The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented demand for emergency care. Many healthcare sector leaders would like to be at the forefront of tech-enabled medical caregiving. However, the fragmented way that hospitals acquire solutions can introduce cost, time, and resource inefficiencies that hinder care delivery.
As a result, some healthcare providers have embraced the concept of the ‘Smart Hospital’ as a means of optimizing multiple aspects of their operational performance. The current model isn't perfect, and the implementation can present challenges -- such as cybersecurity, interoperability, and solution execution.
Smart Hospital Market Development
According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the smart hospitals market will be worth $59 billion by 2026 -- that's up from $29 billion in 2021, representing an average annual growth of 15 percent.
The concept of the smart hospital includes healthcare providers leveraging advanced analytics, connected devices, and healthcare platforms to improve care, productivity, and operational efficiency.
The new study findings identified the U.S. and China as leading smart hospital adopters, accounting for $17 billion of market value in 2021.
It also highlighted digital healthcare initiatives implemented in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and high levels of existing digitalization within healthcare infrastructure as key to these countries’ positions as global leaders.
Juniper analysts now forecast that the U.S. and China will grow to account for over 60 percent of global smart hospital spending by 2026.
It predicts that these countries’ pre-existing smart hospital services, allied with the formulation of favorable reimbursement structures, will provide an ideal basis for further smart hospital deployments.
However, Juniper cautioned that the need for pre-existing digital infrastructure -- such as electronic health records -- will limit smart hospital roll-outs to developed regions.
As a result, Juniper anticipates that Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East will represent less than 5 percent of global smart hospital spending by 2026.
According to the Juniper assessment, a current lack of interoperability between devices and platforms has resulted in a high degree of fragmentation that will require regulatory intervention on a country-level basis.
"Vendor lock-in and high investment requirements are the most prevalent issues for healthcare providers in adopting smart hospital services," said Adam Wears, research analyst at Juniper Research.
Outlook for Smart Hospital Applications Growth
At a time when healthcare providers are still feeling the impacts of the global pandemic, the long-term benefits of smart hospital services must be demonstrated to foster confidence in these services’ ability to secure a return on investment.
That said, I anticipate more CIOs and CTOs will explore the proven benefits of Digital Workspace solutions to address several of the most common business process productivity-related challenges within hospitals and emergency care facilities.
Doctors, nurses, and other key front-line practitioners need secure access to patient records while mobile throughout the medical facilities. Unified endpoint management is therefore essential to secure all device types and all applications across these high-priority healthcare employee use cases.