The accompanying table presents statistics and the top five rated companies in the ETFI Global Health Information Technology (IT) Index, which is structured to include companies with market caps between $100M - $10B with the following business operations:
1.) electronic transmission, storage, and processing of prescriptions – such as Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions (MDRX)
2.) secure e-mail transmission for healthcare facilities – such as Zix Corp (ZIXI)
3.) electronic storage and systems for administrative functions of healthcare facilities and medical records – such as Cerner (CERN)
4.) electronic transmission, storage, and systems for healthcare market data and clinical trial data – such as IMS Health (RX)
5.) electronic systems, devices, and services for remote, real-time monitoring of patient health parameters – such as Card Guard (CDGUF)
6.) medical transcription services, products, and systems for conversion into electronic medical records – such as Transcend Services (TRCR)
Both the top 25 rated and all 39 companies in the Health IT Index have outpaced their benchmark ETFs, posting a loss of 15.2% and 24.5%, respectively, in the past year compared to losses of 43% for Vanguard IT (VGT), 27% for Healthcare SPDR (XLV), and 43% for the Technology SPDR (XLK). The index is now structured to exclude larger companies such as Philips (PHG), FujiFilm (FUJI), and General Electric (GE) which have Health IT & Medical Imaging business segments which account for a small amount of overall sales and profits. The outlook is bullish for the small and mid-cap companies in the Health IT Index as President-Elect Obama plans to invest $50B over five years to improve the quality of healthcare in the U.S.
