Healthcare IT News asked readers to name a technology or platform that would grab the industry’s attention in 2010. The responses were a mixed bag, with Epic Systems and Microsoft’s Amalga receiving several mentions. Also nominated several times were Web-based applications and cloud computing.

“Epic will continue to grow as a platform of choice,” said Paul VanAmerongen, of the MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, Wash. MultiCare, which uses an Epic system, was named a Davies Award recipient in 2009 by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. “Encryption will become a major topic of discussion as healthcare security/privacy concerns start hitting the headlines,” VanAmerongen added.

“Cerner will be in the forefront,” said Patricia Legg, a nurse and clinical informatics educator at St. Luke’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla. “It interfaces with several platforms. If voice recognition would be added that would enhance the physician experience.”

Readers were also focused on interoperability.

“I hope it will be a universal health information exchange platform – the Internet equivalent – a ‘medical Internet’ if you will – dedicated to the secure exchange of health information – and ultimately as ubiquitous in healthcare as today’s Internet is in every other industry,” said Elizabeth A. Regan, a professor at Morehead State University in Kentucky.

“EMR/EHR will continue to dominate the news,” predicted one reader, who echoed the sentiments of several others.