Health care IT companies have already mostly digitized medical records, and analysts say the electronic medical record business has largely matured. Although the digitizing of medical records and creating and implementing platforms that would facilitate their use was an important capital expenditure for hospitals and physicians’ offices throughout the country, analysts are now focusing on other parts of the value chain.
The focus has shifted toward analytics, a fast-growing area that could give care providers new insights on how to optimize health care. Optimizing health care is becoming more important now that the shift in reimbursement practices is moving toward a value-based system rather than a pay-per-service model. Care providers are also spending increasing amounts on education technologies, because a more educated workforce can improve performance and the quality of care, as well as reducing some costs on the longer run, allowing hospitals to keep a larger piece of the reimbursement pie. Although hospitals have tended to be conservative on the capex front lately and have had tight budgets, analysts say they do spend on measures that deliver a high return on capital.
On the regulatory front, analysts say the Affordable Care Act is important, but the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 is also very important, as it’s MACRA that establishes pay-per-value instead of pay-per-service systems. Separately, the 21st Century Cures Act bill would encourage the use of information technology and data in clinical trials approval process.
Information technology in health care is also expanding to other parts of care providers’ organizations. Some companies are providing services to outsource back-office work. Insurance companies have been spending on payment-accuracy services, to make sure they’re not overpaying due to incorrect coding or fraudulent claims. Analysts also say tat if interest rates increase, that would be positive to insurance companies, and they could be spending more on IT services.
Full report available here.
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