米国医療ICT動向と期待のベンチャー

本レポートでは活況にわく米国医療ICT市場の概況、日本とは違う米国の医院・病院・保険制度の仕組み、また医療ICTの分類などを概観した後、特にカリフォルニア・シリコンバレーを中心とした医療ICTベンチャーのうち、成功例、成長中の企業などを中心に具体的な事例を紹介する。また、ユーザー側の具体例として、医療ICTのユーザーとして最も進んでいると言われる病院・保険を含んだ大規模医療システムのKaiserを取り上げた。

Within the growing healthcare ICT (information and communication technologies) market worldwide, the United States of America is currently the largest market. Healthcare ICT in the U.S. is significantly more advanced than in Japan, and in the past two decades this healthcare ICT infrastructure has developed, in part, through trial and error by numerous startups and young companies. Since the Obama Administration enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act OF 2009 (ARRA) there have been rapid advancements in this field, brought on by enhanced government support of management and processing capabilities in healthcare using ICT. The ARRA incentives for healthcare ICT commenced implementation in 2011, and with the adoption of healthcare systems such as electronic medical record (EMR), it is anticipated that vendors will see a significant increase in business opportunities this year. In addition, accelerated adoption of systems that are aimed at preventing medical mistakes resulting from inappropriate data handling, such as misreading of prescription and misplacement of patient data, have also been targeted for increased support.