IT Expenditures as a Component of Patient Treatment Costs in Hospital-Based Healthcare Providers: Evidence from Public Procurement Data (2011–2021)

The aim of the study is to gain knowledge on the costs incurred for the computerization of the public healthcare system, the share of these costs in treatment, the structure of these costs, and to understand the trend of these changes. The research was conducted based on existing data from public collections related to the public procurement market in Poland. Four million documents published in the Public Procurement Bulletin and the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union – TED from the years 2011-2021 were gathered and analysed. Based on the CPV codes, it was determined which purchases constituted orders from the field of computerization and assigned them to the appropriate purchasing categories. The study results indicate an exponential increase in IT costs in the public healthcare system and an exponential growth in their share of the overall costs of medical operations. The findings also point to a change in the purchase structure, where it's evident that the change in expenditure is currently focused on specialized information systems. The significant rise in computerization costs in the public healthcare system in Poland suggests that technology is playing an increasingly important role in delivering health care. The exponential increase in the share of these costs in overall expenditure indicates that investments in technology might be a key element in future health system development strategies. On the other hand, these changes might solely result from the disproportionate price increase of IT sector products and services compared to products and services from other industries, caused by factors such as the economic situation, geopolitical circumstances, or market monopolization.