US High-Acuity Information Systems to See Significant Market Decline Through 2017

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, the United States market for high-acuity information systems (HAIS) will decline at an average rate of approximately 2.5 percent per year through 2017. Most facilities, encouraged by the meaningful use incentives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will have acquired new systems by 2013. The result will be a significant decline in unit sales after this surge is over and most facilities have installed systems. Growth will not resume until 2017.

“Because facilities are increasingly purchasing enterprise systems rather than acquiring them individually through best-of-breed vendors, meaningful use requirements have particularly benefited large companies with wide portfolios that offer popular EHRs”

High-acuity information systems are those used in operating rooms (OR), intensive care units (ICU), emergency departments (ED) and other hospital facilities with a requirement for critical and complex care. Emergency department information systems (EDIS) will be the segment most affected by the sales decline, since it was the implementation of these systems that most helped facilities fulfill some of their meaningful use requirements within the HAIS market. Other HAIS showed higher-than-normal sales because a larger number of systems were purchased in a bundle with enterprise systems including other information systems or electronic health record (EHR) systems that contributed to satisfying meaningful use requirements.

The introduction of improved functions such as mobility, decision support and data analytics will increasingly affect HAIS sales toward 2017. Mobility, for example, is strongly desired by clinicians who wish to get access to information remotely, and by admissions departments whose operations will be streamlined by remote patient access to forms. However, mobile functions need to meet stringent regulations on patient privacy and user-friendly interface design, which increases the technical challenge in designing mobile systems, delaying their availability and increasing prices. Similar requirements for decision support will also slow development and raise prices.

“Because facilities are increasingly purchasing enterprise systems rather than acquiring them individually through best-of-breed vendors, meaningful use requirements have particularly benefited large companies with wide portfolios that offer popular EHRs,” said MRG Analyst Michelle Chan. “Enterprise vendors with EHRs such as Cerner and Epic Systems have been able to leverage their existing relationships with hospitals and offer the benefits of interoperability. Best-of-breed vendors in the market will continue to be challenged by enterprise vendors, who now hold a 70 percent share of the HAIS market.”

Millennium Research Group’s US Markets for High-Acuity Information Systems 2013 report includes unit, average selling price and revenue information, along with market drivers and limiters and competitive landscape for surgical information systems (SIS), critical care information systems (CCIS), perinatal information systems and emergency department information systems (EDIS) sold in the United States.

About Millennium Research Group

Millennium Research Group (www.MRG.net), a Decision Resources Group company (www.DecisionResourcesGroup.com), is the global authority on medical technology market intelligence and the leading provider of strategic information to the healthcare sector. The company provides specialized industry expertise through multiclient market research, ongoing Marketrack™ projects, customer loyalty tracking, facility-level procedure forecasting, and customized solutions.

About Decision Resources Group

Decision Resources Group is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information, and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources Group at www.DecisionResourcesGroup.com.

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