In India, there is currently a lot of excitement around EMRs, partly due to the strong push toward accreditation and digitalizing the country. Over the last couple of years, KLAS has seen a surge of interest, and many people are adopting EMRs or looking to adopt them.
KLAS recently published our India EMR report, our first-ever report to focus exclusively on technology in India. For this report, KLAS partnered with CHIME India to survey organizations in India about EMRs. These respondents represent organizations that are often at the forefront of technology adoption and digital maturity; as such, there has been rapid EMR uptake among them. We expect the rest of the country will follow suit. It was fascinating to look at the insights from this pioneering group, and we are excited to share those insights in the report.
Partnering with CHIME India
This report’s creation process was a bit different from that of our usual reports, as our data collection was done in collaboration with CHIME India. At first, we weren’t planning to create an India EMR report, but over the years, our provider friends in India have been asking KLAS for insights into the various EMR options in the market and how vendors are differentiated.
A couple of us from KLAS traveled to India to meet with vendors and start discussions on how KLAS could get involved. Unfortunately, momentum didn’t pick up as we had hoped. Vendors and providers weren’t familiar with us, and we faced challenges with making a significant impact on the market. What we needed was a partnership with a local association or organization to help us understand the market better.
This is where Arvind Sivaramakrishnan and Bharat Gera come in. Arvind, as former secretary of CHIME’s India chapter, and Bharat, with his years of healthcare experience, were instrumental in providing insights and helping us connect with the right people. Their contributions heavily shaped this report, and we are privileged to work with them and CHIME India.
EMR Adoption Among Respondents
Among the interviewed organizations, over 70% reported having an EMR—most have commercial solutions, though multiple use a homegrown solution. Given that EMRs have only recently gained momentum over the last several years, we were impressed to see the number of organizations that are live on a system.
Interestingly, when asked about their long-term EMR plans, respondents with homegrown solutions were less certain about staying with their solution. This suggests that commercial solutions may become more widely adopted as time goes on, a pattern that has already played out in other countries like the UK and the US.
Additionally, we were surprised by the depth of adoption for nurse documentation, physician documentation, lab/radiology orders, and prescription orders. In each area, at least 65% of respondents say the majority of the documentation/orders are completed electronically in the inpatient setting.
Also of note, India has many EMR vendors—across all surveyed organizations, respondents mention using or considering 30 different vendors. TrioTree is the vendor most mentioned as being used, and KareXpert has the highest number of considerations. See the report for more information on these vendors.
How the Market May Evolve
Over the next 5–10 years, we anticipate that several factors will influence the EMR market in India. Firstly, there has been a push for EMR accreditation: the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) launched in 2021 to enhance the digital health ecosystem in India, and the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) has a new EMR certification program. This will likely accelerate the adoption of both commercial and homegrown EMRs in the coming years.
Secondly, the EMR vendor landscape will likely shift. Right now, the market is kind of like the Wild West, where tons of different solutions are being adopted. But over the next decade, some vendors may bow out of the market due to regulatory processes, and we will also start to see consolidation, replacements, and mergers and acquisitions.
Finally, we also wouldn’t be surprised if India’s vast pool of skilled technology professionals continued to play a significant role in EMR creation and customization.
Next Steps for KLAS
Ultimately, KLAS intends to measure EMR vendor performance in India. Although we don’t yet have a specific timeline for a report that shares vendor performance, we are planning to publish our Asia/Oceania EHR 2025 report later this year, which will share the performance of some vendors that appear in the India EMR 2025 report.
It is important to note that although KLAS can’t measure every single EMR vendor in India, we do want to track trends and see which vendors become most relevant as India’s EMR market evolves. It is an exciting time to be measuring and observing technology developments in India, and we look forward to collecting more data and building more relationships in the region.
For more details, check out the report.
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