Infection surveillance systems, outreach services and patient acuity poised for growth

Infection surveillance systems, outreach services and patient acuity applications are positioned for growth in the hospital sector, according to a study by HIMSS Analytics that evaluated clinical applications not included in the EMR Adoption Model.

Researchers analyzed 27 clinical applications using the HIMSS Analytics Database. Two nursing category applications—infection surveillance systems and patient acuity applications—and a laboratory application—outreach services—were observed as opportunities for health IT vendors, both having a maturing market penetration status and an accelerated projected sales volume, according to the report, Summer 2014 Essentials.

“It is really in line with where the forces are going in healthcare,” Lorren Pettit, MS, MBA, vice president of market research for HIMSS Analytics, told Clinical Innovation + Technology.

Infection surveillance fits in with hospitals’ work to identify complications before patients are discharged and ultimately avoid potential readmissions. “It’s tethered very closely to what CMS is dictating,” he said, noting federal agencies’ push to reduce readmissions through penalties and other policies.

The growth in outreach services ties in with hospitals’ own shift toward population health and population health management.

“These are very ethereal terms and pretty aspirational goals,” he said. Hospitals are taking a more tangible approach by doing basic work like building outreach services. For example, they are working with providers out in the community that are managing patients with diabetes, he said.

One “surprising” finding was that the rate of replacements for outcomes and quality management applications was “much higher than anything else.” Pettit speculates that as such tools are closely tied to the rapidly changing framework of value-based purchasing, the data based programs keep “morphing” and the tools have to keep up.

“It’s a moving target. You have to have the right tools,” he said.

Learn more about the report here.