MUMBAI, INDIA: The quality of healthcare services is changing globally and one of the key drivers for this change is the use of IT by healthcare providers. Earlier, there were few hospitals that adopted IT to improve efficiency and provide better services. But in past two years, the number of private hospitals has increased at a good pace and hence the growth of IT in healthcare sector is expected to record a CAGR of 18 percent (2006-2010).

This tremendous growth in the healthcare delivery space is resulting in a more competitive market. This is driving hospitals to leverage upon the use of advance technologies to improve quality of care delivery and services further to keep an edge over the competitors.

Today, Tier I hospitals are spending approximately 2 percent and Tier II hospitals are spending approximately less than 1.5 percent of turnover on IT (new purchase plus maintenance and upgrade). Apart from these, hospitals are also going ahead with the use of some advanced technologies like smart cards, RFID, biometrics and hand-held devices to further improve processes.

To address this dynamic change in the IT adoption pattern of Indian Healthcare delivery services, Frost & Sullivan is organizing a three-day Health IT executive mindXchange - "IT Advancements in Healthcare Delivery", from 31st August - 2nd September, 2007, at The Leela, Goa.

"These advances in the adoption of IT in the healthcare provider space will provide opportunity for various Indian and foreign health IT majors to strengthen or build-up a base in India and explore upcoming opportunities in the areas of consulting, applications, training, infrastructure, implementation support and maintenance services to healthcare providers," says Anurag Dubey, Industry Analyst - Health IT and Healthcare Delivery Practice at Frost & Sullivan, South Asia and Middle East.

The three-day summit will bring together CEOs, CIOs/CTOs from leading corporate hospitals across India, Government health departments and major Health IT companies. They would address and share insights on topics such as Healthcare IT standards - India vs. International scenario, Digital Hospitals, Health and Healthcare Solutions, Global Impact of Integrated and Connected Healthcare Services, Digital hospitals, Finding ROI in ICT and roadmap to EMR and many more.