice continuity plan for providers, to treat their patients remotely during the pandemic. This would strengthen the company's market position while helping businesses tackle Covid-19 through virtual care plans. Some of the key players operating in the global Electronic Health Records (EHR) market include: Cerner Corp.; GE Healthcare; Allscripts Healthcare, LLC;;McKesson Corp.; Epic Systems Corp.; NextGen Healthcare, Inc.; eClinicalWorks; Medical Information Technology, Inc.; HMS; CPSI; AdvancedMD, Inc.; DXC Technology Company; CureMD Healthcare; Greenway Health, LLC.

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