UK investment in healthcare IT to top £3bn by 2016

Spending on IT within the UK's healthcare sector will hit £3bn by 2016, according to analyst firm Ovum's latest IT market forecast. This represents a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 of 13 per cent. Ovum found that the UK's ageing population and the urgent need to cut costs in the sector is driving increased investment.
"Of all the regions we analysed, the UK will experience the strongest growth over the forecast period," said Cornelia Wels-Maug, Ovum's healthcare technology analyst. "A key driver for the investment is the urgent need to do more with less, owing to the ever-increasing number of patients with chronic illnesses as the population lives longer," she said."The cost of delivering a healthcare service that doesn't compromise on quality is spiralling out of control. Investments in IT are part of the solution," she added.
Telehealth, which includes services that monitor conditions via telecommunications technology, and health information exchanges (HIE) are expected to see the strongest growth.
Telehealth will have seen a CAGR of 15.1 per cent between 2010 and 2016, while HIE's CAGR is expected to be 13.2 per cent.However, it will be electronic health records and digital imaging solutions that continue to be the key health investment areas for the UK."Increasing access, accuracy and availability of healthcare data are absolutely fundamental to cutting costs. It reduces double testing of patients for various diseases and improves the overall efficiency of hospitals and surgeries," said Wels-Maug.

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