Practice management system market

Practice management system (PMS) helps manage the daily operations of an organization. These systems find wide application across various verticals in an industry. Increasing investments to upgrade healthcare facilities, especially in developed regions and growth of the healthcare IT industry in developing regions, is creating a highly conducive environment for growth of the practice management systems market. Increasing adoption of PMS has been witnessed in emerging nations such as Indian, China, South Africa, and Brazil, in order to streamline operations and in turn provide better healthcare facilities in these countries. PMS allows for efficient management of health data, patient scheduling, billing process, and referral policies.

Physicians and group organizations need to maintain large amounts of data of day-to-day activities. Practice management system addresses these needs, maintaining critical patient information such as patient demographics, appointment schedule, insurance payer data, billing, and diagnostic and treatment history. Practice management system software are often synchronized with electronic medical record (EMR) or electronic health records (EMR) software for better hospital management.   

Practice Management Systems Market Taxonomy:

The global market is segmented as follows:

• Software type:
• Desktop-only software - intended for single or few computer sharing access
• Client-server software - allow multiple users to share and access data, and
• Internet-based software - do need separate server for operation
• Delivery Platform:
• Web-based
• Cloud
• On-premise
• Product Type:
• Integrated
• Standalone
• Components:
• Hardware
• Software
• End Users:
• Physicians
• Pharmacists
• Diagnostic Laboratories

Increasing hospital visiting on the back of rising prevalence of Chronic and Infectious Diseases creating favorable environment for market growth

• World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there would be around 24 million cancer cases globally by 2035. In the U.S., over one-third of the adult population is obese, as revealed by statistics released by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016). As obesity is a major predisposing factor to various diseases such as diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases, steep rise in patient population is expected in the near future.
• Prevalence of infectious diseases is also on the rise. Moreover, increasing instanced of drug-resistance has mandated physicians to maintain medication history of patient.
• Rapid rise in geriatric population: According to WHO, over 2 billion individuals worldwide will be aged 60 years and above by 2050. A detailed report published by CDC projects that by 2030, 20% of the U.S. population would comprise of geriatric people. The report also details that cardiovascular diseases is the leading cause of deaths in adults aged 65 and above in the U.S.

Rapid rise in patients visiting hospitals mandates efficient keeping of patient history and record maintenance, in turn fueling growth of the practice management systems market.

High Installation Cost Hindering Growth in Emerging Economies

The practice management systems market share is mainly concentrated in the U.S. mainly due to presence of dense network of hospitals and existing complex healthcare service management and insurance systems. The healthcare system in the U.S., is very unlike that in other countries. Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) have been set up, and thus patients tend to visit multiple physicians. Hence, maintenance of consistence treatment history becomes difficult. The market is also growing in major European countries such as the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The PMS market is yet in its introductory phase in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East regions, owing to low diagnosis and treatment rate combined with financial challenges linked with deployment of expensive software systems.

Key Suppliers in the global practice management systems market: Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. Henry Schein MicroMD, Athenahealth, Inc., GE Healthcare, NextGen Healthcare Information System LLC, Practice Fusion, McKesson Corporation, Greenway Medical AdvantEgde Healthcare Solutions, MediTouch, and Accumedic Computer Systems.

Key Developments

1. Major players are focused on various business strategies such as product launches to expand their product portfolio. For instance, in March 2018, Allscripts, a healthcare solutions provider, launched Avenel, which is healthcare industry’s first machine learning electronic health record (EHR). Avenel is built on Microsoft Azure cloud that will offer new approach and mobility to users.
2. Key players are focused on different business strategies such as merger and acquisition to gain competitive advantage in the market. For instance, in July 2019, Henry Schein acquired an Italian dental practice management software company Elite Computer Italia. This deal will provide integrated software platforms to dental teams.
3. Major companies in the market are involved in different business strategies such as partnership and collaboration, in order to enhance their market presence. For instance, in March 2019, McKesson Corporation collaborated with Navigating Cancer, in order to provide an enhanced Patient Relationship Management (PRM) platform for community-based oncologists. This software platform will offer improved patient management in value-based care.