Europe - Next Big EMR Opportunity?

EU Nations Seek to Upgrade Old Systems

Europe may provide opportunity for EMR software companies as European healthcare systems update systems. The European Electronic medical records (EMR) market reached revenues of $6.8 billion in 2012. An established market in some countries and implementation issues in other countries have keep revenue growth at a modest rate of 3% but that’s expected to double in the coming years, according to our new report, EMR in Europe. 

The report identifies the opportunity for EMR companies in each European company. According to its findings, IT integration in Europe is varied depending on the country. Electronic Medical Records have been used for over 10 years in some countries such as the Nordic countries. However, in other countries such as the UK, Germany, France and Spain, EMR adoption is on course with the United States. 

Kalorama finds a fractured but growing market with a lack of pan-European players. Several factors are driving the European EMR market including a growing elderly population, rapid development of medical technology and cost. There is a strong drive to reduce avoidable medical errors thus improving overall quality of care and facilitate sharing of patient information, as well. 

Also driving the adoption of EMR is meeting the legal requirements mandated by the health governing bodies within individual countries to improve security and privacy provisions, complying with government funded policies and increasing organizational performance. 
But there are challenges too, that the report identifies. Key barriers to adoption of EMRs in Europe include lack of funds, time issues, cooperation of users, complexity of the systems and evaluation of need. These barriers differ from country to country but do create stumbling blocks for implementation. The report details how some companies have worked around these barriers to compete. 

Kalorama Information’s market research survey, EMR in Europe details some of the ways that EMR firms can benefit from partnerships and marketing strategies in Europe, and details EMR penetration and the opportunity market for EMR in each country.