The advent of health IT (HIT) argues favorably for various developments and breakthroughs in the healthcare sector. This is especially beneficial to record and store various healthcare data. One such system revolutionizing the healthcare sector is laboratory information management systems, a segment witnessing promising growth in the recent past.
Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is a software system that records, stores, and manages data and images for clinical laboratories. These are extensively used in public health organizations and their associated laboratories to manage and report crucial data regarding the status of patient care, and other information regarding infection and immunology. The advanced system accurately links and stores retrievable patient data that provides reliable information crucial for effective diagnosis and treatment.
Laboratory Information Management Systems
According to the report titled ‘Global Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) Market By Product Type (Standalone, Integrated), By Component (Hardware, Software, Services), By Delivery Mode (On-Premise, Cloud-Based), By End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Independent Laboratories), And By Geography - Trends And Analysis 2024’published by Coherent Market Insights, the market for laboratory information management systems (LIMS) is expected to surpassUS$ 2.2 billion by the end of 2024 at a robust CAGR of 7.3% during 2016–2024.
Market growth can be mainly attributed to the following factors:
- Increasing chronic disease incidence rate
- Growing aging population
- Need for quality and accurate diagnosis for effective treatment
- Increasing medical insurance across nations
- Demand for effective data storage and record-keeping
- Enhancing laboratory workflow efficiency
- Risingintegration of laboratory automation
- Rapid economic growth
- The rise in the quality of patient care and treatment options
- Increasing per capita spending in the health care industry
- Favorable government initiatives for lab services
Impending elements adversely affecting market growth:
- High capital investment associated with LEMS
- A dearth of trained healthcare IT professionals to manage the systems (http://ajcp.oxfordjournals.org/content/141/2/154)
- Recruitment and retention
- Educational requirements
- Wages related issues
- Vacancy concerns
- Maintenance of information
An increase in health awareness is projected to lead to the improvement of healthcare infrastructure worldwide that would involve recording and maintenance of large volumes of patient data across the globe. However, the lack of effective healthcare infrastructure, especially in developing regions is a major hindrance to market growth.
Areas of Laboratory Information Management Systems Functionality
- Patient management pertaining to date of admission, attending physician, ordering department, type of specimen, etc.
- Tracking patient’s data
- Decision support attributed by comparison of lab orders
- Test ordering
- Quality affirmation
- Management and workload reporting
- Billing information
- Workflow management
The dominant players in the global LIMS market include Cerner Corporation (U.S.), Epic Corporation Inc. (U.S.), McKesson Corporation (U.S.), Medical Information Technology, Inc. (U.S.), Sunquest Information Systems, Inc. (U.S.), SCC Soft Computer (U.S.), Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (U.S.), CompuGroup Medical AG (Germany), Merge Healthcare, Inc. (U.S.), and Orchard Software Corporation (U.S.).
Rapid strides in the healthcare sector have led to significant improvement in the quality of life led by the populace across the globe. This is creating a highly favorable environment for the growth of the laboratory information management systems market for effective recording and management of patient data and related health information. Market growth is expected to be further augmented by increasing health awareness and a growing number of supportive healthcare initiatives for the digital transformation of the healthcare industry. Developed regions such as North America and Europe are the major markets for LIS. However, market growth is expected to be propelled by growth in the adoption of these systems in developing regions such as countries in the Asia Pacific, with China and India at the forefront of growth in the near future.
