Daijiworld Media Network - Goa (MB)
from special correspondent

Panaji, Aug 29: The growth of information technology (IT) in healthcare sector is expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 percent by 2010, experts feel.

"The quality of healthcare services is changing globally and one of the key drivers for this change is the use of Information Technology (IT) by healthcare providers. Earlier, there were few hospitals that adopted IT to improve efficiency and provide better services. But in past two years, the number of private hospitals has increased at a good pace," stated Anurag Dubey, Industry Analyst - Health IT and Healthcare Delivery Practice at Frost & Sullivan, South Asia and Middle East.

Frost & Sullivan, a US-based global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 45 years and has a client base of more than 1,000 companies.

"Today, Tier I hospitals are spending approximately 2 percent and Tier II hospitals are spending approximately less than 1.5 percent of turnover on IT. Apart from these, hospitals are also going ahead with the use of some advanced technologies like smart cards, RFID, biometrics and hand-held devices to further improve processes," Dubey said.

Dubey was talking to PTI on the sidelines of three-day Health IT executive mindXchange – "IT Advancements in Healthcare Delivery", a conference to be held between August 31 to September 2 in south Goa hosted by Frost & Sullivan.

He said that the tremendous growth in the healthcare delivery space is resulting in a more competitive market. ``This is driving hospitals to leverage upon the use of advance technologies to improve quality of care delivery and services further to keep an edge over the competitors," Dubey added.

"These advances in the adoption of Information Technology in the healthcare provider space will provide opportunity for various Indian and foreign health IT majors to strengthen or build-up a base in India and explore upcoming opportunities in the areas of consulting, applications, training, infrastructure, implementation support and maintenance services to healthcare providers," he stated.

Talking about Goa conference, Dubey said that with participation expected from companies like Manipal Health Systems, Fortis Healthcare, Hinduja Healthcare Group, Apollo Hospitals, Reliance Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Tan Tok Singh Hospital, Singapore, Asian Heart Institute and Research Centre and Paras Healthcare and others, the three-day summit is expected to be one holding out the best insight.