The German Healthcare Market – A Growth Market
There is no other sector in Germany which is subject to a more fundamental transformation than healthcare. Advances in science and technology, and demographic change, are outlining already today the emerging gigantic growth market. In total, German hospitals had accumulated an investment backlog of approx. 50 bn EUR by 2007 – a backlog which, in the face of continuously ris-ing challenges in a healthcare system affected by the DRG system, must – and will – be resolved in the near future.
The reasons are obvious: healthcare providers need to be economically viable and competitive in order to survive. This requires effective workflows and in-creased quality of the services rendered. Both of these can only be achieved using state-of-the-art medical technology and IT. The developments described above will have a positive influence on investments in these areas. The Deutscher Industrieverband für optische, medizinische und mechatronische Technologien (SPECTARIS, German Industry Association for Optical, Medical and Mechatronical Technologies) therefore predicts significant increases in turnover for the vendors.
It is in particular the managers in German hospitals who have to meet manifold challenges in 2008: They have to show their core competency for strategic tasks in information management, they have to master these modified requirements, and produce relevant successes. It is still part of the priorities of IT managers in German hospitals to bring digitization forward.
In order to meet these challenges, managers rely on innovative solutions from the industry.
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