BOONTON, N.J. — The hospitals, physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance providers that make up the 2.6 trillion US healthcare system will be spending $55.5 billion on telecommunications services over the next five years, says a new market research study released by the Insight Research Corporation (www.insight-corp.com). According to the market analysis study, spending by the US healthcare industry on telecommunications services will grow at a compounded rate of 10.2 percent over the forecast period, increasing from $7.1 billion in 2009 to $11.6 billion in 2014 as the number of healthcare locations expands by 14 percent and the healthcare employment rate increases 2.5 times faster the total national employment rate. Both employment locations and employee numbers are primary indicators of telecommunications expenditures.
According to the report, “Telecommunications, IT, and Healthcare: Wireless Networks, Digital Healthcare and the Transformation of US Healthcare, 2009-2014,” forces external to the healthcare industry, including a Congressional push to rein in US healthcare costs, an aging population, and worker shortages are encouraging the industry to find alternative approaches to current business practices.
Much of the high costs inherent in the current system are related to the proximity of the patient and provider, as well as to the archaic administrative systems used to manage records and exchange information. Telecommunications can bridge these proximity gaps as well as provide a normalized set of baseline data that remains secure yet can be shared among healthcare workers.
“Since our last healthcare industry study, we updated our five-year forecasts to reflect current recessionary spending,” says Insight Research president Robert Rosenberg. “Specifically our forecast was reduced by approximately $500 million in 2008 and $1 billion in 2009 to reflect the recession’s impacts. However, long-term we expect spending on telecommunications for healthcare to approach the levels in our previous forecasts, as consumers continue to spend more of their income on healthcare services,” Rosenberg concluded.
A free report excerpt, table of contents, and ordering information for “Telecommunications, IT and Healthcare: Wireless Networks, Digital Healthcare and the Transformation of US Healthcare, 2009-2014” can be found online at: http://www.insight-corp.com/reports/telehealth09.asp .
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