" Talking about EMEA, it's never easy to get a general picture. We need to consider that we are talking about a hundred different countries, with their specific healthcare organizations and settings and peculiar issues. Nevertheless, across the region there are common threats of cost pressures, human resources /skills constraints, and the changing demand for healthcare services driven by chronic patients' needs and the increasing expectation on quality. From the analysis of these general trends combined with single countries situations, at IDC Health Insights we have identified three themes that have guided us through this year's top 10 predictions" says Silvia Piai EMEA Research Manager at IDC Health Insights.
According to IDC Health Insights, three key themes for EMEA healthcare in 2012 are:
- Smart delivery models: to cope with the chronic fragmentation of the sector, healthcare organizations are looking for smarter delivery models for their IT infrastructures, integrating technologies as cloud and virtualization and revamping the shared services business models. IT systems need to support integrated care delivery model and a transmural shared EHR is the key building block of effective IT strategies.
- Smart information management: the data explosion phenomenon is hugely impacting healthcare, so healthcare organizations will need to look for effective information management. Secure document and content management and analytics will be key areas of investment. Organizations will also look at capitalizing on the large amount of patient information for secondary uses as research, knowledge and organization management.
- Smart procurement and contracting: the new market environment will oblige healthcare executive to carefully analyze their procurement models, finding ways to rationalize and standardize their IT assets. As EMEA moves towards a more services based healthcare industry, definition and evolution of SLAs will be the key to success for new implementations.
IDC Health Insights EMEA top 10 predictions for 2012 and beyond are:
1. Cloud, virtualization, streamlined infrastructures will see solid uptake
2. Shared services is, again, the "new black", but rightsizing will make the difference
3. Integrated personal health systems will blur the lines of social care and healthcare information systems
4. Mobility will be a key driver for wider focus on interoperability
5. Security will be the corollary of investments on document and content management
6. Storage growth and PACS replacements drive investment in VNA
7. Investment in analytics continues to surge
8. EHR/EMR data secondary use will start having real world experience
9. Rationalization of health IT assets will drive standardization
10. Fine-tuning SLAs will be the success factor for new IT delivery models
Web Conference Details: IDC Health Insights Predictions 2012: EMEA Health
IDC Health Insights EMEA-focused predictions discussed prevailing health industry issues for 2012, while providing perspective into longer-term or emerging trends. While highlighting the dynamics of the current health industry market the web conference focused on common themes of cost containment, regulatory compliance, quality improvement and patient safety, EMR and EHR for providers, connected health, healthcare industry reform, and the life sciences value chain. Jan Duffy, EMEA Research Director, and Silvia Piai, Research Manager for IDC Government Insights and IDC Health Insights presented the web conference. Click here to register: http://bit.ly/...
For additional information about this research, or to arrange a one-on-one briefing with an IDC Health Insights analyst, contact Kanupriya@idc.com. Follow IDC Insights on Twitter: @IDCInsights.