Ambulatory EMR market set to spike

Revenue growth for EMRs in ambulatory medical facilities is expected to double in 2012 before tapering off in 2013, as the market becomes saturated. But product volume and the number of users should continue to climb, according to a new Frost & Sullivan report that pegs the ambulatory EMR market at $2.6 billion by 2013.

This latest report suggests the Obama administration's financial incentives under the HITECH Act are contributing to the market's financial growth through the guidelines set by CMS—a kind of “gold rush” effect that’s taking hold as vendors scramble to cash in on the government’s “stimulus” efforts.
 
As eWeek reports: “The factors contributing to the growth in EMR revenue include new HIPAA regulations and ICD-10 diagnosis codes, which require software upgrades to submit claims electronically, according to Nancy Fabozzi ,a Frost & Sullivan analyst and author of the report. Penalties regarding insufficient use of EMRs will kick in by 2016.”
 
Fabozzi attributes the projected drop in ambulatory EMR revenue after 2013 to the natural process of market penetration and competition, as well as falling prices.
 
Of course, it’s worth noting that the hospital EMR market is a completely different animal than the ambulatory clinics market, since fewer vendors serve hospitals and the larger facilities require expensive and more sophisticated EMR tools.