Research Overview

This Frost & Sullivan research service entitled European Markets for Healthcare IT Platforms provides an overview of the market dynamics and revenues, along with a complete analysis of key drivers, restraints, and trends in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Benelux. In this research service, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the   following: clinical information systems and administrative information systems.

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:

    * Clinical Information Systems
    * Administrative Information Systems

Technologies

The following technologies are covered in this research service:

    * Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
    * Clinical Information systems (CIS)
    * Administrative Information Systems (AIS)
    * Core Platforms

Market Overview

Healthcare Providers’ Need for Single Point of Contact Turns Spotlight on Healthcare IT Platforms

As the European healthcare industry becomes more integrated, the increasing preference for a single  point of contact for healthcare IT (HIT) solutions is driving the market for HIT platforms. Healthcare providers are eager to invest in sophisticated IT solutions but often work within restrictive budgets. HIT platforms have the ability to support a wide range of clinical, administrative and business solutions, and offer healthcare providers a stable, interoperable and robust base capable of enhanced functionality on demand. "Shifting to an integrated platform streamlines workflows, helps reduce costs, improves regulatory compliance, and enhances efficiency, patient and user satisfaction," notes the analyst of this research service. "In addition, it provides ready access to vital information from various access points across the hospital sourced from a managed database."

However, rising cost pressures faced by hospitals are likely to stand in the way of adoption of   healthcare IT platforms. Not only are these solutions expensive, but they also carry various   associated costs in terms of the lag time before the systems are fully up and running, training time, and workflow interruptions. Thus, while hospitals are expressing strong interest in HIT platforms, it is unlikely that complete overhauls or replacements of existing infrastructure will take place for the moment. Instead, hospitals are likely to continuously add solutions as and when the requirement arises and resources are available.

Complete HIT Platform Adoption Unlikely at Present

Although the shift toward a single point of contact augurs well for the HIT platform market, complete IT platform adoption is not expected at this point. The focus of the HIT environment in Europe continues to be on the adoption of smaller but important individual healthcare solutions such as electronic medical records (EMR), patient e-booking, computerised physician order entry (CPOE),   PACS, and radiology information systems (RIS). Healthcare providers are particularly concentrating   on increasing the use of EMR, creating and promoting the use of patient identities for care delivery as well as on prescription management. This is leading to fierce competition among HIT vendors as they attempt to win hospital contracts for the implementation of these solutions.

"HIT platform providers are able to provide decision makers with an extensive product portfolio and  proven track record, thus making them a preferred choice of healthcare providers," says the analyst. "While the opportunity to install complete solutions is still limited, HIT platform vendors continue to increase their market shares by providing care providers with individual solutions from their   comprehensive portfolios." Going forward, green-field projects and well-funded hospitals are likely to have the resources required to install or completely replace their existing infrastructure, thereby benefiting from superior technology that can ensure efficiency, reliability, flexibility and cost containment.