The worldwide market for hospital information systems will grow by a compound annual rate of 13 percent for the next six years, reaching $18 billion in 2016, up from $7.8 billion in 2009, research firm GlobalData says. Most of the growth will come from hospitals receiving government subsidies--like those in that start in the U.S. in October--as facilities look to boost efficiency and raise the quality of care through IT.

EMRs make up the largest segment of the market, accounting for $3.4 billion in 2009--more than double the next-largest category, the $1.2 billion market for practice management system--GlobalData reports. EMRs sales are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 15.3 percent through 2016, faster than any other category in the study. GlobalData also looked at the markets for CPOE, pharmacy information systems and laboratory information systems.

In the U.S., the HIS market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 19.3 percent in the seven-year study period, from a baseline of $2.6 billion in 2009. GlobalData bases its estimate on the assumption that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will boost physician EMR adoption to 90 percent and hospital EMR adoption to 70 percent--higher than many other forecasts.

The report also says that GE Healthcare is the global leader in HIS sales, with a 13 percent market share. Siemens is a close second, at 12 percent, while third-place Cerner claims 9 percent of the market.

For more information:
- take a look at this Healthcare Finance News story
- find out how to order the GlobalData report

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