Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS) operates 28 hospitals and is the second-largest private hospital group in Asia, after Australia's Ramsay Health Care.

Veerasak Kritsanapraphan, deputy managing director of the group's IT services subsidiary, said it already used business intelligence software from Auckland firm Cortell to get a picture of the profitability of procedures, and its 300-odd clinicians used digital dictation software from Auckland company Winscribe.

It was now on the hunt for innovative New Zealand health IT solutions, particularly electronic medical record software and technology that allows medical devices to communicate with patient record software.

Mr Kritsanapraphan, in New Zealand to window-shop for health IT solutions, said it was still early days but Orion's health software integration engine Rhapsody was "top of the list", as were Auckland firm Nexus6's smart inhalers.

The group would also "do some more homework" on Adept Medical, which had developed a system for integrating medical devices with patient software.

"We can't find some of these solutions in Thailand so we are now trying to find them in other countries. The United States seems to provide all these applications but they are focused on their own market. That leaves the market open for New Zealand companies."

About 30 per cent of the group's patients were medical tourists, coming to Thailand for elective surgery and often taking a holiday at the same time, he said.

Read more: