MRG: Cardiology IT market ignited by stimulus package
The adoption of EMRs is ramping up in the United States due to President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, requiring EMR adoption by 2015, an August report from market research firm Millennium Research Group (MRG) showed. The report also found that hospitals and clinics are already focusing their attention on implementing EMR systems to capitalize on funding, and cardiology will be a large venue for IT adoption.

According to MRG, integrating patient cardiology reports with EMRs allows physicians and healthcare providers to access vital patient information more easily; this contributes to better patient care and more effective use of EMRs. Besides data management and report generation capabilities, facilities can better integrate and improve the management of various types of data, including images, schedules and inventory levels.

“Although the focus is currently on EMR adoption, heightened demand in the cardiology IT workflow systems market will follow in 2010,” says Lexie Code, manager of MRG’s healthcare IT division.

A recent MRG survey of more than 100 cath labs found that more than 20 percent of facilities that currently do not employ a cath lab IT workflow solution plan on purchasing one by 2011.

Specifically, the report predicted that the echocardiography lab segment will swell over the next five years, with growth landing in the high single digits by 2013. Factors affecting this expansion will include the growing number of echo labs, as well as the mandate of the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL), which requires submission of case studies for accreditation in digital format beginning in 2010. This process can be greatly facilitated by echo IT workflow solutions.

As a result, revenues in the echocardiography lab segment alone will surpass $150 million by 2013, according to MRG analysts.

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