The market for clinical healthcare mobility will grow at an average compound annual rate of 12.7% between 2011 and 2016, rising from $2.9 billion to $5.4 billion, according to a new report from IDC Health Insights.
While growth will be strong in the clinical mobility market, demand for mobile devices, back-end data center infrastructure, associated IT services and software in the market segment will have to be balanced with competing demand for health care reform compliance initiatives and demand from other segments of the healthcare IT market, IDC Health Insights notes in a press release.
However, on balance, IDC Health foresees acceleration in the deployment of so-called “meaningful use technologies.” These include: electronic health records (EHRs), electronic prescriptions (eRx), computerized physician order entry (CPOE), and health information exchange (HIE).
“The highly collaborative and mobile nature of clinical teams makes the strategic investment in clinical mobility solutions essential to meet the intense demands being placed on healthcare providers today,” IDC Health Insights program director Lynne A. Dunbrack commented. “However, these mobile solutions extend beyond the device and mobile access to clinical application. Clinical mobility is placing new demands on the data center and IT organization.”
Analyzing the factors affecting the clinical mobility market, IDC Health Insights determined that the following are among those that will have the greatest impact:
- Consumeriziation of technology, which is driving clinician adoption of mobile devices and mobile device proliferation
- Increased availability of electronic health information and the resulting clinicians’ desire for mobile access to patient data at the point of care
- Infrastructure demands of pervasive computing
- Security to comply with increasingly more stringent Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
The highly collaborative and cellular characteristics of medical groups makes the ideal investment in medical flexibility alternatives essential to meet the extreme requirements being placed on medical care suppliers today,” IDC Health Ideas program home Lynne A. Dunbrack stated. “However, these cellular alternatives increase beyond the product and cellular access to medical application. Clinical flexibility is putting new requirements on the data center and IT company.