Rising wealth, aging and growing populations, demand for quality healthcare and an increase in the number of hospitals are driving growth for the healthcare information technology markets in Indonesia and Vietnam, according to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan.

Overall, the total revenue of Indonesia and Vietnam healthcare market will move from $8.20 billion in 2011 to $12.01 billion in 2015, and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the period is 10 percent, Frost & Sullivan notes.

Healthcare spending has increased significantly in the past decade in these emerging economies, helping the industry expand, according to the study, and governments in both countries are also encouraging private sector investment.

Frost & Sullivan’s “South East Asian Emerging Markets – Indonesia and Vietnam Healthcare Outlook 2012,” finds that Indonesia and Vietnam have drastically increased their healthcare spending and aim to modernize healthcare infrastructure by 2020. The countries are working to expand and invest in all segments of healthcare – healthcare information technology, medical imaging, medical devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology.
 
With increase in communicable and non-communicable diseases, changes in health insurance patterns and favorable investment policies, the healthcare sector presents strong growth opportunities in Indonesia and Vietnam.

"The countries are working to reduce outflow of medical tourists from their country to neighboring Asian countries due to lack of quality and timely services," said Frost & Sullivan consultant Poornima Srinivasan. "Hence the governments are revising legislations pertaining to healthcare investment and public-private partnership (PPP) models to attract more private hospitals in the country."

PPP efforts will increase healthcare infrastructure, driving growth of all segments pertaining to healthcare. Both countries are technology savvy and this provides opportunities for healthcare IT.

Further, the dramatic increase in mobile phone users in both countries will fuel telehealth as an important tool to enhance and enable healthcare access and monitoring.

The over-the-counter medication market is expanding, too. In Indonesia, the uptake is driven by the launch of new retail outlets while the segment is growing in Vietnam due to the self-medicating behavior of Vietnamese.