Global health IT to hit €64 billion

The healthcare sector will spend approximately €64.2 ($88.9 billion) worldwide on information technology and communications products in 2010, an increase of 3.2% on 2009.

However, while IT spending is on the rise, upfront and operational costs are keeping healthcare providers from implementing electronic medical records.

These findings come from the 2nd Annual Healthcare IT Insights and Opportunities survey released by the Computing Technology Industry Association.

Three-quarters of respondents to the survey said that upfront costs discouraged them from investing in EMRs, while 64% indicated that operational costs were a factor. Data security and privacy was also a concern among 39% of respondents.

Doctors who have adopted EMR rank better patient care as the number one reason for doing so, with 70% of respondents picking this as a reason.

Improved efficiency and reduced risk of error were also ranked high, at 68% and 58%. Cost savings ranked last, with just 30% of doctors giving these as the reason for implementing EMRs.

However, 52% percent of healthcare IT providers believe cost savings are a major factor influencing the adoption of EMRs.

The US study found that investments by healthcare professionals and providers in new IT products and solutions will centre on core products such as PCs, printers, phone systems and networking equipment.

CompTIA’s study also revealed that healthcare providers are generally satisfied with the IT solutions they now use in their practices. But they’re also interested in better reliability, improved performance and lower costs for future purchases.

"Healthcare providers have clear objectives for their IT investments – reducing costs, saving time, improving productivity and most importantly, improving patient care," said Tim Herbert, vice president, research, CompTIA.

"Anything that may disrupt patient care is a serious issue, so product reliability is especially critical."