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.

While countries throughout the region have made efforts to expand healthcare coverage to include a greater percentage of their population, public health spending in Latin America averages only 3.7% of GDP versus an OECD average of 8.3%. The result is often a tradeoff between the accessibility and the depth and quality of care.

The range of public services and their utilization are typically limited to more catastrophic health needs. An in-hospital doctor consultation may require a full day in line, or be limited to only 10 minutes.

The 100 million Latin Americans who ascended to the middle class over the past decade generate larger disposable incomes and are increasingly dissatisfied with such care – they are willing to pay an out-of-pocket premium in order to achieve faster or higher quality care. The fiscal budget crunches resulting from the 2015-16 recession are only expected to further private expenditures as private care rises to fill in the gaps left by the public system.

Download the complete report for more information.

The report predicts that mortality related to cancer would increase by 106% by 2030, if there are no significant changes in the regions health policy. The report provides a summary of the data available in 12 countries: Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Argentina, indicating that approximately 60-70% of patients in the region are diagnosed with advanced stages of the disease.

The report indicates that every year a million new cases of cancer are added to the list and almost 70% of the deaths from the disease occur in the middle and lower income strata, reflecting inequalities in the region.

Countries, in general, have low availability of state-of-the-art drugs. Of the area, only Chile has the most advanced drugs to treat lung cancer. Only two nations, Chile and Uruguay, have enough radiotherapy equipment to treat patients.

The report explains that there is a higher risk of developing breast and prostate cancer in the region and that there has been a decrease in the incidence of liver and stomach cancer. Uruguay and Costa Rica stand out as having made the greatest efforts against cancer, while Bolivia and Paraguay are the countries with the slowest progress. For the control of the disease in Latin America an average of 4.6% of GDP is invested, while the average of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries is 7.7%.

Eldiario

To fill this gap, Global Health Intelligence (GHI) decided to delve into its database (which covers 86% of all hospitals in Latin America and now includes Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay) to analyze which hospitals have the highest equipment counts in 4 specific categories:

• Patient care (number of beds)
• Diagnostic imaging equipment
• Cardiovascular equipment
• Maternity unit equipment

These four categories are critical pillars when evaluating patient care. The number of beds within an institution is often an indicator of the size of the hospital and may be correlated to the level of care. Diagnostic imaging equipment is essential to properly diagnose any number of life-threatening and chronic conditions. Cardiovascular equipment is just as important given the prevalence of heart disease in Latin America. A majority of births take place in hospitals and birthing is one of the main activities of most hospitals, which denotes significant importance to maternity units and infant care. While additional categories could have been included, GHI decided to focus on these 4 areas of care in order make the ranking more manageable.

Why Multiple Categories and Countries?

Rankings are often all-encompassing with no specific focus, such as the “The 50 best hospitals.” Given the complexities of healthcare systems in place and the context in which they operate, GHI opted to acknowledge these characteristics by creating a ranking per leading category. This also enables smaller yet more specialized hospitals to form part of the ranking.

GHI applied the same plurality by setting up the rankings per country in order to reflect local market dynamics accurately. For example, Brazil has over 200 million people and over 7,000 hospitals. It would be an unjust comparison to include Brazilian hospitals alongside those of Peru, for instance, a market that’s 10 times smaller.

Rankings for the Best Equipped Hospitals

The best-equipped hospitals in Argentina
The best-equipped hospitals in Brazil
The best-equipped hospitals in Chile
The best-equipped hospitals in Colombia
The best-equipped hospitals in Dominican Republic
The best-equipped hospitals in Mexico
The best-equipped hospitals in Peru
The best-equipped hospitals in Puerto Rico

Dive Deeper

This GHI ranking will give you an initial sense of which Latin American hospitals are best-equipped. But that’s just a surface view. It takes a deeper dive into the data to understand which market segments have the best potential to drive your revenues.

You can get this deep dive by subscribing to our database , which quickly lets you use data visualization tools to see which hospitals have the biggest needs and what those needs are. Parsing that is what will uncover opportunities for your sales team and allow you to grow your revenues in different markets. Check out this video to understand how the database can help drive new and existing revenue streams. Then contact GHI directly for an even deeper sense of how our database can be the perfect tool for your sales team.

The medical device cleaning market includes detergents and disinfectants used for cleaning and disinfection of medical instruments.

The market is primarily driven by rising incidence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and the increasing focus on disinfection and sterilization of devices. Disinfection segment accounted for the largest share, owing to the increasing demand for high-level disinfectants & sterilization for heat-sensitive instruments.

Among instruments, surgical instruments segment accounted for the largest share of the market. This is primarily attributed to the increasing number of surgeries and rising awareness of HAIs. Geographically, North America held the largest share of this market.

