The use of ambulatory infusion pumps, which allow the patient to remain mobile while undergoing treatment, is increasing rapidly worldwide. These are the latest findings of InMedica (Wellingborough, UK), a market research firm.

With increasing pressure on governments to improve the quality of care, while reducing the burden of healthcare funding, hospitals are seeking more cost-effective solutions. Increasingly, these include reducing hospital visits through outpatient and home-care solutions, which are seeing the strongest growth in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and African (EMEA) regions. This has led to a growing trend for infusion products that can be used safely at home, or in a long-term managed care environment. Moreover, as age-related diseases increase, demand for long-term care is on the rise.

These factors are fuelling the market for home-based ambulatory infusion pumps, which are used to administer a variety of therapies, including analgesics, narcotics, chemotherapy, and antibiotic or anitiviral infusions. InMedica projects that demand for home-based ambulatory products in the Americas and EMEA regions will increase from an estimated 5.2 million units in 2010 to 8.1 million units in 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 9.3%. Worldwide, the 19.1 million units shipped in 2010 are estimated to increase to 35.3 million units in 2015.

“Hospitals are seeking to optimize the cost-effectiveness of treatments, to reduce healthcare spending; in addition, in many developed countries, such as North America and Western Europe, treatments are being moved into an out-patient environment, to further lower costs,” said Stacey Ronaghan, a market analyst at InMedica. “The observed trend towards out-of-hospital treatment and use of ambulatory infusion pumps, particularly in pain management, will serve to reduce the cost of care from a hospital perspective.”

Guangzhou Jia Yu medical equipment Limited