Good time to focus on mobile solutions to Middle East and Africa’s healthcare challenges

ICT investments will boost in the four core healthcare markets of Middle East and Africa. According to the newly released data by International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on IT services and products among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE will grow by 70 per cent over the next five years, expanding at 11.2 per cent CAGR over the five-year period from 2013 to 2018.

Spending priorities will be strongly driven by healthcare policy mandates and efficiency improvement needs. In the context of a pronounced shortage of IT expertise among healthcare organizations, IDC Health Insights expects the demand for IT services to continue to rise in all four markets. In fact, IT services will be the fastest growing segment of the healthcare providers’ market, with particularly intense growth projected in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

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 in the MEA region, forecast to expand by around 13.4 per cent annually, followed by United Arab Emirates.
• Spending on mobile devices and networking equipment will contribute significantly to overall hardware spending growth in all four markets.
• In the software segment, system infrastructure software still accounts for the largest share of total external IT spending.

Clinical information systems make up the smallest share but will post the fastest growth at 13.5 per cent annually.

“All of the four markets are set to grow at an impressive rate” says Nino Giguashvili, senior research analyst for IDC Health Insights.”While these markets present exceptional opportunities to healthcare IT suppliers across the whole ecosystem, it is the right time to focus on mobile solutions to healthcare providers’ organizational needs, and MEA’s healthcare challenges overall”.

IDC’s Middle East and Africa Healthcare Provider 2013 IT Spending and 2014–2018 Forecast provides IT spending data and forecasts for 15 technologies and five countries (Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates). It is designed to help IT suppliers identify short- and long-term opportunities and for health providers to assess the state of the market.

The report is available here.

IDC Health Insights assists health businesses and IT leaders, as well as the suppliers who serve them, in making more effective technology decisions by providing accurate, timely, and insightful fact-based research and consulting services. Staffed by senior analysts with decades of industry experience, our global research analyzes and advises on business and technology issues facing the payer, provider and life sciences industries.