The electronic medical records (EMR), a $1 billion market in 2005, is poised to jump to over $4 billion by 2015, according to a new study from market research firm Kalorama Information. This is a projected 400 percent increase over eight years and the pace will only quicken as the market nears the next decade. According to the firm, hospitals, physician's offices, and other healthcare entities are bulking up their IT budgets to include wireless technology and other electronic healthcare technologies.

The segment with the most potential for the largest growth is the physician market. A surge for EMR growth is especially likely once EMR peripheral technologies such as workstations, servers, PDAs, tablet PCs, portable computers, and networking hardware and software come down in price, the firm said.

"The potential not only in the U.S., but globally as well, is enormous, making EMR an exceptional opportunity not only for the current market players but for new entrants into the market," said Steven Heffner, the publisher at Kalorama Information. "This is one area of healthcare where regulations such as HIPAA and various other government initiatives will actually help drive adoption of this advanced technology."

The report EMR Technologies in Healthcare is available at: http://www.kaloramainformation.com/EMR-Technologies-1365762