Mumbai: India is racing ahead with the fastest growing healthcare IT market in Asia, with an expected growth rate of 22 percent, followed closely by China and Vietnam, says a report.

The total market for IT in the healthcare industry in Asia was $2.95 billion (Rs 12,095 crore) in 2006, and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.1 percent to reach $4.83 billion (around Rs 19,803 crore) by 2010, says a Springboard Research report.

Many of the more developed Asian markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Korea had a much lower percentage of healthcare IT spending than the emerging markets, but still managed to provide high quality healthcare services to their populace, the report said.

The Asian emerging markets continued to invest in infrastructure for their healthcare sector, with a broader push for community care and increased care in rural areas.

Huge sums of money were being spent in India and China in this regard and, as mentioned above, many of the emerging markets in Asia were spending more on healthcare as a percentage of the total IT spending than the more developed countries, the report pointed out.

According to the report, in the more developed markets, the shift from clinical to patient-focused care is driving the technology needs of healthcare providers, who continue to invest in improving efficiencies and sharing information across providers.