Dedicated Cardiology Information Systems Offer High Potential Throughout Europe

Business Wire, Oct 29, 2007

LONDON -- After the emergence of picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) as the vital infrastructure of any modern radiology department, the focus soon turned to the possibilities of other specialists improving their communication with the radiology department. Vendors have been increasingly keen to provide better means of image processing and communication to potential customers in orthopaedics, neurology, oncology, histology and cardiology.

Of all these disciplines, cardiology is the largest producer of images and associated clinical and administrative information. Thus, departmental cardiology information systems (CIS) have emerged and, combined with a cardiology PACS, have become the leading software feature in modern cardiology departments.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.healthcareIT.frost.com), Cardiology Information Systems Market in Europe, finds that the market was worth USD 26.9 million in 2006 and is estimated to reach USD 83.6 million in 2013.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users and other industry participants with an overview of the Cardiology Information Systems Market in Europe, then send an e-mail to Radhika Menon Theodore, Corporate Communications, at rmtheodore@frost.com with your full name, company name, title, telephone number and e-mail address. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

Various changes in the treatment of heart diseases have contributed to a noticeable reduction in the number of associated deaths. Cardiologists today have a much better understanding of the dynamics of the cardiovascular system, partly due to advances in digital imaging.

"The growing emphasis on routine screening for individuals 45 years of age and older is merely indicative of the shift in recent years in the medical community away from acute interventional care and towards preventative care," notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Konstantinos Nikolopoulos. "As a result, cardiac screening is now starting at a much earlier age, as physicians seek to uncover potential cardiovascular issues before the onset of chronic cardiopulmonary disease. This new philosophy is likely to contribute to the heightened demand for CIS."

The demands for diagnostic and interventional cardiology procedures will rise proportionately with the ageing of the population. In parallel, governments have been trying to reduce healthcare costs: the number of hospital beds in Europe has been decreasing steadily over the past ten years and the length of stay in hospital has also been reduced significantly. An ageing and increasingly health-conscious population exercises strong pressure on the financial resources required to run the national healthcare systems, which, in turn, are under pressure to reduce their running costs. All these factors create an ideal environment for the use of clinical information systems. The CIS market in Europe will certainly benefit from such strong driving forces.

Over the last few years, healthcare providers have invested significantly towards enterprise-wide applications such as hospital information systems, PACS and end-to-end administrative applications. Several departments in the enterprise such as cardiology, orthopaedics, emergency and surgery have become significant producers and users of both image and textual data.

However, no enterprise solution can provide adequate coverage for the unique needs of every clinical department and - especially in cardiology - a departmental IT system is usually preferred. This creates a need for tight integration between the different systems across the hospital and is a major challenge for all market participants.

"In cardiology, there is a growing demand to integrate the cardiology information system to the diagnostic equipment and medical devices within the department, triggering tremendous internal efforts for vendors to integrate their solutions portfolio," explains Nikolopoulos. "Vendors are facing increased demand for systems of broader scope that maintain an open systems architecture and facilitate integration even with third-party products - a change both necessary and challenging for the majority."

Although different clients have different demands from a CIS product, integration with other hospital IT systems seems to be emerging as one of the primary user requirements.

"From the hospital manager's perspective, a key strategy would be to achieve integration so as to provide clinicians with all the data in order to give them the best possible view of their patient's condition," says Nikolopoulos. "CIS vendors should be able to provide such high levels of integration with other departmental or enterprise IT systems."

Cardiology Information Systems Market in Europe is part of the Healthcare & Life Sciences IT Growth Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the following markets: Patient Data Safety in the European Healthcare IT Markets, European Computerised Physician Order Entry Systems Market, European Electronic Medical Records Market and European Hospital Information Systems Market. All research included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.