Medical Carts Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Advancement in technology: Innovation and elevation of product performance based on technological integration expand the adoption rate in the market. Smart performance within the medical cart is incorporated based on AI assistance, IoT, and many more. FDA delivered clearance for the AI-assisted cart that proved to streamline the nursing operation by over 38.6%. Smart handling ensures smooth nursing functioning and enhanced productivity, which enhances the healthcare facility. As per the EU Medical Device Regulation, wireless emergency carts are approved, which led to the introduction of over 52 models of smart medical carts in 2024. Monitoring the inventory status and providing real-time updates on the components in the medical cart reduces the scope of fatal errors in the medication process.
   
• Initiative for better healthcare facilities: Sustainability aspects and resource optimization to leverage the healthcare facility is the current trend in the global market. An automated medication cart is evaluated to reduce the dispensing error by 30%. Eradicating the error delivers a resource optimization approach in healthcare and saves over USD 400.7 million each year in hospital expenses. The Joint Commission introduced a mandatory implementation of barcode scanning facilities in medical carts within all the hospitals of the U.S. by 2025. Regulatory push has pushed the market for advanced medical carts. Proper monitoring and maintaining the health and safety of the healthcare activity is ensured through the smart medical cart that boosts the hospital services and their performance in the competitive healthcare market.

Manufacturing Strategies to Ensure Medical Carts Market Expansion

Expansion of business and elevating the revenue accumulation rate by the manufacturer in the competitive market is ensured through three key strategies. IoT integration, modular designing, and localization in emerging markets. Omnicell followed the strategy of product innovation and launched the XT Series automated carts. This ensured the business gained over 10% of the U.S. market share and gained incremental revenue of more than USD 200.4 million in 2023. Whereas Harloff focused on the reduction of error within the medication process and collaborated with Epic Systems to launch the advanced product. As per the EU medical database, 24% of the medical errors were reduced, and Harloff secured over USD 145 million in EU contracts.  

The following table denotes revenue opportunities for manufacturers:

Key Market Dynamics for Historical Growth

The global medical cart market experienced steady growth due to the rise of the sustainable healthcare trend during the period from 2010 to 2020. The rise of an aging population and a higher rate of surgical operations elevated the demand for medical carts in the global market. Three market conditions that resulted in market growth include the standardization of the medical cart types, technological integration, and aligning with the regulatory framework directed the market to accelerate its growth. Market propelled in the U.S. through integration of medical cart with HER regulatory mandates under the HITECH Act. The Asia Pacific market experienced robust investment to elevate the healthcare infrastructure, resulting in a demand pull for medical carts. Apart from that rising number of patients in Asia Pacific, specifically in India, Japan, and China, created a significant necessity for medical carts.

The following table denotes historical patient growth in the past ten years across different countries:

Challenge

• Security constraints: Availability of funds and a proper security system to ensure the safety standard of the smart medical cart is at a vulnerable stage. Infection control ability and data security are the two relevant aspects in the medical cart that appear to be major barriers in terms of safety and security. Availability of funds to upgrade the medical cart with antimicrobial-coated carts is limited. According to the study of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control addressed more than 28% of he hospitals are facing the barrier to providing antimicrobial-coated carts and ensuring infection control standards. On the other hand, according to the FDA, approximately 6 cart models faced hacking vulnerabilities that create a threat of loss of private data of healthcare through the smart medical cart.