Vertical markets such as health care are buying
core IT products such as PCs, servers, printers, phone systems and
networking gear along with tablet PCs and LCD TVs for their facilities,
according to the September 2010 report "Second Annual Healthcare IT
Insights and Opportunities" by IT trade association CompTIA.
CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry
Association) is a nonprofit organization made up of IT manufacturers,
distributors, resellers and educational institutions.
Although adoption of electronic medical records is
a focus for the health care industry, the sector is still concentrating
on core IT products as well.
"There's an opportunity to be had in selling core
products into this marketplace in addition to the granular, vertical
products like EMR [electronic medical record] and tablet PC-type
implementations that many of the doctors' offices, hospitals and
dentists' offices are getting into today," Carolyn April, CompTIA's
director of industry analysis, told eWEEK.
In addition to core IT products, doctors' offices
are purchasing plenty of LCD TVs, April noted. "Doctors are putting
some of these in the waiting room to make the experience better for the
patient, so there is a convergence in terms of the types of solutions
the health care market is going to be seeking."
Previously, IT products and consumer devices were
distinct markets, April explained. "Consumer electronics was retail.
Now you see that as a completely converged market," she said, while
noting that other industries in addition to health care are also
experiencing this convergence.
With the focus on core IT products, the big trend
in health care remains EMR adoption, according to the CompTIA report,
with 34 percent of health care providers using a comprehensive EMR
system. Meanwhile, 16 percent of health care providers reported using a
partial EMR platform.
With EMR packages, smaller doctors' offices prefer
to scale up gradually to various features rather than adopt a full
package all at once, April said. "I think that eliminates a lot of the
headache and frustration that some of the smaller health care
facilities feel when they're trying to buy a package like this and
comply with the regulation to go electronic," April explained. "They
don't need to do it all at once."
By implementing EMR systems gradually, medical
practices will be able to take the time to train employees properly,
April said.
In addition, 8 in 10 doctors, or 56 percent, believed that their employees needed more training in EMRs.
A recent study by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan found that revenue for EMRs in doctors' offices will double in 2012, and then falling prices and market saturation would bring a drop in 2013.
Approximately 1 in 4 doctors and dentists plan to buy a tablet PC over the next year, according to the CompTIA report.
About half of health care businesses plan to
increase IT spending over the next year, the report said, with most
occurring in group practices. In addition, 1 in 3 medical practices
expect to increase IT purchases by more than 5 percent over the next 12
months.
Meanwhile, almost half of medical practices lack a
Web site, the study revealed. Although most businesses have a presence
on the Web, 43 percent of health care providers lack a Web site for
their practice, April said.
A big opportunity exists for Web site builders to
target medical practices, she noted, while also pointing to the
compliance issues and federal funds involved.
In addition, the survey found that of the 56
percent of IT vendors not currently working with health care customers,
a little more than half were considering entering the market.
For its report, CompTIA interviewed 370 U.S. IT
firms, with approximately 40 percent serving the health care industry.
It also spoke with 300 U.S. health care businesses, including
physicians, nurses, physician assistants and office managers.
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