Smart Hospitals Market by Component (Hardware, System & Software, and Service), Product (Smart Pill, mHealth, Telemedicine, and Electronic Health Record), Connectivity (Wired and Wireless), Application (Remote Medicine Management Medical Assistance, Medical Connected Imaging, Electronic Health Record & Clinical Workflow, and Others) and Artificial Intelligence (Offering, Technology, and Application) - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2025

Trends Influencing the Global Smart Hospitals Market 

Technological innovations

The booming penetration of wearables and implementation of AI, and IoT solutions are revolutionizing the medical industry. The rising chronic diseases are adding up to the burden on healthcare professionals. Moreover with the expansion of healthcare facilities managing administrative tasks is getting difficult.  Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms have some viable solutions. Addressing critical medical issues is dependent on obtaining precise information in a timely manner. AI-driven real-time analytics provide rapid results by extracting vital information from a plethora of connected devices like smartphones, and tablets to inform doctors and nurses of immediate changes in patient health status. This streamlines the clinical workflow processes. Maintaining EHR( Electronic Health Records) helps in tracking past medical histories, and appointment scheduling. AI optimizes the claims process thereby saving time and resources. This will expand the growth of the smart hospitals market. Vital operational processes are automated thereby freeing up the time of on-site staff and physicians. Telemedicine and shared networks expand healthcare services to remote inaccessible areas. 

Need for cost-effective measures and growing investments

Smart software and IoT integrated solutions are the need of the hour. These applications offer wired and wireless connectivity. All the data are extracted from mHealth apps, remote medicine management, and connected imaging systems onto a single dashboard for quick decision-making. Doctors are able to track health vitals and other trends in real time. For instance, patients suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia can be monitored through devices that provide location data. Furthermore smart pills or chewable sensors provide accurate images of stomach fluids for efficient diagnosis. Maintenance sensors notify facility managers of dangerous leaks or missing equipment. Alerts are sent out instantaneously to track the movement of all the vital machinery. Precision-based diagnosis improves patient comfort and convenience. This will boost the demand for the smart hospital market in the coming years. Wearable technology and smartphones are gradually penetrating every aspect of medical care. Healthcare providers offer information to patients to work on certain aspects. It can be programmed into goals through tracking devices with constant reminders. 

Covid 19 impact

The onslaught of the pandemic has tremendously increased the burden on hospitals and medical staff. The situation during the initial months of controlling the spread of the virus was difficult. This prompted many medical professionals to deploy artificial intelligence-based sensors for aiding triage in healthcare delivery. This will bolster the growth of the smart hospitals market during the forecast period.  Contactless infrared sensor devices are highly effective in identifying people with fever in crowds. The replacement of manual screening options reduces unnecessary exposure of the staff to infected patients. 

Lack of governance standards and lack of knowledge for deploying IoT solutions

Smart hospitals are complicated. The variability in healthcare quality across the globe creates massive issues. This creates a vacuum between staff and board members and they are unable to operationalize key strategic initiatives. Moreover deploying IoT devices in medical facilities is a tough task. There is a multitude of devices like drug delivery systems, heart monitoring equipment, routers, gateways, and other connected infrastructure. This creates multiple languages, standards, and protocols. The ambiguity around data ownership exemplifies no universally accepted standards. Standardization blocks interoperability. This is expected to hamper the growth prospects of the smart hospitals market in the coming years. Device manufacturers do not have the specialized skillset. It is made in isolation from each other. The integration with legacy hardware systems obstructs the seamless communication process. Teams are inadequately trained and know only pre-existing IT operations. Furthermore, IoT devices are heavily dependent on bandwidth and connectivity. Poor cellular networks can have disastrous consequences. The implementation costs are very high hampering the installation process and leading to a spike in the prices of healthcare services. 

Smart Hospitals Market Share

Based on components, the hardware segment is expected to maintain dominance in the smart hospitals market share and will grow with a CAGR of 13% due to the growing utilization of hardware in hospital settings such as wearables and other stationery devices for patient health management. 

Based on product, telemedicine is expected to dominate in the smart hospitals market share due to growing awareness about the potential benefits of telemedicine, low consultation cost, improved patient access, and high quality of treatment. On the other hand, the electronic health records segment will grow the fastest at a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period. 

Based on connectivity, the wireless segment is expected to witness considerable growth in the smart hospitals market share. Wireless devices such as Wifi, Bluetooth, and RFID tags are being used in hospitals to ease the clinical workflow and decrease the costs associated with diagnosis and treatment. RFID will grow at a CAGR of 11.5% during the forecast period. 

Based on application, the electronic health record and clinical workflow segment will provide lucrative opportunities for growth due to rapid adoption owing to the secure sharing of electronic information amongst patients and clinics. It provides quick access to patient data. 

Based on artificial intelligence, the technology segment will grow the largest due to the implementation of deep learning, NLP, and context-aware processing techniques that increase the capacity to store large amounts of data and translate it into functional tools. 

Based on region, North America will witness considerable growth due to the high rate of chronic diseases, rapid increase in the geriatric population, well-established health care infrastructure, and widescale adoption of AI and IoT-driven software applications. While the Asia-pacific segment will grow the fastest due to the huge population base in emerging economies like China and India. The need for intelligent systems to eliminate redundant clinical processes will also contribute to its growth.  

By Component