Healthcare IT spending in India is expected to increase 7 percent in 2013 over 2012, says a new report from Gartner. Healthcare providers in India will spend $1 billion US Dollars (USD) on IT products and services in 2013, the study said.
IT services, which includes consulting, implementation, IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing, will be the largest overall spending category through 2017. This spending will be spread across categories including hospitals and hospital systems, ambulatory service and physicians’ practices, internal IT (including personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and telecommunications.
“IT services is expected to grow 6.9 percent in 2013 to reach $276 million USD in 2013, up from $258 million in 2012 – with the consulting segment growing by 12.4 percent,” said Anurag Gupta, research director at Gartner.
Internal services will achieve the highest growth rate amongst the spending categories – forecast to be 14.5 percent in 2013. Internal services refer to salaries and benefits paid to the information services staff of an organization.
Software will achieve a growth rate of 11 percent in 2013 to reach $98 million USD in 2013, up from $88 million in 2012, led by growth in vertical specific software (software applications that are unique to a vertical industry.
Government initiatives will boost IT spending on healthcare. The government plans to increase public spending on healthcare as part of community healthcare initiatives.
Hospital information systems, picture archiving and communications systems, electronic health records and mobile technologies will be high on the agenda, Gartner analyst said. Providers will leverage the advanced technologies like cloud, mobility, big data and social media to improve patient coverage and quality care. Growth of health insurance will also catalyze technology adoption in healthcare provider segments.
