Strategic Analysis of the Impact of Regulations on the Healthcare IT Markets in Europe

London, UK - 11th January, 2005 

Regulations in the healthcare IT markets in Europe are acquiring greater significance due to the increasing need to mandate the use of universal standards in the industry. The development of standards is essential to bring uniformity to the current healthcare IT solutions, many of which have varying levels of sophistication.

Across Europe, there is growing realisation that strategies and policies are required to improve access to patient clinical records, facilitate the movement of patients and cross-border access to healthcare across the European Union (EU) and support systems that minimise clinical errors while increasing patient safety levels.

Several pioneering government backed projects designed to modernise healthcare IT - such as the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) in the United Kingdom and the electronic healthcard initiatives in France and Germany - seem poised to drive growth in the industry.

"The European healthcare IT market is set to experience steady growth, riding on the initiatives shown by regional and national health authorities," remarks Industry Manager Siddharth Saha from Frost & Sullivan (http://healthcare.frost.com). "Some of the market segments poised for significant growth include the picture archiving and communications systems (PACS)/RIS combination, the electronic medical record (EMR) system, physician order entry and prescribing systems."

Other services such as pre-sales consulting and data migration from legacy healthcare information systems are also likely to provide strong opportunities for IT systems vendors.

Some of the messaging and terminology standards currently in use in the industry are the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and the Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM). However, these standards are not universally used in product portfolios. Further, interoperability between the systems using all or some of these standards is yet to be adequately demonstrated.

Healthcare IT regulations are expected to impact both the public and private sectors of the industry. In the public sector, adoption of IT systems depends largely on budgetary allocations. However, shifting dynamics in the industry has led to growing emphasis on processes that optimise clinical efficiencies and contain costs without compromising on quality.

With healthcare authorities likely to play a crucial role in defining regulations for the participants to follow, the public sector is expected to witness a good amount of standardisation in terms of both product features and price of implementation.

On the other hand, private sector organisations have always been more amenable to adopting IT solutions and systems. However, they are also attempting to stay up-to-date by conforming to emerging regulations and standardisation requirements.

"Healthcare IT vendors, therefore, face the challenge of convincing these organisations about the validity of their products and services in accordance with regulatory mandates," says Mr. Saha. "While vendors may find it easier to penetrate the private sector, they must not lose sight of the fact that successful implementation here paves the way for bigger business opportunities in the industry."

Regulations are also expected to boost technology innovation in the European market. Once regulations bring about industry standardisation, the higher satisfaction rates and increased systems uptake is likely to result in availability of greater funds to invest in technology development.

Ultimately, the use of universal standards is expected to create an open market with numerous positive effects. An open environment is anticipated to help systems vendors target European and global markets without having to design specific solutions for individual countries. Cross-border communications and applications are also likely to become easier than ever before.

Due to the dynamic nature of the regulatory environment, systems vendors and implementers will have to closely monitor developments in the industry. Vendors that have experience in the North American compliance programmes are in a strong position to capitalise on the opportunities in Europe in terms of leveraging competitive advantage in the short term.

"Frost & Sullivan believes that complying with regulatory mandates is likely to provide this competitive advantage for healthcare systems vendors, local niche product and market specialists as well as the global corporations," concludes Mr. Saha.

If you are interested in an analysis overview providing an introduction into the Strategic Analysis of the Impact of Regulations on the Healthcare IT Markets - then send an email to Katja Feick - Corporate Communications at katja.feick@frost.com with the following information: Full name, Company Name, Title, Contact Tel Number, Email. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be emailed to you.


Title : Strategic Analysis of the Impact of Regulations on the Healthcare IT Markets in Europe
Code: B436-48

(Ref : http://healthcare.frost.com)