Study: Medical facilities to defer projects in '09

Hospitals and health systems postponed or canceled many capital investments in 2008, hamstrung by lack of access to capital. Now, it's looking like such projects will hang fire this year too, according Millennium Research Group.

Millennium, which looks at market niches for vendors, notes that sales of new operating rooms, endoscopic camera systems, surgical monitors and articulated surgical robotic devices are likely to be hit hard. (The report doesn't mention a slowdown in spending on information technology, but that's clearly the case through '09 as well, as our sister publication FierceHealthIT has noted.)

Millennium is predicting that the financial markets will remain sluggish until 2010, when healthcare credit options may improve.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Orlando Business Journal piece [1]

Related Articles:
For hospitals, something's gotta give [2]
Trend: Hospital investment returns still looking shaky [3]
Painful cash crunch leaves few good options [4]