Electronic Medical Records Sector Nears USD 25 Billion

These are the latest findings of Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA), an independent medical market research firm.

Continued gains have especially been made in the physician sector, a major driver for the market, but adoption has been uneven. Demographic studies indicate there is a wide variance among physicians in different regions (physicians in Northern states more likely to adopt EHR than those in Eastern states) and age (physicians under 44 more likely). About 50.7% of physicians reported that they now have EMR systems that met the criteria of a basic system, and about 20.8% reported having systems that met the criteria for a fully functional system.

In all, over 80% of physicians in the US have used an EMR system, a significant improvement over 2006 figures, when Kalorama first began studying EMR, and represents the success of the ARRA stimulus law of 2009, under which the US federal government set aside nearly USD 20 billion in incentives for hospitals and physician practices adopting EMRs. The first incentives were paid in 2011 based on 2010 performance, and as of January 1, 2015, more than USD 28 billion in incentive payments have been distributed to 426,000 eligible hospitals and healthcare professionals.

“There’s still a healthy and competitive market for EMR,” said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. “Expect growth this year and next at seven to eight percent and stable growth until 2019. Eventually, there will be market saturation but this is a bit of a way off, especially in emerging markets.”

Kalorama Information expects the market to rise to USD 35.2 billion by 2019. The forecast assumes the trend of adoption will continue to move forward, although slowing; hospital EMR adoption will supersede doctors EMR adoption; and current EMR Stage 3 will move up. It is anticipated that current EMR owners will upgrade and train on systems, and that the threat of penalties will force doctors and hospitals to make upgrade decisions to meet meaningful use criteria.

Leading companies in the EMR market include Cerner, Epic (Verona, WI, USA), McKesson (San Francisco, CA, USA), Siemens, GE Healthcare, and Allscripts (Chicago, IL, USA). Smaller companies include NextGen, Athenahealth, eClinicalworks, Abraxas, Ingenix, Integritas, Intivia, iSalus, Keane, Visonta, Advanced Data Systems, AllMeds, AmazingCharts, Aprima, ChartLogic, CliniComp, CPSI, Greenway Medical, Healthland, HMS, CureMD, and many others.

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