It is important to understand the applications that exist in the healthcare industry. As technology vendors better understand all of these applications including their environment, their infrastructure and hardware needs, their security requirements, and how they inter-relate or integrate within and across healthcare systems, these vendors will be better able to address healthcare technology needs. A short list of primary application trends in the healthcare vertical are provided below:
• Applications supporting remote health care applications and electronic record keeping will drive healthcare spending. The integration of these applications and patient data into Healthcare Exchanges will also be a secondary aspect to the growth in this segment.
• Drivers will include applications to support remote health care solutions as well as mobile health care solutions, including solutions for e-billing and online payment. An influx of patient-centered and self-help web and portal services will be rolled out across all sizes of healthcare providers.
• The aging population is driving growth in remote health care, remote monitoring and diagnostics, and technology for improving healthcare at the home. Thus applications that support these functions will be in high demand over the coming years.
• Other applications of interest in healthcare that require network, bandwidth, and secure services include CPOE (Computer Physician Order Entry), PACS (Picture Archiving Communications Systems), Telehealth, and E-Prescribing. Applications that will benefit from the current momentum include prescription management and e‐prescription, admitting and discharge systems, billing and claims processing, video imaging, point‐of‐care systems, clinical diagnostic and information systems, healthcare education, e‐radiology, and remote medicine.
• RFID technology and related applications are also increasingly playing a role in healthcare delivery, particularly in areas like keeping track of medical inventory and pharmaceuticals. RFID is also in use in some environments for managing patient records, or even managing the patients themselves by embedding RFID chips in the hospital bracelets.
• Remote patient monitoring in the form of telehealth, has taken huge strides forward, with demand for this technology on the rise, especially among home-care agencies, disease management companies and clinical trial groups.
• Healthcare IT spending is being driven by the government’s push for the market to adopt Electronic Health Records (EHR or EMR) backed by stimulus dollars, investments in systems and networks to support new applications, and the adoption of mobile applications, hardware, and other software to support patient care, patient records, and next generation medical diagnostics and imaging.
• Another driver is that the newer generation of clinicians expect a high-tech clinical environment. Younger physicians are more accustomed to working with the latest technology and IT tools.
Source: Compass Intelligence, 2011
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