The global ambulatory services market size was expected to grow at a moderate pace over the next eight years. Rising government spending on ambulatory care facilities couples with increasing government initiatives to offer team-based primary care are expected to be key factors contributing towards the growth of the market over the next eight years.
Spending on public healthcare as a percent of GDP has augmented as it aids in saving much of cost wastage if delivered in an effective way. In early 2015, the Government of India declared its plan to increase health care spending by at least 2.5% of GDP, thus offering free primary care through several public facilities. Through this initiative, the government aims to widen the definition of primary healthcare by offering services including reproductive, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and child health.
Cost savings offered by ambulatory services owing to reduction in hospital stay costs coupled with extremely advanced technological advancements have also propelled growth of day surgery centers. With the introduction of non-surgical procedures, operations such as cataract, which formerly required hospital stay, can now be executed in a day owing to the presence of resourceful recovery procedures.
With revenue estimated over USD 400 billion in 2014, primary care offices dominated the ambulatory services market. As primary care is the initial point of care, the government has been financing in general physicians’ practice, converting it into a community-based care. In 2016, the government of New Brunswick has cut down cost wastages of primary care and decided to implement a team-based healthcare delivery.
Surgery specialty is expected to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period, owing to significant acquisitions commenced by competitors in this segment coupled with technological advancements surging the demand for same-day surgeries. In 2016, Ambulatory Surgery Center of Western New York received approval for USD 4.8 million extensions. Additionally, in 2015, Nova Medical surgical unit was acquired by Apollo Hospital for USD 24 million. These factors are expected to have a positive impact on the market over the next eight years.
Geographically, the global ambulatory services market is segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, and Europe. In 2014, the North America ambulatory services market captured the largest market share owing to the surge in aging population shift from inpatient to outpatient care and cost-effective offers owing to the same day operations neglecting hospital stays. This is expected to propel industry growth over the forecast period.
The ambulatory health care providers have been creating their network with several other physicians and healthcare providers to expand their global reach. For instance, in 2015, United Surgical Partners International and Tenet Healthcare combined their forces to spread their network of ambulatory healthcare units. The alliance offered 20 imaging centers and over 250 short-day operational facilities with 400 physicians and 50 health systems partnership. This is expected to boost market growth over the next eight years.
Demand for ambulatory healthcare services in Europe has also surging over the past few years owing to the new version of anesthesia which lets patients recover their consciousness and helps them experience lesser pain, which enables faster and effective recovery evading hospital stays. The British Association of Day Surgery and the Healthcare Conferences UK organized an event “Improving Quality in Day Surgery”. The foremost objective of this event was to advance surgery quality in nations such as U.K. and Germany. This is expected to have a positive impact on the industry over the next seven years.
Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market and this trend is expected to continue over the next eight years. Increasing burden of healthcare costs due to the occurrence of chronic disease has led the government and industry players to introduce numerous outpatient strategies. To lessen the long waiting time, China has introduced the use of mobile apps, where outpatient payments and appointments could be made directly.
The Middle East & Africa is projected to see significant growth by 2024 owing to increasing urbanization, globalization, and industrialization. The market has tremendous potential in this region primarily due to growing economic development, and rising purchasing power parity.
Key players dominating the market for ambulatory services include Surgery Partners, IntergraMed America Inc., Terveystalo Healthcare Oyj, AmSurg Corp., Symbion, Nueterra, Aspen Healthcare, and Medical Facilities Corporation. Technological development enabling same-day operations, government investment to transform the primary care practice and several other collaborations by the key players are anticipated to fuel the ambulatory services market growth over the forecast period.
Companies through mergers & acquisitions and strategic expansions have been trying to cater large volume of customers with alloys including platinum group, refractory and non-ferrous. Through R&D efforts and continuous innovation, companies have been developing premium quality and high-value products. The aforementioned efforts by the companies have enabled them to anticipate significant growth over the forecast period.
