Following up on the comprehensive medical record and financial information system’s success, GE Healthcare decided to extend the functionality to middle-range healthcare service providers with the Centricity Enterprise Remote Services. The service capitalizes on the platform of the original system but employs a subscription-based remote ASP to provide subscriber institutions full access to the clinical and financial applications online.
The clinical information system can be then implemented in their own systems for a considerably lower cost, because the remote ASP minimizes the initial financial outlay for the software and hardware purchases associated with the stand-alone Centricity Enterprise Solution as well as eliminates much of the maintenance and upgrade costs. (“GE Healthcare eases electronic medical record implementation for mid-size hospitals with Centricity Enterprise Remote Hosting service,” 2007) And recently their IT solution has gone even further by providing a single solution designed for smaller physician practices called Centricity Practice Solution.
This gives the company the opportunity of penetrating the largely untapped market of medical practices with fewer than 5 physicians. (“Frost & Sullivan recognizes GE Healthcare’s leadership as a technology provider across the physician-based practice market,” 2007) Current Business Issues Despite the diversity of GE Healthcare products, the primary business concerns are aimed towards attaining one goal as stated in their vision of providing faster and easier ways of detecting and preventing diseases thru their healthcare products and solutions.
Key to this objective is providing faster and easier access to better healthcare to existing as well as emerging markets. Emerging markets should also focus on the patients directly aside from the clinicians and health service providers. And crucial to all of these is research and development. To provide faster and easier access to better health care, the company will have to develop products that are better at detecting and preventing diseases.
Aside from early prevention and detection, GE healthcare also needs to improve healthcare products and solutions for treating diseases, such as non-invasive procedures in replacement of surgery. And with the changes in the political and economic environment, new markets are emerging and old markets are evolving. Middle and Eastern Europe, Asia and specifically China, Africa and the Middle East are still widely untapped markets with possibly greater need for medical solutions than most developed world countries.
And in most developed countries, both medical professionals and patients’ needs are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. Recommendations GE Healthcare products and services provide solution to almost the entire spectrum of medical community. It has and still is doing research and developing solutions to almost every challenge in the medical field. GE Healthcare already has a very good track record in developing high quality medical solutions that enable faster and easier detection of diseases as well as effective prevention and therapeutic solutions of diseases.
It has begun focusing on consolidating healthcare in a more holistic approach. (“GE Healthcare Facts Sheet,” 2007) It has also capitalized on the importance of information technology as an integral part of providing medical solutions to its clients. The company, through its Integrated IT Solutions Business, has already made a great deal of progress in tapping new markets by re-engineering its existing solutions for use by a wider range of customers.