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Growing Population & Healthcare Spending
The worldwide healthcare market is influenced by a number of demographic trends, including the following:
- Growing and Aging Population: The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that the majority of the U.S. “baby boom” population (28% of the total U.S. population) will begin to turn 65 between 2010 and 2020
- Consumer expectations for improved healthcare are increasing in both developed and developing countries
- Reimbursement and coverage of medical expenses by insurances companies and employers are on the decline—customers/patients have to contribute more money
- Technology is giving rise to new clinical therapies, which in turn are addressing more and more medical ailments and aiding in earlier diagnosis and prevention of diseases
As shown in Figure 1, healthcare spending per capita has gown significantly across the world. In the U.S., it has increased from $144 per capita in 1960 to almost $4,400 by 1999. The U.S. per capita spending is projected to grow to $7,500 by 2008. Equipment suppliers understand that in order to be successful in the medical market they have to be focused and successful in the U.S.
Technology Fuels Healthcare Productivity
In the next 10 years, the healthcare market will focus on early diagnosis, digitized patient information that can be accessed from numerous locations, and “total solution” selling that contributes to healthcare productivity gains.
Early diagnosis and prevention is enabled by emerging diagnostic technologies. For example, positron emission tomography (PET) is used to detect many kinds of cancer with great accuracy.
A “paperless” hospital is another emerging trend. Digital patient records enable doctors to access patients’ records—wherever the doctor is. In a digitized hospital, healthcare providers do not have to wait days for an x-ray to “come back from the lab” because the x-ray machine is digital and the image is instantly available.
Hospitals are also moving away from purchasing point solutions and toward buying equipment from different vendors that is interoperable and that has a uniform. user interface. Hospitals are developing internal networks that connect all diagnostic equipment that feeds all patient information (e.g., computed tomography (CT) scans, x-rays, positron emission tomography (PET) scans) over a network to data storage servers for instant access. This drives medical equipment vendors to develop interoperable equipment that has a uniform. user interface. In effect, vendors are beginning to sell complete solutions that include not only the diagnostic equipment but also the data storage servers as well as the interface software.
All these trends lead to an increase in healthcare productivity—this means more patients can be put through the healthcare system by using better, faster diagnostic equipment, which leads to early ailment diagnosis and treatment. When the paperless hospital becomes a reality, productivity is further enhanced because of instant patient test results and records access. |
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发表于 2008-8-2 09:47:15
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