IT utilization in the medical business has become an essential component for getting the most out of patient data. As the finer specifics of illnesses and the treatments designed to treat them emerge, the competition to extract the greatest information from medical data will continue to drive a maturing industry.
The market for Electronic medical records (EMR) is expected to increase at a 12% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) as IT technology progresses. The importance of improved IT infrastructure for physicians, researchers, laboratory workers, universities, and even patients has not gone ignored, and as a result, considerable government money has been allocated in recent years.
Interoperability across systems, on the other hand, is a significant hurdle, and widespread requests for standardization have been made to allow for broader access to information for medical centers and hospitals in parts of the developing world where information technology has yet to advance.
Whatever the case, it is commonly acknowledged that IT reform is a critical component of healthcare reform, at least from a technological standpoint, and that this is a condition that will likely foster growth in this industry for some time. "Electronic Medical Records (EMR) - Global Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Landscape, and Market Forecasts through 2016" by GlobalData gives a comprehensive perspective of an information-hungry environment.
Government funding to accelerate demand
Over the past decade, governments across the world have recognised the importance of IT in healthcare. There has been growing evidence of the time and cost efficiencies that healthcare IT systems can bring into an already overstretched healthcare system.
Since creating an IT infrastructure requires a significant amount of funds, governments have stepped up the funding for various IT programmes. In addition, all healthcare IT solutions require a significant amount of services to get the system in place and to maintain it after installation. With the growing adoption of healthcare IT, the demand for healthcare IT services is also likely to go up.
In 2009, the US Government dedicated a $19.2bn stimulus package to healthcare IT infrastructure and electronic health record (EHR) implementation by hospitals and physicians under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HiTech). Besides the HITECH Act, the migration to the International Classification of Disease -10 (ICD-10) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) 5010 are further expected to boost the healthcare IT services market in the US.
This post will show you why your medical office needs digital document management system and how it can help improve productivity, security, control costs, and increase revenue.
