Enter telemedicine, a growing technology that closes the gap between facilities for the patients who need the care the most. In a nutshell, telemedicine allows doctors, often specialists such as cardiologists, oncologists and the like, to examine patients in other facilities remotely. This might involve hospitals in big cities like Mexico City or Buenos Aires partnering with smaller towns around the country. Or hospitals in the U.S. and Europe can also take part in order to help these smaller communities.

It’s a novel, cutting-edge idea that’s not only a great partnership for medical facilities, but also a vital tool for the health and well-being of patients.

Many healthcare providers and institutions have caught on to this. As a result, the Latin American telemedicine market’s value is projected to grow with a CAGR of 17.2% between now and 2020 to reach US$2.5 billion—more than double its 2015 value of US$1.13 billion.

The growth of telemedicine is not altogether surprising given that many other high-tech sectors of LatAm healthcare are also expanding, including devices and electronic medical records (EMR).

Taking Advantage of the Telemedicine Boom in LatAm

For manufacturers that provide telemedicine equipment and devices, it’s easy to determine what areas might be interested in your goods and services. Global Health Intelligence provides a rich database of hospitals and other medical centers throughout Latin America that either presently use telemedicine or have the need for telemedicine equipment.

And this opportunity is not simply a good one for manufacturers of the equipment. If hospitals in the U.S. or other parts of the world are interested in partnering with a Latin American facility, for example, the GHI database can help with this, as well. Many facilities have telemedicine equipment but are lacking in good partnerships, so this is a great opportunity for North American or European hospitals to get involved.

Finally, once a facility has telemedicine, they may be interested in other high-tech equipment such as PACs (picture archiving and communication systems), PET scanners and other devices to provide their patients with the best care possible. This is yet another sales opportunity for equipment manufacturers.

Explore More

Contact GHI today for a free demo of HospiScope, our Latin American hospitals database, which covers nearly 90% of the region.

A quick tour will let you see how to take advantage of the telemedicine trend to identify a wide array of new prospects among institutions that are likely to need high-tech equipment.

A Rising Trend

One only has to look at the numbers to see just how significant the growth of EMRs in Latin American markets has been in recent years, and how great the trend will continue to be in the years ahead. Overall, GHI’s research indicates that 40% of hospitals in Latin America had an EMR solution in place in 2017, compared to 36% in 2016. A report from Research and Markets indicates that the Latin American EMR market is forecast to grow at a rate of 7.15% between the years 2014 and 2019. And the market is strong across the region. For example:

• Brazil made a multi-million dollar investment in late 2016 in three supercomputers designed to unify all the government’s EMRs into a single system and it has set strict timelines for EMR adoption through 2020
• Chile is the most advanced country in the region when it comes to EMR penetration, with 74%
• Uruguay adopted a national EMR system in 2014 and has had a strong adoption, currently boasting a 63% EMR penetration rate in its healthcare facilities
• Costa Rica has a 61% EMR penetration rate after approving a nationwide system in 2011.
• Guatemala also has a higher than average EMR penetration rate, with 54%
• Panama and Colombia respectively have a 50% EMR penetration rate
• EMR penetration is at 42% in the Dominican Republic
• Peru adopted its own national EMR system in 2015 and has an EMR penetration of 36%, just below the regional average
• Mexico, one of Latin America’s early EMR adopters in 2004, now has rates between 25 and 50 percent for EMR in its primary and secondary care facilities; like Brazil, Mexico has set strict EMR adoption timelines through 2020
• Bolivia (18%) and Argentina (17%) and a number of other countries in Latin America still have significant room to improve when it comes to EMR penetration in their hospitals and facilities

The Opportunity with EMRs in Latin America

There’s no question that electronic medical records in Latin America represent a major opportunity for manufacturers of the devices and equipment needed to implement these vital systems, particularly since the adoption of EMR systems will promote the expansion of PACS and RIS systems. Knowing the facilities where these systems have been adopted also help medical devices manufacturers in LatAm identify sales opportunities for their more sophisticated products that can complement these high-tech systems.

However, not only is it an opportunity for major sales, but it’s also a chance to do some real good in a part of the world that has the most critical need to enhance the efficiencies in their health care system with EMRs.

Next Steps

The challenge, of course, is for EMR equipment manufacturers to identify the particular markets, regions and even specific hospitals and medical centers that have critical needs for their equipment. And perhaps the best tool for doing so is the LatAm hospital database provided by Global Health Intelligence. This comprehensive tool provides in-depth, highly specific information on the medical needs of hospitals and medical centers throughout the region.

Contact Global Health Intelligence today to see how you can get started on leveraging EMR growth in Latin America.