Patient flow management involves the optimization of patient flow in a quick, efficient, and effective manner, thereby meeting the patient’s demand and improving coordination of care, patient safety, and health outcomes. Patient flow is primarily associated with hospitals, specifically with back-ups and overcrowding in emergency departments and inefficient scheduling in surgical departments. Poorly managed patient flow in hospitals can lead to adverse health outcomes, including increased re-admissions and mortality rates.
The increasing need for patient flow management solutions to reduce overcrowding, hospitals’ efforts to reduce the waiting time for patients receiving treatment’, and the efficient use of beds are expected to drive the growth of the patient flow management solutions market. Benefits offered by patient flow management solution include a decrease in human error and the better utilization of human resources, which are expected to fuel the market growth in the near future.
The global patient flow management solutions market is estimated to be valued at US$ 1,071.2 million in 2022 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 18.8% during the forecast period (2022-2030).
Figure 1. Global Patient Flow Management Solutions Market Share (%), by Region, 2022
Rising need to manage increased patient flow in healthcare facilities is driving the market growth
Patient flow management solutions are used to regulate the increasing flow of patients in and out of hospitals and other health care settings, which helps reduce overcrowding and delay in care. Furthermore, as more people are gaining access to insurance and coverage, care, patient flow to hospitals and medical centers will increase, which could worsen the situation by increasing frequency of visiting to Doctors. A number of hospitals and healthcare systems are incorporating strategies to improve patient flow management. For instance, in December 2020, according to Healthcare IT News, the patient flow management was the crucial task .The demand of managing the patients with covid-19, patient suffering from chronic disease, and the visitors count increased. As treating Covid-19 patients became the priority, the National Health Service (NHS) had to reprioritize care, leading to delays for patients who needed routine care. In addition, the National Health Service (NHS) led the largest mass vaccination program, in 2021 at the U.S.A in its history. All of these had a huge impact on patients and staff, hence need for patient flow management solution rised.
| Report Coverage | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Year: | 2021 | Market Size in 2019: | US$ 1,071.2 Mn |
| Historical Data for: | 2017 to 2020 | Forecast Period: | 2022 to 2030 |
| Forecast Period 2022 to 2030 CAGR: | 18.8% | 2030 Value Projection: | US$ 4,260.6 Mn |
| Geographies covered: |
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| Segments covered: |
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| Companies covered: |
Getinge AB, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc., Cerner Corporation, McKesson Corporation, Epic Systems Corporation, Aptean, Inc., Sonitor Technologies, Inc., Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., and TeleTracking Technologies, Inc |
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| Growth Drivers: |
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| Restraints & Challenges: |
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Figure 2.Global Patient Flow Management Solutions Market Share (%), by Component, 2022
Technological advancements in patient flow management solutions is driving the market growth
The rising adoption of cloud-based models and increasing penetration and usage of portable devices in patient flow management solutions are expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities in the near future. Moreover, high return on investment achieved by the adoption of these solutions, significant demand for enhanced quality care of the patients, and increased need for cost reduction by hospitals are expected to contribute to market growth over the forecast period.
Patient tracking using real-time location systems (RTLS) offers several technologies such as radio-frequency identification (RFID), infrared and ultrasound, depending on the cost, infrastructure requirements, and percussion.
Other developments in the field of patient flow management solutions, include Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which uses far less battery power than conventional Bluetooth technology. BLE-enabled devices can create a more efficient workflow when it gets integrated with RTLS and Electronic Health Records (EHR). The complexity of locating patients, staff, and visitors in the hospitals and healthcare environment requires a fully integrated combination of diverse technologies to achieve maximum advantage of patient flow management system.
Global Patient Flow Management Solutions Market – Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
Since the COVID-19 virus outbreak in December 2019, the disease has spread to over 100 countries across the globe and the World Health Organization had declared it a public health emergency on January 30, 2020.
