Healthcare IT Market Size, Growth, Share & Trends Analysis

Driven by the benefits of HCIT solutions and an integrated healthcare information network, governments across the globe are taking several initiatives to promote the implementation of HCIT solutions and services. Optimized productivity of healthcare systems and cost reduction are at the center of these initiatives. Moreover, the adoption of HCIT solutions helps deliver better health outcomes in terms of access, quality, and affordability. The overall growth of the HCIT industry is driven by the implementation of favorable government initiatives supporting the adoption of IT solutions in their respective healthcare systems. For instance, EHRs (electronic health records) form a central component of HCIT as they enable the easy exchange of information and communication among all stakeholders in a healthcare system. Governments across several countries are undertaking initiatives to promote the adoption of EMRs (electronic medical records) and other similar solutions, which, in turn, would drive the HCIT market.

Cost issues are one of the major barriers to the adoption of HCIT solutions. The maintenance and software update costs of these systems are higher than the price of the software. Support and maintenance services, which include software upgrades as per changing user requirements, represent a recurring expenditure amounting to almost 30% of the total cost of ownership. Moreover, the lack of internal IT expertise in the healthcare industry necessitates training for end users to maximize the efficiency of various solutions, thereby adding to the cost of ownership of these systems.

In response to the rising pressures on healthcare systems to lower costs, the industry is shifting toward outpatient settings. It is estimated that a procedure performed in an outpatient surgery center costs 30- 60% less than in inpatient hospital settings. Convenience is another key factor driving the rise of ambulatory care. With the increase in outpatient settings and patient influx, the demand and usage of HCIT solutions in outpatient settings will increase. According to a survey sponsored by UnitedHealth (US) in 2021, around 10% of US hospitals had dedicated HCIT clinical documentation improvement programs for their outpatient settings. An additional 10% is planned to implement these services. Furthermore, 14% of hospitals planned to implement advanced solutions in the near future. This trend is expected to drive the use of HCIT solutions, such as RCM solutions, for outpatient settings in the coming years.

In healthcare, approximately one-third of data breaches result in medical identity theft due to a lack of internal control over patient information, a lack of top management support, outdated policies and procedures, or non-adherence to existing ones, and inadequate personnel training, all of which contribute to the rise in data breaches and medical identity theft cases in the industry. This makes patient confidentiality a major challenge in the healthcare industry. Patient data contains personal, private, or confidential information that requires strict safeguards to prevent its misuse. The growing use of automated technologies (such as EHRs and medical claims processing), as well as the shifting trend toward health information exchanges (HIEs), has altered the healthcare privacy and security landscape.