[139 Pages Report] The market for referral management is expected to grow from USD 2.8 billion in 2020 to USD 6.0 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 16.7% during the forecast period. Growth in the referral management market can be attributed to factors such as technological advancements in healthcare facilities, increased funding for implementing healthcare IT solutions and growing adoption of referral management solutions by healthcare providers to offer better care delivery.
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The COVID-19 outbreak, has affected medical practices of all sizes. The healthcare facilities are under immense pressure, owing to the large number of patients visiting them on a daily basis. The rising prevalence of coronavirus disease has driven the demand for accurate diagnosis and treatment in several countries worldwide. The critical need for social distancing among physicians and patients has resulted in the growing demand for virtual care, which is expected to drive the usage of referral management solutions and services. Various market players in this market have introduced new temporary platforms or deployed COVID-19-related features into their existing referral management solutions, which are being made available to users free of cost. The growing patient volume is likely to increase the demand for referral management platforms to ensure end-to-end patient and complete recovery.
Governments across different countries are focusing their efforts on promoting healthcare IT solutions for the optimization of healthcare productivity and reduction of costs. Authorities are working with healthcare providers to facilitate seamless data exchange between healthcare systems to coordinate care effectively and reduce avoidable costs. Governments in a number of APAC countries are increasingly focusing on enabling efficient, affordable, and on-time delivery of quality care by implementing healthcare IT solutions. For instance, the Japanese government has taken various initiatives like the e-Japan policy and iJapan Strategy 2017 to encourage hospitals to adopt interoperable solutions and effectively manage the inflow of patients, lower hospital operational expenditure, and improve the quality of services.
The unavailability of adequate IT staff in the healthcare industry, especially among healthcare providers, leads to delays in program implementation. The effective utilization of technology-integrated solutions demand strong IT infrastructure and support within the organization as well as at the solution providers end. There is a continuous need for technical support for maintaining the server and network in the healthcare organizations. The lack of in-house IT experts, and a trained workforce with cross-functional skills, is expected to restrain the growth of this market during the forecast period.
A number of factors, such as the implementation of government initiatives to implement HCIT solutions, rising government spending on healthcare systems, and the presence of large patient pool in highly populous countries such as China and India, are expected to support the growth of referral management market in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, the increasing geriatric population in the region and the subsequent burden on hospitals and healthcare organizations will offer growth opportunities in the referral management market.
Healthcare IT systems are high-priced software solutions, due to which, many hospitals and physicians, particularly in small and rural areas, continue to rely on existing basic methods, such as fax-based and unorganized patient referral methods. Moreover, the health care providers are reluctant to adopt advanced technology-based solutions due to the costs attached to the software purchase and implementation, periodic software upgrades, concerns regarding data security, and lack of operating skills for using these advanced tools.
On the basis of component, the referral management market is segmented into software and services. The software segment that comprises integrated and standalone software, held the largest share in 2019 and is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. Growth in this market segment can be attributed to the increased use of integrated or standalone referral management software in various healthcare facilities for improving efficiency and quality of medical care delivery systems.
On the basis of mode of delivery, the referral management market is segmented into cloud-based and on-premise solutions. The cloud-based segment is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. The high growth rate of this segment can be attributed to the surge in demand for cloud-based solutions owing to its benefits including on-demand self-serving analytics, no up-front capital investment for hardware, and extreme capacity flexibility among others.
On basis of type, the global referral management market is segmented into inbound and outbound referrals. The inbound type segment commanded the largest share of the market in 2019. The large share and high growth rate of this segment are mainly driven by the high volume of inbound referrals received by hospitals and specialist centres from multiple channels.
On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into providers, payers and others. Providers segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. The demand for referral management among healthcare providers is primarily driven by the increasing focus on streamlining patient referral process and enabling seamless communication throughout the process.
The global referral management market has been categorized on the basis of four major regional segmentsNorth America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR. The increasing demand for quality care at affordable costs, rising geriatric population, and subsequent increase in the prevalence of various chronic diseases are driving the growth of the referral management market in the Asia Pacific. In addition, the current outbreak of COVID-19 in the Asia Pacific has resulted in the increased patient pool, especially in China and India. The growing patient volume that has resulted in the increased demand for a platform ensuring end-to-end patient care to ensure complete recovery, will fuel the growth of the referral management market in the APAC.
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Cerner Corporation (US), CarePort Health (an Allscripts company) (US), and eHealth Technologies (US) are the dominating players of the referral management market.
