Healthcare simulation, also known as medical simulators, is a range of activities that share a broad, similar purpose to improve the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of healthcare services. The healthcare simulators' market growth can be attributed to factors such as the increasing focus on patient safety, increasing demand for minimally invasive treatments, and the benefits of simulation over traditional learning. Simulation is a modern-day methodology used to train and educate healthcare professionals. Clinical competency and patient safety is a major concern, which has increased adoption of simulation technology in the healthcare sector.
Several organizations such as the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Surgical Association’s Blue Ribbon Panel promote the use of healthcare simulators in surgery as a tool. Furthermore, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) offers grants to companies developing medical simulators. ABIM is incorporating medical simulation technology into its programs to evaluate physician competence. Moreover, in emerging economies, governments are promoting the use of healthcare simulators to increase public awareness about the benefits of medical simulators. This in turn is expected to drive the healthcare simulators market.
The emergence of COVID-19 is expected to create lucrative opportunities for players in the healthcare simulators market. The pandemic has an unrivaled impact on medical education, leading to the cancellation of lectures, clinical rotations, exams, and eventually the temporary closure of medical institutes or organizations. In March 2020, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) and International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) issued a statement on the use of virtual simulation for students currently enrolled in health sciences professions (such as medical and nursing students) during the pandemic. The demand for healthcare simulation is expected to increase with the increasing demand for virtual training due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Healthcare facilities worldwide are increasingly adopting healthcare simulators to train medical professionals to reduce the risk of adverse accidents. Thus, with the increasing number of medical institutes or organizations, the demand for simulation is also increasing. This in turn is expected to propel the growth of the healthcare simulators market. The advent of healthcare simulation has significantly mitigated the death count worldwide. Thus, increasing awareness of patient safety is anticipated to boost the healthcare simulators' market growth. However, the high cost of simulators, budgetary constraints, and operational challenges are major factors expected to restrain the growth of the healthcare simulators market.