New analysis from Frost & Sullivan finds the health IT market in China earned revenues of $1.24 billion in 2013 and is estimated estimated to reach $3.97 billion by 2020. China’s population is aging at one of the fastest rates ever recorded resulting in rising healthcare costs as the country attempts to meet the exponential explosion of the elderly population.
Faced with these challenges, the Chinese government has recognized healthcare as a priority area for reform and hopes to achieve international care standards by 2020. An integral part of the Health China 2020 strategy is the digitization of healthcare delivery, which will leverage sophisticated healthcare information technology (IT) systems.
Findings
The China health IT market is already dominated by local vendors competing on price as well as the ability to build customized solutions in local language and Chinese systems of medicine. Additionally, government intervention is sending out the message that doing business in China is expected to become more challenging and less profitable for foreign firms. As a result, leading multinationals are establishing strategic relations with large healthcare IT vendors in China to help penetrate the Chinese health IT market and design a suitable strategy for success.
The report also finds large pockets that hold strong potential for healthcare IT remain under penetrated, especially in Western China. As government efforts expand into this region, first with the adoption of basic hospital information systems and the by clinical applications, exciting new opportunities will emerge for health IT companies.
“IT system vendors are also partnering with hospitals, health administrative agencies, government agencies and residents to provide a full range of customized support including networking, wireless technology, information security, cloud platforms, Big Data, telehealth and telemedicine. Strong engagement with local healthcare providers will allow access to local distribution channels, reduce solution adoption risks, lower component incompatibility risks, and help tap unmet local needs in the Chinese healthcare IT domain,” said Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Industry Manager Natasha Gulati.
For more information, visit http://corpcom.frost.com/forms/CHN_PR_JZheng_P80A-48_26Nov14.
