A study from Frost & Sullivan helps put the electronic health record (EHR) market boom in perspective by focusing on European growth. The average market penetration rate is expected to increase by 10 percent over the remainder of the decade.
The report cites the rising aging population, the need for remote monitoring and chronic disease management, and the establishment of health care information exchanges (HIEs) as major factors pushing that growth.
Areas contributing to resistance, or stifling the spread of EHRs include concerns around privacy and security of confidential patient information, a lack of standards for interoperability, and worsening market fragmentation due to difficulties implementing a pan-European EHR strategy.
The European countries with the greatest EHR adoption rates are Scandinavia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Benelux.
