ATLANTA, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- During 2005, the health care industry will continue to deal with recurring issues -- including financial pressure on profit margins, limited access to capital, increased competition, rising medical costs and a growing number of uninsured. What is new is the extent to which health providers and payers are likely to respond to these and other challenges by using information technology, particularly to support data- driven clinical care. Specifically, health organizations will use technology to improve patient safety through evidence-based medicine programs, control costs through disease management programs, develop new measurement tools to facilitate pay-for-performance compensation models and create consumer directed health products.

A forecast of health care's top issues in 2005 just published by Capgemini US LLC, which has the leading health consultancy in the country, draws on the collective experience of the firm's clinicians and other experts in health care IT, strategic planning, revenue management and supply chain to help prepare providers and payers for the coming year.

"With a national focus on the benefits that can accrue from greater use of IT in health care, the industry is poised for a significant increase in IT spending," said Lewis Redd, national leader of Capgemini's health practice. "Increasingly, the focus for technology will broaden from administrative efficiency to improving the quality of clinical care and customer relationships."

The Capgemini report identifies the top 10 areas that health care organizations are likely to focus on in the coming year.

 1. Enhanced reporting capabilities will be needed to facilitate decision-
 making for such activities as pay-for-performance, cost management and
 training. Both providers and payers will need more extensive
 integrated data capture and analysis in order to evaluate clinical
 outcomes against industry-wide metrics.
 2. Accelerating technology implementations will become increasingly
 important. Increasingly complex clinical systems and core
 administrative systems can now take several years to implement.
 Finding smart ways to reduce that time frame will help reduce the
 total cost of ownership of new systems.
 3. Health organizations will increase their investments in clinical
 information systems and begin to evolve towards electronic health
 records. Physicians will likely begin to adopt electronic prescribing
 more broadly, and electronic health records will be developed in
 consolidated markets and where a significant proportion of the
 population is covered by capitated health plans.
 4. Payers and providers will increasingly leverage the Web to empower
 consumers, through self-service portals that enable consumers to
 perform administrative functions, access some of their medical
 information online and manage their benefits in the case of consumer
 directed health plans.
 5. Collaboration between payers and providers will grow in order to find
 new ways to reduce administrative costs for both groups. Better
 communications and connectivity will result in new processes to help
 reduce denials and speed reimbursements.
 6. Payers and providers will consolidate back office operations to reduce
 overhead. Greater pressure on improving financial performance will
 cause providers and payers to scrutinize operations across their
 enterprises to achieve greater operational efficiencies.
 7. Managing capacity will be critical. Hospitals challenged by increasing
 demand and limited ability to expand will look at creative solutions
 to increase their patient flow, reduce waiting time and minimize
 diversions, in order to provide room for growth.
 8. Payers will work to address new markets by developing a range of new
 products and customer services. These will include meeting employer
 demands for cost control through new consumer driven health products,
 tiered benefits and customizable services.
 9. More payers and providers will recognize the problem of obesity with
 tailored disease management programs and clinical treatments.
 10. Outsourcing solutions will need to be managed more carefully and
 viewed as strategic investments, rather than a "quick fix" in order to
 yield full financial advantages.

To receive a PDF of the Capgemini white paper on "Healthcare's Top Business Issues and Responses for 2005" or to schedule an interview, please contact Susan Pralgever, susan@cooperkatz.com or 212-455-8019 or Rachael Adler, radler@cooperkatz.com or 212-455-8037.

About Capgemini

Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing services, has a unique way of working with its clients, which it calls the Collaborative Business Experience. Through commitment to mutual success and the achievement of tangible value, the company helps businesses implement growth strategies and leverage technology, and thrive through the power of collaboration. Capgemini employs approximately 48,000 people worldwide (55,000 including Transiciel) and reported 2003 global revenues of 5.754 billion euros. More information about individual service lines, offices and research is available at http://www.capgemini.com

Capgemini's health practice (Capgemini Health) is the leading health consultancy in the United States, serving one-third of the nation's hospitals and many of the largest managed care organizations. More information about the health practice and related research is available at http://www.us.capgemini.com/health/