Investments in health IT systems and services by federal government agencies will increase from $4.5 billion in 2011 to $6.5 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5 percent, according to a new GovWin report from research firm Deltek.
  
“Federal Health Information Technology Market, 2011-2016” explores the federal health IT market environment and future trends and their anticipated impact on vendors, VARS, systems integrators, and federal contractors over the next five years.
  
The federal IT market is seeing unprecedented change that will transform the market over the next decade, moving from a slow but stable market to one that will change continuously in many ways, the report notes. The eventual future of federal IT is one of continuous services that can be accessed by an increasing variety of devices connected via clouds.
  
“Unlike most areas of projected federal spending, health IT purports to be a growth market over the next five years,” write GovWin’s senior analysts. “Rising healthcare costs, aging population, and continued high unemployment drive federal healthcare expenditures up over the next decade and into future.”   
  
The HITECH Act and the Affordable Care Act are driving the federal government to facilitate adoption of health IT at a nationwide level to increase health outcomes, improve U.S. health, and drive down the cost of healthcare, the report also notes Agencies will be forced to spend money to save money in the long run by investing in electronic health record systems, IT infrastructure modernization for health-related agencies, payment system transformation, and IT to promote advancement in population health.
  
GovWin’s key findings are:

• Technology advances, as well as potential long-term cost savings and better health outcomes, drive demand for mobility, telehealth, informatics, decision support, interoperability and common EHRs.
• Federal agencies possess the most advanced EHRs in the world, however due to their age and legacy architectures and technologies, they are overly ripe for major transformation.
• The federal government is the single largest payer of health care services in the U.S., and as such must transform from a “pay for service” model to a “pay for health” model in order to reduce costs and improve population health outcomes.
• Data security, program integrity, care coordination, political agendas, and the deficit present challenges to federal and nationwide health IT adoption and implementation.