Growth in the Gulf Region

Perot Systems has a presence in 23 nations. Last year, our healthcare team made the strategic decision to focus our international expansion on the Gulf region—comprising United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. It offers substantial healthcare market opportunities, because it is relatively immature with regard to healthcare IT. However, the health sector is forecast to lead an overall 12 percent increase in regional IT expenditure over the next 3 years.

Our first engagement in the Gulf region was at the request of the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) to assist with their implementation of Cerner last year, which resulted in the completion of the successful go-lives of 11 Cerner modules. Our healthcare experience, together with being vendor-agnostic, is new in a region where, traditionally, all implementations have been vendor-led. However, recommendations and demonstrable regional experience are keys in this geography, and our successful work with HAAD will help us to secure future work in the region.

Abu Dhabi, which is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, forms the second-largest market in the Gulf region for both healthcare and IT expenditure (after Saudi Arabia). It is leading the region in many areas of healthcare strategy and transformation.

The region is investing heavily in developing world-class healthcare facilities and implementing clinical best practices both to serve the increasing local population and to cater to a growing 'health tourist' market. As part of this, these facilities are looking to implement the best healthcare information systems, but have little experience in doing so. This provides an opportunity to assist healthcare institutions in defining their IT strategy and managing the implementation and ongoing operations of these systems.

Health insurance is still relatively new in the region, but mandatory insurance for all nationals and ex-pats is being rolled out across many Gulf states over the next 2 to 3 years. The population differs from other geographies with 37 percent of the total Gulf population comprising transient ex-pats, which presents particular challenges for healthcare planning and access to comprehensive electronic health records.

Our entry into this emerging market requires a flexible approach, which includes utilizing implementation or consulting engagements with clients to establish our reputation and partnering with health system vendors to address some larger opportunities.