HIMSS Analytics has released the 2016 Essentials Brief: Precision Medicine Study, providing a high level view of how healthcare organizations are approaching the use of technology to address disease treatment and prevention that takes into account variability in genes, environment and lifestyle for each individual.  Essential Briefs are market research studies focused on identifying salient topics in the healthcare IT space that highlight mind share, market share and market opportunity of specific healthcare software technologies.

Based upon the findings of the study, implementation of precision medicine programs and adoption of precision medicine specific solutions by organizations is currently limited.  However, the impact these programs and solutions have on broader healthcare IT market initiatives could be quite significant. The following are four areas that we anticipate will be influenced by precision medicine programs as these technologies continue to spread in the healthcare market.

Population Health

A current and future initiative across the healthcare landscape, roughly 67 percent of healthcare organizations employ population health initiatives, primarily focused on chronic disease management and preventive health and wellness according to the 2015 Population Health Essentials Brief.  The increased collection and analysis of genomic, lifestyle and environmental data could help drive improved outcomes for large patient populations at a faster rate.

Clinical Analytics

Adoption of analytics solutions across the U.S. market is roughly 43 percent according to the HIMSS Analytics LOGIC market intelligence tool and our 2016 Clinical & Business Intelligence Essentials Brief.  As precision medicine programs grow in number it is possible the use of precision medicine capabilities and information could become more widespread, trickling down to smaller healthcare organizations as clinical analytics adoption and sophistication increases.

EMR/EHR solutions

The need for clinical data integration between precision medicine data/solutions and the patient record will be essential in the future.  As the move toward population health grows and access to patient genomic data becomes more essential, EHR solutions will need the ability to harness that data for the holistic patient record and incorporate it into the clinician workflow.

Partnerships with academic/professional organizations 

Large academic medical centers and professional societies are already benefitting from partnerships with IT start-up companies focused on precision medicine.  Not only does the adoption of these specific platforms help further the advances in precision medicine, but these relationships foster the competitive environments that will help drive innovation to new heights.

The future of the precision medicine marketplace is a bright one. Due to the relatively limited adoption rate the opportunities for precision medicine expansion and integration in a varied array of technologies makes this an area worth watching and one we look forward to researching further.