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Indian IT outsourcing firms are expecting US President Barack Obama's health care reform to boost their revenue growth, which is in the downslide, as the $146 billion industry's key financial and manufacturing clients are spending less on software services. United States is the biggest market for the outsourcing industry, which accounts for 90% of all healthcare related contracts. Researchers Everest Group expects more than double of about $68 billion in 2020 from nearly $31 billion two years ago, largely due to "Obamacare".

"In terms of technology maturity, other sectors like manufacturing, banking, are a lot more mature than health care," said Rajib Bhattacharya, head of a healthcare software unit of Tech Mahindra. "I think it's a huge opportunity," he added.

"The best chance that Indian companies will have is to make acquisitions of companies that specialize in healthcare technologies," said Kevin Parikh, chief executive of US-based  management consulting firm Avasant.

The slowdown has happened largely due to banks, manufacturers and financial firms cutting down on IT spending amid uncertain prospects for the global economy. Contrast to this, US states have to upgrade the healthcare programs and build online exchanges through which buyers can evaluate and select the service providers under Obamacare, which creates outsourcing opportunities worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

By Premji