What did we see in 2015 and more importantly what lies ahead for 2016? Let’s take a look back:

Gartner defines the category – when Gartner puts out a report defining your market and product category, it’s show time. In August, Gartner published a market guide for Clinical Communication & Collaboration, affectionately known as CC&C. Since it’s now official, we’ll start using the CC&C moniker when referring to our market space.

CC&C goes mainstream – We saw a marked increase in RFP/RFI activity last year. When hospitals take the time to release a formal request and set-up a review process, it’s a sign that CC&C is beginning to cross the chasm from the early adopters to the majority.

iOS dominates the BYOD healthcare market and Android begins to appear – Not surprisingly, iOS dominated the BYOD market in healthcare. At Mobile Heartbeat, 92% of our clients’ BYOD users ran the iOS version of our app.  Although our Android app accounted for a much smaller percentage, the user base was consistent.

So where do we go in 2016? Most likely, we will expand on the three themes from last year.

Other analyst firms jump into the water – look for other firms to try and further define the market by:

  • Feature set – full-featured vs. text-only
  • Market segment – acute care vs. ambulatory vs. physician group
  • Target users – clinicians vs. patients vs. both

Bottom line is that mobilization in healthcare is here to stay.

The movement gathers momentum – In a recent interview session with clinicians who were asked about mobility, the question was posed, “Looking at your workflow, what would you like to do on a smartphone?” The answer: “Everything.”

BYOD makes advances – In 2015, the ratio of CC&C devices in use was 80% shared devices (those supplied by the organization) and 20% BYOD. Looking at the expected deployments in 2016, this ratio will change to 67% shared and 33% BYOD. Leading CC&C vendors must focus on making the BYOD experience equal (or even better!) than the captive, shared device experience.

So, with the look into the crystal ball for 2016, we wish everyone a Happy New Year!