The medical computer cart market is expected to reach US$ 2,152.66 million by 2028 from US$ 885.81 million in 2021; it is estimated to register a CAGR of 13.5% from 2021 to 2028. Rise in adoption of electronic medical record and electronic health record systems and increasing adoption of cloud-based technologies are among the key factors driving the market. However, the availability of alternatives for computers is hindering market growth.
Electronic health record systems collect, create, and store patients’ data. The adoption of these systems among healthcare providers has been slow earlier. In the US, the federal government recently passed laws requiring the use of electronic records or files. The electronic record systems help improve the process of clinical documentation, tracking, quality, billing, and coding, along with making the health records portable. The core components of these systems include administrative functions, computer-aided recording of doctor’s orders, laboratory systems, radiology systems, pharmacy systems, and clinical documentation systems. HL7 is a standard communication protocol technology that is mostly used in the electronic health record systems. The advantages of an electronic patient record include the gain in healthcare efficiency, and quality and safety along with lower healthcare costs for consumers. These systems simplify patient information management, increase productivity, and reduce costs associated with managing medical information. Moreover, effective information management enables healthcare providers with improved access to information. The EMR systems considers some important human factors, ergonomics, work processes, and environmental conditions. These factors must be considered to improve the quality and cost of patient care, and the safety of staff and patients. Medical staff and doctors spend prolonged time uncomfortably when using keyboards and other input devices. Thus, the use of EMR systems leads to the rise in number of ergonomic injuries among them, especially because of not paying attention to technology, manufacturer design, and training aspects. Such situations need to be addressed through strategies that control and mitigate the risks and conditions.
Further, the EMR systems are gaining popularity among healthcare providers such as hospitals and clinics for storing patient data such as anamnesis, diagnoses, medication, vaccination data, allergies, and laboratory results. As computers may require connections to various movable medical devices such as portable X-ray machines and ECG devices, the computer carts play an essential role in accommodating monitors, CPUs, keyboards, scanners, and other accessories in one place. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and Medical Care in 2020 that compared metadata from clinicians in the US, Canada, Northern Europe, Western Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania, it was hereby found that the clinicians in the US actively spent a total of 90 minutes using the electronic health record (EHR) compared to non-US clinicians who used to spend about an hour daily on EHR. Therefore, the increasing adoption of EMR and EHR systems by healthcare providers is driving the growth of the medical computer cart market. The mobile computer trolleys have a computer workstation with a laptop and often contains drawers for storing common medical devices. When healthcare professionals collect patient data, they can immediately enter the information into the EHR on-site, providing the patient’s doctor an instant access to the data. An ideal mobile medical computer cart can be used as a point of care cart and taken to hospital beds. Flexible mobile computer carts are equipped with height adjustment systems containing the same data management system that every desktop computer uses in the facility. A battery-powered computer cart should be equipped with a long-lasting battery to ensure that it will last several shifts. Hot-swap batteries are a suitable option to keep mobile computers running all day.
Healthcare workers spending less time accessing wall-mounted computers can spend more time providing quality patient care. Easy computer access also accelerates the processes such as doctors’ appointments confirmation and query resolution; as a result, patients feel connected to clinics and are encouraged to get more involved in their own treatment.
Type Insights
Based on type, the global medical computer cart market is segmented into powered medical computer carts and integrated medical computer carts. In 2020, the integrated medical computer carts segment held a larger share of the market. However, the powered medical computer carts segment is expected to register a higher CAGR in the market during 2021–2028. The market players offer medical computer carts integrated with various essential devices, such as a video camera, keyboard, and scanning devices. The wide acceptance of the integrated medical computer carts by medical professionals is expected to drive the market in forecast period.
End Users Insights
Based on end users, the medical computer cart market is segmented into hospitals, diagnostic centers, ambulatory surgical centers, and others. The hospitals segment held the largest market share in 2021, and it is expected to continue dominating the market by 2028. The hospitals segment is expected to hold a significant market share in the medical computer carts market due to the rising adoption of digitization of the healthcare system, availability of various types of products, and the growing adoption rate of these devices in hospital settings.
A few major primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the global medical computer cart market are West Monroe Partner report, Journal of Patient Safety, National Electronic Health Records Survey, Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canada Health Infoway, Central Intelligence Agency, Max Planck Institute, International Trade Corporation, Business Monitor International, and Worldometer.