A Healthcare Growth Partners analysis of health IT investment activity in 2013 offers the following predictions about the market in 2014.
- Health IT investment, up 25 percent in 2013, will continue to rise.
- Merger and acquisition activity will be down from peak levels but will trend up from 2013 as strategic investors pick up assets in emerging, value-based payment-oriented markets. Infrastructure consolidation will also continue due to the slower uptake of meaningful use attestations and a growing electronic health record replacement market.
- Some of the overcapitalized mega-investments from 2011 to 2013 will require additional financing as performance fails to meet expectations.
- Following a big effort from providers, the ICD-10 transition will go more smoothly than expected for many but will be very financially disruptive for those that are not prepared.
- Decentralized care and better analytical tools will emphasize and enable better population health management.
- Productivity and return-on-investment impact will become even more important as a driver for IT purchasing decisions in hospitals.
- More payers will embrace telemedicine, and reimbursements will increase.
- Healthcare consulting firms that reorient toward IT optimization in the form of workflow and data/analytics management will see a boost.
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