A new report released by MarketsandMarkets estimate that the global market for healthcare information technology will reach $220 billion by 2020. The growth is expected to be at a compounded annual growth rate of 13.4%.
But, there are several factors which have boosted this market growth. Some of the factors which are contributing to the expected growth include the need to curb escalating health costs, high return on investments rates and the need to adhere to regulatory guidelines. This is all happening despite the fact that some new users are hesitant on adopting in-house IT.
Becoming the standard
Some years ago, the medical world considered information security to be at the forefront. However, MarketShare says that information security will soon become the standard of healthcare.
In the last ten years, healthcare IT has been able to change the healthcare industry’s landscape in a number of ways. It has been able to improve billing processes, improve the patient care, boost safety and lastly which is the most important of all; it has enabled people to access health regardless of their location.
Wearables and personal care devices have been able to stand out on their own. From monitoring heart rate, sleeping patterns and the daily distance traveled, these devices will be able to monitor more critical health problems in the future.
The way in which healthcare IT has been able to improve the quality of patient care is the most notable achievement. Healthcare IT has significantly shaped and advanced the healthcare industry.
One of the most impressive impacts of information technology is in the ways that it has been able to improve the patient care experience by increasing its accessibility and reliability. It has been able to streamline and centralize medical histories which are very critical to patients’ care.
Information technology has seriously changed the game in the healthcare industry. This is clearly evident due to the paper-less EHR systems that have been able to provide instant patient data in real-time and the introduction of wearable devices used by patients to track their own symptoms and medications. The level of patient care has significantly improved as doctors have been able to access lab results, records, and critical information faster than ever.
According to MarketsandMarkets, the growth in healthcare IT in the North American region was forecasted in 2013. This is the largest segment ever in the global healthcare IT market. The North American region accounted for 45.5% in 2014, which was the largest market share.
In 2013, Healthcare IT News released a report of a study done by Research and Markets, which revealed that the healthcare IT sector would be worth $31.3 billion by 2017. However, the predictions for 2020 exceed the earlier estimations.
Healthcare IT has turned out to be a promising development which is set to change the paper-based healthcare system into a digital one. It also enables doctors and nurses to access patients’ data in real-time as well as giving them the support they require to make the best possible decisions.
Healthcare IT has been able to reduce administrative overhead as well as streamline medical processes. This impact of healthcare IT has not been convincing in the past ten years despite its potential.
However, there is one concern which keeps repeating itself time after time when it comes to the growth in healthcare IT industry.
Security
Security has been the primary concern in the healthcare information technology sector as healthcare organizations handle private and sensitive patient health data. The healthcare industry has very strict rules on governing the encryption of the data, its transmission, and decryption.
There are set standards for the healthcare IT industry to follow to ensure that patients’ data is properly secured. However, this cannot be achieved so easily as the number of attackers seeking to steal the information is on the rise. The industry needs to develop strategies on how to handle the data security concerns as they pose a major threat.