During the forecast period, APAC region is expected to have high growth due to growing healthcare awareness, increasing number of hospitals and spending. Increasing adoption of single-use medical instruments to avoid HAI risks may restrain the market. Steris Plc is the leading market player.

The company has a comprehensive range of cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance cleansing products and a significant global presence.

Over 1.4 million Americans went abroad for medical cases in 2016, a number that has grown alongside the rising cost of care following the Affordable Care Act.

Latin America is receiving the lion’s share with costfriendly and increasingly excellent medical care combined with developed tourist infrastructure.

The establishment of rigorous standards via U.S. based Joint Commission International allows a growing number of accredited Latin American hospitals to leverage a golden seal of approval.

Download the complete report for more information.

One of the reason for higher cost is decreased productivity (USD2,529 million) as infants and adolescents with malnutrition have fewer years of schooling. In adults, it is not related to adequate quantity of food but nutritional value of the food.

The officials revealed that 1 of out 2 children are malnourished and they do not necessarily belong to the poor households. The country now faces duel burden of malnutrition. 2014 statistics showed that chronic malnutrition (delay in height) in the population under 5 years of age is 23.9% while overweight is 6.6%.

In school going population (aged 5 to 11), overweight is 19.1% and obesity is 12.1%. In adolescents (aged 12 to 19), overweight is 19.9% ​​and obesity is 7.8%.

The government has developed programs (Nutrition Action or Zero Malnutrition) to eradicate this duel burden and these programs are expected to have an impact on education and productivity.

The provinces of Morona Santiago, Chimborazo and Carchi present the highest prevalence of malnutrition in children aged 0-2 years with rates of 38% and 42.5%. Statistics showed that 64% of the adult population is overweight.

Ecuador aims to eradicating malnutrition by 2030 as a part of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Ministry of health mandated food labelling which highlights the amount of fat, salt and sugar processed products. Other plans include reduction of calories in food and specific taxes on high calorie drinks and similar ones.

286 electronic tablets will also be distributed for capturing data. The system will allow to generate accurate statistics on the health of the population such as the incidence and prevalence of chronic disorders including diabetes or hypertension or prostrate.

Through the program professionals of “El Médico en Tu Casa” have visited 2.7 million homes.

Telmex guarantees the highest security standards and confidentiality of patients’ personal data. The foundation will enable technology transfer, assembly of information systems, and training and organization of the work teams in the Ministry of Health.

Through the Hospital Administration and Medical Information System (SAMIH), Mexico City aims to become the first Latin American district to implement the ECE in its entire network of public health services, consisting of 31 hospitals and 220 health centers.

The market is mainly driven by increasing prevalence of neurological disorders and growing popularity of minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Other factors include favourable reimbursement plans, rising adoption of carotid stents and balloon catheters by neurosurgeons.

Globally, adoption of MIS has increased as these procedures are known for their accuracy and convenience along with reduced hospital stay. However, shortage of skilled neuro-medical experts and the rising cost of devices may pose as restraints for market growth.

Major players include Stryker, Johnson & Johnson, Terumo, Medtronic, and Penumbra with Stryker leading the market.

Hospitals account for 85% of neurovascular device use and this segment is estimated to have highest growth during the forecast period followed by ambulatory surgical units and clinics. United States accounted for more than 70% of the market share. In the forecast period, APAC region is expected to grow primarily due to increasing healthcare spending.

Latin America is expected to increase by 5.5% over 2016-2024, driven by the rising prevalence of brain-related disorders and an increase in the number of geriatric patients. Neurovascular devices are used in in stenosis, brain aneurysm, and ischemic strokes. More than 4% of American population suffers from aneurysms. Ischemic stroke is estimated to observe the highest growth between 2016-2024 while brain aneurysm, having more than 70% market will depict a substantial growth rate over the forecast period.

A research study on access of medication in four Latin American countries was conducted by the National University of Colombia.

The study outlines the consumption of high-cost drugs reduces the accessibility for a large majority of the population in the middle and lower income groups.

The new medicines launched in the market come with high prices. This scenario forces health systems to prioritize and restrict their use to some patients. International studies have shown cases where the pharmaceutical industry encourages the prescription of expensive drugs with biased information.

People in the higher income bracket in general are more informed on the health services and can file legal actions against the State for accessing medicines that are not covered in the Obligatory Health Plan (POS).

The State spends more money on the purchase of few medicines reducing the access to basic health services for the poorest population. Such a crisis requires much broader solutions that include the reform of the healthcare model, so that greater emphasis is placed on preventive and health promotion actions.