Medical document management market to top $425 million by 2019, report finds

The global medical document management systems market is estimated to grow by 13 to 14 percent over the next five years, according to report released this month by Dallas-based MarketsandMarkets.

The market, worth around $220 million in 2014, could hit $424.5 million by 2019, according to the report.

Medical document management systems create, manage and secure electronic medical documents, as well as streamline workflows. The systems have become critical to healthcare industry over the past few years due to the increasing adoption of electronic health records and other health information management systems mandated by new federal and local laws, according to MarketsandMarkets.

Moreover, more data is being generated due to the increasing number of patients being treated and the rising number of medical facilities, according to the report. Management of this data and the need to minimize the use of paper to reduce operational costs and storage issues is also driving the market for electronic documentation.

The medical document market, worth around $220 million in 2014, could hit $424.5 million by 2019. -Tweet this

However, the high costs of implementation, confidentiality concerns and the reluctance of medical, nursing and other staff to change their traditional ways are restricting the growth of this market.

Geographically, North America dominates market, mainly due to the presence of regulations such as HIPPA and ARRA.

Prominent players in the global medical document management systems market are McKesson Corporation, 3M Company, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, GE Healthcare, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Toshiba Medical Systems Corp., Cerner Corp., Kofax Ltd., EPIC Systems and Hyland Software.

In addition, a number of small and mid-size players in the market are challenging the bigger players. To increase their market share, mid-size and small players are continuously upgrading existing products and launching new ones, while the big players are acquiring small firms to expand and strengthen their product portfolios, according to the report.