EMR Incentives Expected to Boost Handheld Device Use in Healthcare

Stimulus incentives designed to spur hospitals and physicians to use electronic medical record (EMR) systems are among several factors that will drive the growth of handheld devices use in the U.S. healthcare system. These are the latest findings of Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA), an independent market research firm.

According to the Kalorama Information report, patient monitoring devices account for the largest share of sales in the handheld market, largely due to the range of products available, the number of conditions requiring monitoring, and an increasing demand for essential monitoring products in portable sizes, such as ultrasound (US) and electrocardiogram (ECG) devices. The use of administrative devices have also risen sharply over the last five years, due to the growing use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, and tablet personal computers (PCs) taking hold in the healthcare industry. Advances in technology and the continued benefits provided by handheld devices are a significant factor driving this market.

The propensity of doctors and nurses to use the handheld devices is also generating sales, as are other factors such as an aging and growing population, a shortage of qualified medical professionals, cost restraints, and medical error reduction measures. The manufacturers supplying new technologies to hospitals are mainly large, established healthcare companies, often working in conjunction with other information technology (IT) companies on an entire system. Some of the top companies offering handheld devices are Research in Motion (RIM; Waterloo, ON, Canada), GE Healthcare, Global Media, Medtronic, Omron (Kyoto, Japan), Siemens Healthcare, and Welch Allyn.

"Healthcare workers need to be mobile, and so PDAs and monitoring devices have long been a good fit… the [U.S. federal] incentives for electronic medical records do not specifically reimburse doctors for devices,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. "But they are getting healthcare organizations to think about IT purchases, and they are helping to make the argument for better electronic data entry, something that we think will lead to increased sales for devices used to enter data.”

Related Links:
Kalorama Information
Research in Motion
Omron