Columbus, OH – Recognizing the increasing importance of the healthcare information technology (HIT) industry, Columbus 2020 released today an industry profile that examines the Columbus Region’s position in the growing field and national trends behind the industry. The third to be released by Columbus 2020, the profile identifies HIT as a niche industry important to the Region’s economy. Conducted in collaboration with industry expert James Stoodt of Healthcare in Motion, LLC, the profile includes interviews with Columbus Region tech companies, healthcare providers and industry associations.
According to the profile, although healthcare spending in the U.S. has grown exponentially since the 1960s, overall industry practices have only changed incrementally. However, the Affordable Care Act and technology advances have been catalysts for rapid and significant industry transformation in recent years, causing the healthcare field to pivot and streamline to improve services. As a result, information technology in healthcare, also known as “digital health,” is now recognized as a legitimate way to meet improvement goals within the field.
HIT includes services ranging from the Electronic Health Record, data collection, analytics, telemedicine, mobile apps, wearables, robotics and more. As the HIT field grows, investment increases; venture capital firms’ investments in healthcare IT nearly doubled between 2014 and 2015, increasing from $10.5 billion to $21.1 billion, respectively.
The Columbus Region, which is home to several renowned healthcare organizations, a concentration of IT talent and available innovation capital, is well positioned to play a prominent role in the HIT industry. In addition to outstanding healthcare providers like Mt. Carmel, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, OhioHealth and The Ohio State University, the Region is home to a range of small and mid-sized healthcare technology companies and startups like Beam Technologies, CoverMyMeds and CrossChx. Startups and entrepreneurs in the Region benefit from innovation funds from organizations like the OhioHealth Innovation Development fund, Cardinal Health’s Fuse Labs, and venture development organization Rev1 Ventures. In addition, the Columbus Region is poised to lead the way in health analytics, with help from The Ohio State University, the Columbus Collaboratory and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
The profile includes several calls to action to key players in the industry, including health systems, entrepreneurs and investors, giving each group suggestions on how they can work to improve HIT overall. In particular, the profile encourages those in the Columbus Region to collaborate to help move the U.S. towards a new model of health care that “focuses on quality, safety, and the cost-effectiveness of care.”