Medical Records Management Challenges for Chronic Illness

Summary

Chronic illness affects 129 million people in the U.S. and is expected to rise to more than 170 million by 2030. Care management, including data management, comes with unique challenges as data volumes and sources continue to rise and there are multiple providers involved who need access to the comprehensive medical record. Learn more about how providers can prepare to better meet the health data requirements for those with chronic conditions.

Chronic Diseases Chalk

Nearly four of every ten adults (129 million people) in the U.S. currently battle a chronic illness that requires long-term and ongoing medical attention for ailments like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s, cancer, depression or anxiety. Care for patients in this segment, which makes up 90 percent of the nation’s $4.5 trillion dollar healthcare expenditures, can come with medical records management challenges.

There are many reasons to tackle the data management challenges associated with chronic conditions sooner rather than later. A few include:

The number of people with chronic conditions is growing. Projections indicate that by 2030, the number of Americans with chronic conditions could reach over 170 million.

Many people have multiple conditions. Currently, 42 percent of those affected have two or more chronic conditions, and often seek care across multiple providers and clinics.

More sources for data from newer technologies and integrated devices. Blood glucose meters, digital dementia assessment tools and at-home COPD devices – that are gathering real-time health data from patients with chronic illnesses and reporting it to the EHR.

Patient data volumes are growing. Current estimates suggest that by 2030 a single patient will generate close to one terabyte of health-related data each year in imaging, electronic medical record (EMR), wearable devices and other health monitoring devices.

Providers need to seek chronic disease management (CDM) programs aimed at preventing hospitalization and adverse events.

Between the number of patients and additional conditions, there is a higher complexity to the care of those with chronic illnesses. To support CDM programs, electronic health records (EHRs) with chronic care management tools are integrated into laboratory and pharmacy information systems. All of these patient care components create a large volume of health information from many authors.

The future will continue to bring more patient data from more sources.

And because chronic illness, by its nature, lasts for one year or more, layer in the movement of the patient record. As patients move from one provider to another, and as provider organizations get acquired and merged, that comprehensive medical record needs to remain accessible. Clinical data needs to keep up with the patient and be readily available at the point of care, every time. As a result, access to both current and historical medical records to decrease medical errors and improve outcomes can become a challenge.

Lifecycle Data Management supports chronic disease best practices.

As EHR systems are upgraded and legacy systems are sidelined, it is imperative to have a legacy data management plan in place to maintain simplified access to the ever-growing volumes of health data that must be kept accessible for up to 25 years or more.

At Harmony Healthcare IT, we take pride in our contribution to advancing heath IT through the work we do to preserve access to historical chronic care medical records. HealthData Archiver®, our long-term data storage solution, can be key to ensuring access to the full clinical narrative.

If you’re looking for easy access to critical legacy data for patients with chronic illness so medical errors can be reduced and outcomes improved, let’s talk.

This blog is updated from a previous version published Jan 07, 2020.

 

Apr 29 2025

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