Operations apps ready for the spotlight

After years in the shadows, operations applications are about to step into the spotlight.

According to a new HIMSS Analytics report released this week, trends in the data indicate operational applications are poised for some “off the charts” growth, said Lorren Pettit, vice president of market research at HIMSS Analytics. HIMSS Analytics is Healthcare Finance News' sister organization. 

Overall, 14 operations applications are poised for some form of positive growth; nine operational applications, including materials management, patient scheduling and credit/collections, showed a slow down in growth.

But three in particular showed some bigger-than-expected numbers.

Financial modeling came out on top, with HIMSS researchers estimating a more than 12 percent sales growth annually over the next five years. Enterprise resource planning, or ERP, and bed management applications also fared well, having projected sales growth of 5 percent and 3 percent respectively. 

The growth is being pushed by a number of factors, Pettit said.

One of those factors is that the market penetration for financial modeling, ERP and bed management is among the lowest across the 26 operations apps HIMSS officials examined in the report. The market is not saturated for this triad, unlike, say, accounts payable or patient billing, both of which have market penetration rates nearing 100 percent. 

The Affordable Care Act is also having a big impact, in particular on the growth of financial modeling applications, as the health reform law includes carrot-and-stick provisions aimed at shifting healthcare groups away from fee-for-service care toward value-centric models.

As Premier healthcare alliance noted in a report published two years ago by the Commonwealth Fund, “Financial modeling is essential to evaluate various payment options, including the two Shared Savings Program tracks, capitated payments offered though the CMS Innovation Center and private payer arrangements.”

And as the frenzy to nab financial incentives from the government’s Meaningful Use Program subsides, the “unnatural market” caused by those incentives will transition back to a “natural” market, said Pettit, in which healthcare organizations revisit the operations side of things in big numbers.

This story is based on a report appearing on Healthcare IT News.