Information Technology in the Health Sector: Ten Forecasts for 2018 in Latin America

With the arrival of a new year, it is normal to extend our gaze and focus on things we hope will happen. In many sectors, we analyze trends that will be relevant in the following months.

Instead of making predictions, here are ten trends that should be on your radar in 2018, based on our experience, market observations and frequent conversations with agents of the health ecosystem, especially for the Latin America region.

1. The electoral year may propel modernization in the region

Many Latin American countries await elections this year. Possibly, with changes in office, many will bet on the modernization of the sector and on the development of policies that design the future of eHealth. (Read trend)

2. Limited digital transformation

In spite of countless public and private initiatives in the region, we will not see many integral hospital digital transformation projects this year. The most likely scenario is for these projects to occur in private “high-end” hospitals. (Read trend)

3. Increased computerization of public health networks

The momentum for information technologies will grow in the health sector, as well as the deployment of Electronic Health Record platforms in the national, provincial or regional levels. (Read trend)

4. Moderate growth of the Electronic Medical Record in the cloud  

Small and medium-sized private hospitals will bet highly on this new software subscription model. (Read trend)

5. Increase use of mobile applications

In spite of the greater use of mobile apps in health, the fact that man are not integrated with hospital systems limits their use and actual applications. (Read trend)

6. Momentum and new focuses of public-private collaboration (APP)

The scarcity of hospital infrastructure will continue to propel public-private collaboration models. In this sense, we will witness association initiatives with clinical and technical focus, as in the case of the Biobio Health Innovation Center. (Read trend)

7.  Growth of interest in exponential technologies; big data/IoT/AI, but limited actual projects

With few initiatives that usinge exponential technologies with real purposes, universities and research centers have the opportunity of bringing innovation closer to real issues in the sector and its closest surroundings. (Read trend)

8. Incipient changes in relationships between health provider clients and IT providers

The immaturity of the eHealth market in LATAM – both in the demand and supply – will promote changes in collaboration between clients and information technology suppliers towards shared risk models. (Read trend)

9. Growth in the demand for health services 

In 2018, we will see an incident that could put at stake the security of patient health data. Consequently, it is necessary to bet on system security, especially for critical systems such as the Electronic Medical Record. (Read trend)

10. Growing investor interest in eHealth

Latin America’s potential in relation to the Health Information Technology sector, in which there is ‘much to be done’, will promote new investments in the region. (Read trend)