Adoption of Health IT Systems in Asia: A Long Road Ahead

U.S. President Barack Obama has created a storm with a new bill that is encouraging hospitals in the country to digitalize healthcare. His government has set aside $150 billion for health care and promises incentives to practices that implement health IT systems like EMR. Good health is very important. Modern healthcare systems can help deliver better patient care if they adopt Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and more countries are devising strategies to modernize their health facilities. Health IT systems can not only bring down overall healthcare costs, but can also improve patient safety and administration of services.

The benefits offered by health IT systems have driven worldwide healthcare organizations to increase spending on computer technologies. The health industry has become one of the major consumers of ICT products and services according to Frost & Sullivan. The Health Information Technology (HIT) market, by revenue, in APAC (Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Australia) was around US$5.04 billion in 2008 and the research firm forecasts that this figure will double in the next 10 years.

The health IT market will expand in the coming years and give revenue opportunities to various industries such as computer hardware, telephony and network devices. The popularity of these modern technologies is increasing because a large percentage of medical practice activities can be improved by using them. If human errors can be prevented by machines, the quality of care can improve dramatically and give a feeling of security to patients walking into a health care facility.

Hospitals in Asia are focused on adopting health IT and this is apparent from an increase in medical tourism in countries like Malaysia. Another report from Frost & Sullivan shows an increase in the upgrade of existing healthcare infrastructure within the public sector in this nation. Medical tourism revenue per patient in Malaysia is expected to reach $590 million by 2010 and this growth shows the increasing trust of Westerners in modern health care facilities of Malaysia.

It is interesting to note that a large percentage of foreign patients in Malaysia are Indonesians who don't have a similar health infrastructure at home. Other patients are from various regions including Japan and the Middle East. The Malaysian government is keen on promoting their health facilities to the world and has set up referral gateways to attract more medical tourists. These facilities are also provided by private hospitals that have rapidly grown in number over the last decade. Frost & Sullivan claims 62 percent of the total hospitals in Malaysia are privately owned.

China also intends to increase their IT spending for the healthcare industry, according to a 2009 report from Research and Markets. The Chinese healthcare industry is currently growing and regulations in this market are thus undergoing changes. Many healthcare technologies are being implemented in this sector, which is comprised of government health care organizations, private practices and health insurance providers.

Sourabh Kankhar, a Frost & Sullivan research analyst for Asia Pacific healthcare practice, pointed out that the levels of healthcare IT adoption vary widely in Asia. Countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore are using modern health IT systems in their hospitals. But many countries still have a long way to go. India, China, Thailand and Indonesia still don't have a very high level of health IT adoption when compared to developed nations. Most Asian countries are using administrative solutions, but have not yet moved towards complete integration of their IT systems. Clinical systems such as electronic medical records (EMR) and picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) still have low adoption rates. Kankhar sees both India and China as having the maximum potential for healthcare IT providers in the future. These two countries are thickly populated and together have more than 70,000 hospitals. This market will grow rapidly in the coming years giving opportunities to vendors of PACS, EMR and other health IT products.

Let's take a look at a few popular health IT products and review their benefits for the industry and patients.

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) - This software allows healthcare providers to enter, store, retrieve and transfer health information of individuals. A paper-based record system is inefficient and time consuming. It can also cause duplication of entry, leading to medical errors. Digitalizing information offers a number of benefits such as a reduction in the time spent on maintaining records, improved patient care and a reduction in medical errors.

Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) - These systems are comprised of computers that are used to store, retrieve and distribute medical images to physicians and other healthcare providers. As these images are distributed through computers, hospitals save a lot of time and are able to deliver better care to their patients.

Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) - Hospitals use the CPOE technology to allow their clinicians to electronically enter data related to patients' medications, tests and services. This application is especially useful in warning physicians about any drug allergies. As all the medication information is entered in the system, it alerts the user if he or she is ordering a drug that doesn't suit the patient.

Personal Health Records (PHRs) - This health IT product is meant for health-conscious individuals who are keen on managing their own health. Personal health records allow people to collect and distribute their health information electronically. Users can even enter information related to home diagnostics and insurance claims.

E-Prescribing - Prescribing medicines to individuals has been made easy with this application that allows health care practitioners to enter medication data into computers. This information can be shared by other doctors who are taking care of the same patient and helps them see how an individual is responding to treatment.

A review of health IT applications indicates that these solutions are basically focused on improving the efficiency of the healthcare facilities and saving costs by automating the systems. The benefits these systems offer are tremendous and most hospitals desire to go paperless. However, the adoption rate of these systems is not very high in Asia. This is due to following reasons:

1. High upfront costs - An EMR system can be very expensive and cost up to $40,000. Hospitals in developing Asian countries such as Indonesia may not be able to set aside this huge amount for a health IT system. These systems also need regular maintenance and upgrades and this again may be out of reach for many low-budget hospitals.

2. Training costs - Health IT systems can only be utilized properly if the employees of the hospital are able to use it easily. The employees may need some training to learn how to operate an EMR or PACS. This requires additional costs and not all hospitals have the capacity to bear them.

3. Privacy issues - These records are stored in the computers and are meant to be accessed by authorized personnel only. But in recent years, the incidents of 'hacking' or unauthorized access of information have increased. The hackers may use this information without the consent of the patients and this causes severe distress to both the hospital and individuals.

Although the rate of adoption of health IT systems in Asia is currently low, it may take off in the future if the government supports these medical practices. The high-budget hospitals can afford to deploy world class IT solutions from the vendors of their choice, but health facilities with low budgets operating in smaller regions need aid to keep pace with technology. Well-designed health care initiatives for these hospitals can help them digitalize information in a cost effective manner and provide better care to all of society.

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