 "Indian healthcare IT market may zoom to $1,454 mn in 2018")
Healthcare information technology market in India is expected to reach $1,454.7 million in 2018 from the present $381.3 million, mainly due to fast adoption of technology by stake-holders, according to Frost & Sullivan.
Healthcare IT is a core component to achieve successful transformative shifts in healthcare. Growth in data, digitisation trends in health information and electronic medical records, improvements in collaborative data exchange, workflows and mobility, and need for better financial management are changing the needs of the hospital enterprise.
Additionally, patient demographic changes and chronic disease growth, cost control considerations, and importance of patient safety, have all come together to heighten demand for health information technology (HIT) in India, the report said.
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"The increase in adoption of electronic health records, mHealth, telemedicine, and web-based services has made electronic patient data expand, necessitating the implementation of robust IT systems in Indian healthcare institutions," according to analysis done by Frost & Sullivan.
"The technology's benefits, which include enabling experts from any part of the world to advise patients on medical care, streamlining operations, and helping hospitals achieve performance targets, have popularised IT in healthcare," it said.
Hospitals have noted that ease of integration with existing solutions is the main criterion they seek from electronic medical record (EMR) vendors. The main challenge during and after implementation of EMR, is the time spent by doctors and employees on EMR systems. This proves how important training and education are in the uptake of such systems.
Overall, the scope of HIT services is restricted to metro and Tier I cities, and success is expected to depend on factors such as cost versus benefit comparison, along with clear and quicker ROI, the report pointed out.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the main expectations of hospitals in future are linked to full integration of systems, more shareable information platforms, and standardisation that could lead to user-friendliness, more usability, and access to mobile devices such as tablets, as well as advanced tools uptake like telemedicine and virtual meeting systems for knowledge sharing.
In terms of technologies, companies also plan to strongly focus on product modification areas in terms of higher investments, the report said.
"Integrated systems will enable developers to create cloud-based solutions, where conducting upgrades and maintenance is quicker and more efficient," noted an analyst.
In addition, the shift to wireless technology, mobile devices and cloud computing will reduce system costs and improve workflows, the analyst said.