We’re in an unprecedented boom in health IT, thanks mostly to growth in the EMR/EHR sector.
A new report from Scientia Advisors says health IT is the fastest-growing segment of what the Cambridge, Mass., management advisory company calls a $1 trillion global healthcare products marketplace. Health IT currently is growing at an 11 percent annual rate, and solid growth should continue at least through 2013, which would be the third year of the federal EMR stimulus program here in the States, the Scientia report forecasts. In that time frame, health IT will increase its market share by a quarter, to 5 percent of global healthcare products sales from the current 4 percent.
In the U.S., according to Scientia, the bulk of the spending will come from inpatient and outpatient EMRs, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) will likely have a profound impact on clinical diagnostics and therapeutics,” the report says, according to InformationWeek. Some of the growth likely will be at the expense of specialty and departmental systems, however.
Established EMR vendors should benefit most from the increased spending. “Leading players with large installed bases, proven products, and streamlined routes to meaningful use of EHRs are likely to gain share,” Scientia says. However, the research firm says “disruptive innovations” like open-source software and new applications of software-as-a-service could drive down prices, as might new competition from emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere.
Above article published on http://www.medicexchange.com/EMR/emr-likely-to-boom-throughout-2013.html
Excuse me, but what is meant by open-source software and why is it being termed a "disruptive innovation". I work for a small tech company as an A/R and A/P person, and I am very interested in knowing about how the majority of medical providers feel about using electronic medical records going forward.
ReplyDeleteI hear the healthcare provider that we work for complain that changes like this will make patients records available to people who shouldn't have access to them. What are the safeguards offered by IT systems people that allow doctor offices and hospitals to ensure no electronic records are released to people not in the direct provision or insuring of a patient's healthcare? Are what we really just talking about is the safe transfer of EMRs from one doctor's office/hospital to another? What is the "innovation" which the article mentions?
I am mystified that I hear how much money will be saved by doing this, but I don't know what "this" really is. I would love somebody to shed some details on what the government by the passing of our new legislation is asking our health providers to do to make for a better, more efficient health system. Are doctors in general dragging their feet on moving into this information age, and what is their motivation to keep the status quo of things?? Thank you.