The healthcare industry is experiencing a fundamental shift in digital health infrastructure, one that prioritizes interoperability, clinician efficiency and patient-centered care – and where AI and advanced analytics play key roles.

Electronic health record modernization is a key imperative for healthcare organizations seeking to balance clinical excellence with financial sustainability.

With this in mind, CIOs, CMIOs, and other clinical and IT leaders should be embracing a “new era” for the EHR, says Sandra Johnson, senior vice president of client services at CliniComp, a developer of AI-enabled clinical and revenue cycle management systems.

Capitalizing on this new era involves solving persistent pain points with legacy systems and workflows, determining what functionality should live within the electronic chart versus third-party applications, and evaluating ROI and measuring success, she says.

Healthcare IT News sat down with Johnson recently to talk about the new type of EHR she envisions – one that can improve care, trim costs and gain efficiencies.

Q. You suggest it’s time to rethink strategy for a “new era” in EHRs, where more advanced systems can help solve persistent pain points with legacy tools and workflows. Please explain.

A. The healthcare landscape is evolving rapidly, and although legacy EHR systems laid the foundation for this evolution, many struggle to keep pace with today’s complex care environment. Persistent challenges such as fragmented patient data, inefficient workflows and clinician burnout are symptoms of these aging systems, and they exist industrywide.

Today, more than 97% of health data is trapped in fragmented systems that can’t or don’t talk to each other. A new era EHR marks a fundamental shift in digital health infrastructure, one that prioritizes interoperability, clinician efficiency and patient-centered care. By unifying data from multiple disparate sources, health systems can gain a holistic, real-time view of every patient, enabling more informed decisions and consistently higher-quality care.

Artificial intelligence and advanced analytics are key to overcoming these challenges. Embedding AI at the point of care enables clinicians to access timely insights directly within their existing workflows. This drives more precise, faster diagnoses and automates routine tasks, freeing clinicians to focus on meaningful patient interactions. Equally important, intuitive interfaces and streamlined workflows reduce cognitive load and administrative friction, allowing clinical teams to focus on care rather than technology.

Finally, a strategic, service-oriented delivery model enables continuous innovation without the operational and financial burdens of legacy EHRs. With ongoing support, robust integration capabilities and continuous technology enhancement, new era EHRs help organizations adapt to evolving clinical and operational demands.

The result is a sustainable, future-ready infrastructure that resolves legacy system limitations while empowering clinicians, staff and patients alike.

Q. For this new era, you say hospitals and health systems must determine what functionality should live within the EHR versus third-party applications. How should CIOs and other health IT leaders at provider organizations make these determinations?

A. Determining which functions belong within the EHR and which require third-party tools requires a clear understanding of organizational needs and workflow priorities. CIOs and health IT leaders should start by identifying the core clinical and operational capabilities essential to daily patient care and efficiency.

This matters not just for efficiency reasons, but practical financial ones. In 2024, healthcare spent more than $74.91 billion on inefficient manual processes that largely kept data in siloed systems. Centralizing these capabilities within the EHR ensures secure, seamless data flow, eliminates redundancy, and strengthens interoperability across departments.

Conversely, specialized or innovative tools can be integrated through third-party systems, provided they maintain access to the unified patient record and real-time operational data.

Data unification and normalization are critical to this process. A new era EHR must flexibly ingest and harmonize data from diverse sources, presenting it in formats that are actionable at the point of care.

This approach minimizes dependence on siloed third-party applications while retaining the ability to integrate specialized tools as needs evolve. The goal is a connected digital ecosystem where data is accurate, current and contextual, empowering clinicians to make timely, informed decisions.

Finally, scalability and adaptability are essential. Health IT leaders must look beyond current requirements to ensure the system can support future growth, new technologies and emerging care models. Decisions about which capabilities to embed in the EHR versus manage externally should prioritize long-term sustainability, clinician efficiency, and patient outcomes to ensure the organization maintains a flexible, future-ready technology foundation.

Q. You suggest rethinking the EHR – as not just an IT tool, but as a strategic asset. How are health IT leaders redefining ROI to include clinician efficiency, data accessibility, patient satisfaction and long-term cost predictability?

A. The value of an EHR extends far beyond digitizing records or automating billing. For health IT leaders, ROI increasingly encompasses metrics such as clinician efficiency, patient satisfaction and operational predictability. By focusing on systems that deliver streamlined workflows, intuitive interfaces and embedded decision support tools, organizations reduce administrative burden and clinician burnout, a critical factor amid growing workforce challenges.

For the clinicians experiencing burnout right now, getting any time back can make all the difference. Greater efficiency translates into more time for direct patient care, driving higher satisfaction and better clinical outcomes.

Accessible, integrated data is another cornerstone of ROI for the new era EHR. When financial, operational and clinical data converge within a unified platform, leaders gain comprehensive insight into performance across the enterprise.

This empowers informed decision making across strategic initiatives, from care delivery optimization to resource allocation. Embedding predictive analytics and real-time reporting enables organizations to address challenges proactively and optimize outcomes before issues escalate.

Finally, long-term financial predictability is driven by transparent cost models and scalable architecture. By eliminating unexpected costs and providing predictable, sustainable support structures, health systems can confidently budget for technology investments while ensuring continuity of care.

Ultimately, redefining ROI in this way positions the EHR as a strategic asset that aligns clinical, operational and financial goals to drive measurable impact for patients, clinicians and healthcare organizations.

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