The COVID-19 can affect the economy in three main ways: by directly affecting the production and demand for drugs, by creating disruptions in distribution channels, and through its financial impact on firms and financial markets. Due to nationwide lockdowns, several countries such as China, India, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Egypt, and others are facing problems with regard to the transportation of drugs from one place to another.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the global patient flow management solutions market, owing to the increasing use of telehealth to consult doctors. For instance, in July 2021, according to an article published by the National Center for Biotechnological Information (NCBI), in the early COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth usage surged as consumers and providers sought ways to safely access and deliver healthcare. In April 2020, overall telehealth utilization for office visits and outpatient care was 78 times higher globally than in February 2020. After an initial spike to more than 32% of office and outpatient visits occurring via telehealth in April 2020, utilization levels have largely stabilized, ranging from 13% to 17% globally across all specialties. In July 2021, it had been found to increase by 38% compared to before the pandemic. After the first wave of the COVID-19, virtual healthcare models and business models have been evolving and proliferating, moving from purely ‘virtual urgent care’ to a range of services enabling longitudinal virtual care, integration of telehealth with other virtual health solutions, and hybrid virtual/in-person care models, with the potential to improve consumer access, outcomes, experience/convenience, and affordability. Around 40% of surveyed consumers globally stated that they believe they will continue to use telehealth going forward—up from 11% of consumers using telehealth prior to the COVID-19.
Global Patient Flow Management Solutions Market: Key Developments
In August 2021, Philips, a multinational conglomerate company, announced the introduction of two new Philips HealthSuite solutions that are secure, cloud-based, and intended to break down barriers across patient care in a scalable, cost-effective model. During the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS) HIMSS21, Philips showcased and introduced Philips Patient Flow Capacity Suite and Philips Acute Care Telehealth – key HealthSuite solutions that allow health systems to integrate informatics applications that can be combined and scaled up or down according to emerging needs. Philips HealthSuite solutions help health systems deliver on the quadruple aim through a connected, protected, future-ready, and cost-predictive single cloud infrastructure and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.
Global Patient Flow Management Solutions Market: Restraint
The major factors that hinder the growth of the global patient flow management solutions market include the high-cost management system used to manage patient flow. For instance, according to the data published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), in October 2021, patients' not only expect to obtain medical treatment but also expect expected to obtain timely and effective medical services at a reasonable cost but also expected to enjoy a higher level of medical services at a reasonable cost as they pay more attention to the service quality and service perception of the medical behavior itself. Seven models including XGBoost, SVM, RF, and NNAR were proposed by HoltWinters to predict patient flow over the next 14 days and 12 months in the year 2021 around world.
Key Players
Major players operating in the global patient flow management solutions market include Getinge AB, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc., Cerner Corporation, McKesson Corporation, Epic Systems Corporation, Aptean, Inc., Sonitor Technologies, Inc., Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., and TeleTracking Technologies, Inc.
Patient flow management represents the ability of the healthcare system to serve patients quickly and efficiently, as they move through stages of care. A large volume of patient information is generated in healthcare facilities due to a rampant increase in the incidence of chronic diseases across the globe. The manual system of patient flow management is relatively unreliable and is prone to human error and data loss. Manual data management requires extensive manpower and is a cumbersome and relatively expensive task. However, hospitals and healthcare providers are now aware of managing the ever-growing patient flow by adopting integrated patient flow management solutions. Moreover, the increasing prevalence of various diseases is expected to accelerate hospital admissions and patient flow, thereby resulting in the increasing adoption of patient flow management solutions to manage daily patient flow across various hospitals and medical care settings.
A significant reduction in time, labor cost, human error, and data loss offered by patient flow management solutions and the increasing burden of chronic diseases are major factors driving the market growth.
Market Dynamics
The increasing number of hospital admissions and shortage of healthcare professionals is expected to create more burden on the current hospital patient flow management system, thereby increasing the demand for advanced patient flow management solutions. A report published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), in March 2018, focused on the scenario of the shortage of healthcare physicians in both primary and specialty care. This report updated and aligned estimates conducted in 2015, 2016, and 2017, which showed a projected shortage of physicians between 42,600 and 121,300 by 2030 globally. The report aggregated the shortages into four broad categories: primary care, medical specialties, surgical specialties, and other specialties. According to this report, an estimated shortfall of between 14,800 and 49,300 primary care physicians will be reported by 2030. Furthermore, for the same period, there will be a shortage in non-primary care specialties between 33,800 and 72,700 physicians.
Key features of the study:
Detailed Segmentation:
“*” marked represents similar segmentation in other categories in the respective section.
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