Anesthesia Delivery Market To Reach $4 BillionAnesthesia Delivery Market To Reach $4 Billion

17 Leading EHR Vendors

The anesthesia, respiratory, and sleep management device market will reach approximately $4 billion by 2017, and much of that growth will be driven by sales of anesthesia information management systems, or AIMS, a report from iData Research shows.

The report, "U.S. Market for Anesthesia, Respiratory, and Sleep Management Devices," shows that in 2010 the market was valued at more than $2.5 billion, a 3.7% increase over the previous year. The overall market is estimated to grow at a midlevel single-digit rate over the forecast period.

"The market for anesthesia information management systems will increase by over 50% in 2012 as hospitals automate their anesthesia departments ahead of the 2015 deadline outlined in U.S. legislation," Dr. Kamran Zamanian, CEO of iData, said in a statement. "AIMS automates data collection in the anesthesia department, streamlining workflow, improving electronic records, and decreasing malpractice claims. Picis, GE Healthcare, Draeger, iMDsoft, Merge and Philips are battling for market share in this segment, which will almost triple in value by 2017."

The report says companies such as Mindray Medical International Ltd., Maquet, and Penlon are entering the U.S. anesthesia delivery unit market, forcing established market leaders to release low-cost, low-acuity models to compete. As a result of these falling prices, unit sales are expected to increase through 2017.

One example of this was the February announcement that Mindray’s A5 Anesthesia System has received 510(k) premarket notification clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The A5 anesthesia device, part of the all-new A Series portfolio, is an anesthesia delivery platform that will complement Mindray's broad range of existing ultrasound and patient monitoring systems.

According to Mindray, A5 is the only anesthesia machine that conforms to the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise Patient Care Domain profile. At no additional charge, every A5 provides data output in the industry-standard HL7 protocol. HL7, with the IHE PCD profile, is recognized among AIMS and electronic medical records systems as the demonstrated industry standard for unambiguous interoperability.

With regard to electronic medical records, iData Research released a companion report showing that EMRs are estimated to bring in more than $7.4 billion in sales and annual support revenue by 2017.

The report notes that dramatic investment in this market is an effort by healthcare providers to comply with the Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act by 2013 to avoid paying penalties. Allscripts-Misys, eClincalWorks, Epic Systems, McKesson and NextGen are competing for dominance in this lucrative market.

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