Press Release

IDC Health Insights Expects Increased Government Efforts in the Integration of Regional and National eHealth Infrastructures in Japan

Singapore & Hong Kong, April 28, 2010 – With new healthcare reform policies at the forefront of Japan’s political agendas, IDC Health Insights believes that both the government and healthcare sectors will invest heavily in technologies that promote preventive care, and bring about greater operational efficiency and improvements in patient-centric services. More findings are revealed in IDC Health Insights’ latest study, “Business Strategy: Health Insights Country Report for Japan (Doc #AP9296302S, April 2010)”.

The overall ICT spending of Japan's healthcare market is estimated to be US$4.23 billion in 2010, with a small 0.71% year-on-year growth over the 2009 figure of US$4.20 billion, which reflects the maturity of ICT spending in the healthcare sector. IDC Health Insights expects the overall ICT spending to grow to US$4.46 billion by 2013 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Gerald J. Wang, Market Analyst for IDC Health Insights Asia/Pacific says, "From now to 2013, the ICT investment priorities of Japan's healthcare sector will be aligned with boosting service efficiency and agility, and increasing healthcare accountability."

With the recent change in political leadership, the newly-formed government will focus their ICT spending on viable technological solutions that provide for Japan's pressing socio-political issues such as a rapidly aging population, and deal with issues related to unsatisfactory levels of healthcare delivery systems as a result of shortages in healthcare professionals.

The top investment priorities in 2010 will be:

• Leveraging business intelligence and EMR/EHR solutions for next-generation hospital operations

• Realizing work-life balance with greater efficiency through ICT

• Increasing operational agility through eHealth records standards and interoperability compliance, and innovative collaborative tools for enhanced communication across the various healthcare stakeholders

• Implementing common numbering systems for taxpayers and the national social security program

• Promoting medical tourism as a key economic growth sector

This IDC Health Insights report presents an analysis of IT spending trends and forecast in the Japan healthcare industry in 2009-2013. The report provides a breakdown of the key areas of healthcare IT spending and the critical issues faced by the healthcare industry in 2009, as well as factors that will influence IT investment decisions over the next 12 months.

For more information about the research or to purchase this data, please contact Jace Tang at +65-6829-7723 or jtang@idc.com.

For press enquiries, please contact Lay-Fang Tan at +65-6829-7731 or lftan@idc.com.

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About IDC Health Insights

IDC Health Insights provides health and life sciences industry executives, and the suppliers who serve them, with market research and advisory services. The company’s coverage spans the entire health industry value chain and closely follows the payer, provider and life sciences markets with special emphasis on developing and employing strategies that leverage IT investments to maximize organizational performance. Staffed by expert analysts and consultants with extensive industry experience, IDC Health Insights delivers a portfolio of offerings that are relevant to both IT and business needs. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology, media, research, and events company. For more information, please visit www.idc-hi.com.

For more information, please contact:

Lay-Fang Tan
lftan@idc.com
+65-6829-7731

Gerald J. Wang
geraldwang@idc.com
+65-6829-7764