Patient portals business means big money

The U.S. patient portal market is booming and is expected to reach $898.4 million by 2017, up from $279.8 million in 2012 – representing a 221 percent increase, a new study says.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan's "U.S. Patient Portal Market for Hospitals and Physicians: Overview and Outlook, 2012–2017," has found that the majority of revenue will primarily result from increased demand driven by myriad forces including the need to meet Stage 2 meaningful use requirements, the growing move to clinical integration and accountable care, and increasing consumer demand for health information technology.

Approximately 50 percent of U.S. hospitals and 40 percent of U.S. physicians in ambulatory practice possess some type of patient portal technology, mostly acquired as a module of their practice management or electronic health record system, according to the study.