Healthcare Industry Scouting Report
Executive Summary
The Healthcare industry is the tenth largest in the world in terms of technology spending and ninth in the US. However, Healthcare in the United States is in crisis. Escalating costs of patient care, malpractice insurance, and personal health insurance, heightened expectations of care and services, high regulations through legislation such as HIPAA, minimal use of technology, and the growing numbers of uninsured and underinsured all are contributing factors. Healthcare administrators, health insurance providers, the Federal Government, and State Governments are rapidly working to improve the entire healthcare system. The Federal Government passed the Healthcare Bill in March 2010, after months of debate. The bill is taking active steps to nationalize healthcare standards and provide care to the thousands of uninsured through insurance exchanges and tax credits. One of the primary emphases is accelerating healthcare IT adoption in areas such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and healthcare performance management. With the assistance of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), many hospitals and doctors have financial incentives to adopt these new technologies. Yet, the Healthcare Industry is historically hesitant to adopt new management-focused technologies because incentives are aligned to help management, human resources, or insurance companies but not physicians who are the primary users. Healthcare IT systems are also very costly and typically constitute 15-20% of a hospital’s entire operating budget due to the high numbers of skilled employees required to operate them effectively.
The Healthcare industry is the tenth largest in the world in terms of technology spending and ninth in the US. However, Healthcare in the United States is in crisis. Escalating costs of patient care, malpractice insurance, and personal health insurance, heightened expectations of care and services, high regulations through legislation such as HIPAA, minimal use of technology, and the growing numbers of uninsured and underinsured all are contributing factors. Healthcare administrators, health insurance providers, the Federal Government, and State Governments are rapidly working to improve the entire healthcare system. The Federal Government passed the Healthcare Bill in March 2010, after months of debate. The bill is taking active steps to nationalize healthcare standards and provide care to the thousands of uninsured through insurance exchanges and tax credits. One of the primary emphases is accelerating healthcare IT adoption in areas such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and healthcare performance management. With the assistance of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), many hospitals and doctors have financial incentives to adopt these new technologies. Yet, the Healthcare Industry is historically hesitant to adopt new management-focused technologies because incentives are aligned to help management, human resources, or insurance companies but not physicians who are the primary users. Healthcare IT systems are also very costly and typically constitute 15-20% of a hospital’s entire operating budget due to the high numbers of skilled employees required to operate them effectively.
The Healthcare Industry Scouting Report is a resource for executive and sales professionals in the technology and services industries. This Scouting Report is designed to:
- Segment the market into key types of target customers, and provide a brief overview of the differences between the segments
- Identify the right titles to approach within your target
- Make you smarter about your customer’s business so that you are comfortable with a business conversation
- Help you position your product or service to address the precise pain of your customer
- Provide you a conversation starter to help secure a meeting
- Give you the typical technology landscape within the industry so that you can come better prepared to the meeting