Report Metric |
Details |
Market size for years |
2018-2025 |
Base year considered |
2019 |
Forecast period |
20202025 |
Forecast units |
Value (USD Million) |
Segments covered |
By Component, By Mode of Delivery, By Type, By End User |
Geographies covered |
North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, ROW |
Companies covered |
The major market players include Cerner Corporation (US), CarePort Health (US), eHealth Technologies (US), Blockit (US), Optum (US), Keet Health (US), EZ Referral (Canada), Persistent Systems (India) (Total 20 companies) |
The study categorizes the referral management market based on component, mode of delivery, type, end user at the regional and global level.
What is the market size of Referral Management Market?
The referral management market is projected to reach USD 6.0 billion by 2025 from USD 2.8 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 16.7%.
What are some of the major drivers for this market?
The market is primarily driven by the government initiatives for implementing HCIT solutions to offer cost-effective and quality care, growing disease burden that requires effective management of patient flow and several partnerships and collaborations between stakeholders for improving care delivery.
Who are the major players in the referral management market?
The major players include Cerner Corporation (US), CarePort Health (US), and eHealth Technologies (US) Change Healthcare (US), Optum (US) and EZ Referral (Canada).
What is the impact of COVID-19 on the referral management market?
The rising prevalence of COVID-19 has driven the demand for timely diagnosis and treatment. The need for social distancing among physicians and patients, during the pandemic has increased the demand for telehealth solutions for the accurate exchange of patient health records and real-time insights. Market players are therefore integrating telehealth services into their referral management solutions to ease and promote virtual patient visits owing to the contagious nature of the coronavirus.
What are the newer government initiatives undertaken to improve adoption of the referral management solutions?
The NHS launched the Five Year Forward View in the UK to make all patient records largely paperless by 2020. This initiative aims to develop fully interoperable EHRs, provide patients with access to their medical records, and promote interoperability. In the US, the CMS launched the MyHealthEData Initiative which aimed at improving healthcare by placing patients at the center of the US healthcare system and providing patients electronic access to their own health records. Additionally, the Japanese government has taken various initiatives like the e-Japan policy and iJapan Strategy 2017 to encourage hospitals to adopt interoperable solutions and effectively manage the inflow of patients, lower hospital operational expenditure, and improve the quality of services. Other government efforts such as Carequality, CommonWell, the Argonaut Project, and Healthcare Services Platform Consortium (HSPC), is further expected to support the adoption of HCIT integration solutions. .
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This study involved the four major activities in estimating the size of the Referral Management market. Exhaustive secondary research was done to collect information on the market, peer market, and parent market. The next step was to validate these findings, assumptions, and sizing with industry experts across value chains through primary research. The bottom-up approach was employed to estimate the overall market size. After that, market breakdown and data triangulation were used to estimate the market size of segments and subsegments.
The secondary research process involved the widespread use of secondary sources, directories, databases (such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Factiva, and D&B Hoovers), white papers, annual reports, company house documents, investor presentations, and SEC filings of companies. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, American Medical Group Association, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, Health Research & Educational Trust, American Hospital Association, International Association of Health Policy, Institute of Population and Public Health, Public Health Agency of Canada, WHO, OECD, Expert Interviews, and MarketsandMarkets Analysis.
Secondary research was used to identify and collect information useful for the extensive, technical, market-oriented, and commercial study of the referral management market. It was also used to obtain important information about the key players and market classification and segmentation according to industry trends to the bottom-most level, and key developments related to market and technology perspectives. A database of the key industry leaders was also prepared using secondary research.
In the primary research process, various sources from both the supply and demand sides were interviewed to obtain qualitative and quantitative information for this report. The primary sources from the supply side include industry experts such as CEOs, vice presidents, marketing and sales directors, technology & innovation directors, and related key executives from various key companies and organizations operating in the referral management market. The primary sources from the demand side included industry experts, consultants, hospital administration, and personnel from research organizations. Primary research was conducted to validate the market segmentation, identify key players in the market, and gather insights on key industry trends and key market dynamics.
A breakdown of the primary respondents is provided below:
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Tiers are defined based on a companys total revenue. As of 2019: Tier 1= >USD 1 billion, Tier 2 = USD 500 million to USD 1 billion, and Tier 3= For the calculation of the market value, the revenue from providers was arrived at, based on the adoption rate and average expenditure on solutions in the referral management market. This process involved the following steps: Global Referral Management Market Size: Provider based approach To know about the assumptions considered Request for Free Sample Report, Request for Free Sample Report After arriving at the overall market sizeusing the market size estimation processes as explained abovethe market was split into several segments and subsegments. In order to complete the overall market engineering process and arrive at the exact statistics of each market segment and subsegment, the data triangulation and market breakdown procedures were employed, wherever applicable. The data was triangulated by studying various factors and trends from both, the demand and supply sides, in the provider, payer, and other industries. MarketsandMarkets offers the following customizations for this market report:Market Size Estimation
Data Triangulation
Objectives of the Study
Available Customizations
Growth opportunities and latent adjacency in Referral Management Market