DX: Hospital executives and IT pros might as well get used to those initials, which analyst house IDC and some others use to refer to "digital transformation."

While DX is not an entirely new concept, IDC just projected that the overall DX market will blast off toward $20 trillion in short order, representing more than 20 percent of GDP. Global GDP, that is.

IDC determined that fewer than 5 percent of companies, spanning 14 vertical industries including healthcare, have made a full digital transformation. What’s more, 67 percent are in the early stages. As hospitals, payers and other healthcare organizations embark on such a transformation, in fact, both Internet of Things and wearable devices will play an increasingly important role.

[Also: Hospital datacenters: Extinct in 5 years?]

IoT apps and devices, for instance, are projected to soar to $1.3 billon by 2020 with the fastest growth industries being healthcare, insurance, consumer and retail.

IDC also estimated that wearables — clothing, earwear, watches, wristbands and other devices — will hyper-segment and bounce back after a brief slowdown last year. And the firm estimated that consumers will snap up 237.5 million units a year by 2021, up from the 102.4 million they bought in 2016.

"The full disruptive impact of DX has not yet been realized and is going to fundamentally change business markets and how you attract, delight, and retain customers," IDC analysts noted.

Twitter: @SullyHIT
Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com

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