The U.S. healthcare industry is expected to spend $55 billion on telecommunications over the next five years, according to a study released Friday by Insight Research Corporation.
The use of telecommunications by healthcare providers will grow at a compounded rate of 8.4 percent, from $7.5 billion this year to $11.3 billion in 2013.
According to the report, "Telecom, IT, and Healthcare: Wireless, Wireline and Digital Healthcare, 2008-2013," an aging population and worker shortages are pushing healthcare providers to find alternative approaches to current business practices, including the use of telecommunications.
"Most 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," the study said. "Telecommunications can bridge these proximity gaps as well as provide a normalized set of baseline data that can remain secure and yet be shared among healthcare workers."
According to Insight Research President Robert Rosenberg, telecommunications and information technology providers have responded to the interest by providing more bandwidth, packet services and healthcare applications, such as video monitoring, electronic health records and telemedicine.
For telecommunications and IT providers, healthcare is an attractive market, Rosenberg said. The U.S. healthcare industry is a $2.3 trillion ecosystem of hospitals, physicians, pharmaceutical companies and insurance providers. Healthcare outpaces all other industries for growth rate and is projected to grow 6.9 percent per year to $4.1 trillion by 2016.
"This increased emphasis and spending on healthcare reflects the increased value that consumers perceive in medical treatment," Rosenberg said. "At the same time, providers and patients share the objective of improving healthcare quality and reducing costs. Information technology and telecommunications will play a critical role in addressing these objectives."
Rosenberg said many of the trends Insight Research has predicted in previous reports have come to pass.
Do you think Insight's prediction is realistic? Email Diana Manos, senior editor, at diana.manos@medtechpublishing.com