Dubai, January 05, 2014 - It is a good time to be a patient in some Middle East and Africa countries. Government authorities have named ehealth a top priority and are backing up their words with solid financial support. As a result, public (and many private) hospitals and clinics are building up their IT infrastructure in order to facilitate patient information management and sharing and to create channels and touchpoints for patient administration and remote care and monitoring.

The results show in the numbers. According to data recently released by International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on IT among healthcare organizations is soaring in Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE. Over the five-year period from 2012 to 2017, spending will jump by just under 10% annually. The purpose of the spending varies by country.

For example, in Saudi Arabia, IT spending is linked to modernization and expansion of hospitals and clinics, as the country aims to expand capacity by at least thirty thousand beds nationwide. In South Africa, remote outreach and edelivery are top priorities, as the number of qualified professionals in rural and poor areas has plummeted due to doctors seeking comfortable urban jobs in the private sector or heading abroad for more lucrative opportunities.

Additional highlights from the data about the four countries include:

  • Healthcare is the second-fastest-growing sector after government in terms of IT spending.

  • Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing healthcare IT market, rising by around 11% annually.

  • IT support services will be the fastest-growing services area, with spending soaring by around 13% annually in the combined four markets.

  • IT services account for more than half of IT spending in the healthcare sector, largely due to a pronounced shortage of qualified IT professionals who are willing to work in hospitals and clinics.

  • In software, spending on Clinical Information Systems will climb 11.5% annually (though this will still represent a relatively small portion of total spending).

"Governments in the four markets have all made great efforts and a real commitment to improving the quality of health services and the patient experience," says Nino Giguashvili, senior research analyst for IDC Health Insights. "Make no mistake, there is still a long way to go to match standards found in world's most developed markets, and there is a lot of room for missteps. Nevertheless, the current commitment will still help drive developments in hospitals and clinics and enhance the patient experience."

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IDC's Middle East and Africa Healthcare Provider 2012 IT Spending and 2013-2017 Forecast (#CEMA20302) provides IT spending data and forecasts for 15 technologies and five countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia). It is designed to help IT suppliers identify short- and long-term opportunities and for health providers to assess the state of the market.

For more information or to learn more about IDC's research into the healthcare industry in the Middle East and Africa, please contact Anulekha Shetty (ashetty@idc.com, +971 4 433 2597) or Tatiana Hinova (thinova@idc.com, +420 221 423 140).

About IDC
IDC leads the innovation discussion through events, research, and consulting. For nearly five decades it has been giving IT and business professionals data and insight for making strategic and practical decisions. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. Learn more at www.idc.com.

About IDC Health Insights
IDC Health Insights is an advisory services and market research firm that closely follows the payer, provider, and life-science segments of the healthcare industry, with special emphasis on developing and employing strategies that leverage IT investments to maximize organizational performance. For more information, please visit www.idc-hi.com, email info@idc-hi.com, or call 508-935-4445. Visit the IDC Energy Insights Community at http://idc-insights-community.com/health. 

Contact for Media
Anulekha Shetty
Tel: +971 4 391 2741
Email: ashetty@idc.com

Farah Abu Salah
Tel: +971 50 557 3023
Email: Farah.Abu-Salah@hkstrategies.com

© Press Release 2014